AI Scan Quota for Plans

Overview

Builder accounts get 10 free AI scans per month to analyze uploaded plan PDFs. AI scans extract metadata like bedrooms, square footage, and structural details automatically. Your quota resets on the 1st of each month, preventing abuse while keeping the feature accessible.

How It Works

Monthly Quota

• 10 free scans per month - Default for all builder accounts
• Automatic reset - Counter resets to 0 on the 1st of every month
• No subscription required - Free scans included with your builder account
• Cost protection - Prevents bad actors from burning through API costs

When You Upload Plans

1. Upload a plan PDF via the marketplace
2. BlueClerk checks your quota before scanning
3. If under 10 scans - Plan is scanned and counter increments
4. If at 10 scans - Upload is rejected with error message

Viewing Your Quota

Plans Dashboard

On the Builder > Plans page, you'll see a quota card showing:

• X of 10 remaining - How many scans you have left this month
• Warning when at zero - Clear message when quota is exhausted
• Reset date - Reminder that quota resets on the 1st

When You Hit Your Limit

If you've used all 10 scans this month:

• Wait until the 1st - Your quota resets automatically
• Contact support - We can manually increase your cap if needed
• Error message explains - "You've used all 10 AI scans this month. Your quota resets on the 1st, or contact support to upgrade."

Cost Math

Each AI scan costs approximately $0.13 in Claude Sonnet Vision API calls:

• 10 scans/month = $1.30 per builder maximum
• Protects against abuse - Bad actors limited to $1.30/month instead of $500/day
• Fair for most users - 10 plans per month is reasonable for active builders

Manual Quota Increases

Platform admins can manually increase your scan cap:

• Update Company.marketplaceScanCap directly in the database
• Example: A high-volume builder might get 100 scans/month
• Contact support to request an increase with your use case

Questions

Q: What happens if I upload more than 10 plans in a month? A: After your 10th plan, uploads will be rejected with a 429 error explaining your quota is exhausted and when it resets.

Q: Can I pay to get more scans before the 1st? A: Not yet - the upgrade UI will be built when there's demand. For now, contact support and we can manually increase your cap.

Q: Do scans carry over month-to-month? A: No - unused scans don't roll over. Your counter resets to 0 on the 1st regardless of how many you used.

Q: What counts as a scan? A: Each plan PDF you upload that goes through PII scrubbing and AI spec extraction counts as one scan.