> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.devin.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# ACU Limits

> Set team, group, and per-user ACU limits to control agent compute usage on Devin federal deployments.

<Info>
  This documentation is for the federal deployments of Devin. [Back to Devin Docs](/get-started/devin-intro)
</Info>

ACU limits control how many Agent Compute Units (ACUs) a team and its users can consume during the team's billing cycle. Federal administrators can set a team-wide limit, per-user limits through groups, and manual overrides for individual users.

For information about creating groups and assigning members, see [Groups](/federal/groups). For model restrictions that can be managed alongside ACU limits, see [Model Provisioning](/federal/model-provisioning).

***

## The ACU controls

| Control | Applies to | What it does |
| - | - | - |
| **Team ACU limit** | The whole team | Caps the team's total ACU usage per billing cycle. |
| **Default group** | New users | New users are added to this group when their account is created, so its group ACU limit is the limit new users start with. |
| **Group ACU limit** | Each member of a group | A per-user limit that applies to anyone in the group. Each member gets the full limit; it is not a pool shared by the group. |
| **Manual user override** | One user | A limit an admin sets for one specific user. It replaces the user's group ACU limits. |

## How limits are enforced

Two independent checks run before ACU-billed work:

1. **Team check** — the team's total usage in the current billing cycle is compared with the team ACU limit.
2. **User check** — the user's usage in the current billing cycle is compared with the user's limit.

A user's limit is determined as follows:

* If the user has a manual user override, that is their limit.
* Otherwise, their limit is the highest group ACU limit among the groups they belong to.
* If the user has no override and none of their groups has a limit, the user has no per-user limit. The team ACU limit still applies.

Group membership is additive, so adding a user to another group can only raise their limit, never lower it. Use the default group to set the limit most users start with, and add users to groups with higher limits when they need more.

All limits reset at the start of the team's next billing cycle.

## Viewing ACU usage

The portal's **Analytics** page shows ACU usage for ACU-billed teams: an **ACUs used** total and an **ACUs Used** column for each user. Use the group selector next to the date range to view one group, or choose **All Users** for the whole team, and use the date range to choose the reporting period.

ACU consumption and ACU caps can also be queried and managed programmatically — see the [ACU Consumption API](/federal/api/acu-consumption) and [User ACU Caps API](/federal/api/acu-caps).

## Frequently asked questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How do I set or remove the team ACU limit?">
    On the portal's **Team** page, find the **Team ACU limit** setting below the stats tiles. Enter the maximum number of ACUs the team can use per billing cycle and select **Save**. To remove the limit, clear the field and select **Save**. Changes apply immediately to the current billing cycle.

    The setting appears only for teams on ACU billing. The current value is also shown in the **Team ACU Limit (Cycle)** tile.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Who can change the team ACU limit?">
    Team admins, and any user whose role has the **Team User Update** permission. Other members can see the **Team ACU Limit (Cycle)** tile on the **Team** page but cannot change it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What is the Per-User ACU Limit (Legacy) tile?">
    Some teams were set up with an older per-user ACU limit before group ACU limits existed. When a team still has one, the **Team** page shows it in the **Per-User ACU Limit (Legacy)** tile. It applies to every user who does not have a manual user override, including users whose group ACU limit is higher. It cannot be changed from the portal; ask your Cognition contact to remove it, after which the tile disappears and group ACU limits apply on their own.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I set the limit new users start with?">
    In **Settings → Groups**, give a group the ACU limit you want, then select it as the **Default group for new users**. Users created after that are added to the group automatically. Existing users are not moved, so add them to the group yourself if they should have the same limit.

    For admins, the **Default Group ACU Limit (Per User)** tile on the **Team** page shows the current default group and its limit.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I give a user a higher limit?">
    Either add the user to a group with a higher group ACU limit, or set a manual user override for that user. Use a group when several users need the same limit, and an override for one-off exceptions.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I set a manual user override?">
    On the **Team** page, find the user in the **Users** table, open the actions menu at the end of their row, and select **Edit**. In the **ACU Cycle Limit** row, select **Set Custom Limit**, enter a positive number of ACUs, and select **Save**.

    To change an existing override, select **Edit Custom Limit** instead. Overrides can also be managed with the [User ACU Caps API](/federal/api/acu-caps).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I remove a manual user override?">
    On the **Team** page, open the user's actions menu in the **Users** table and select **Edit**. In the **ACU Cycle Limit** row, select **Clear Custom Limit**, then select **Clear** to confirm. The user's limit then comes from their groups again.

    With the API, call `UpdateUserAcuCap` with `clear_cycle_acu_limit: true`. See the [User ACU Caps API](/federal/api/acu-caps).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does a group ACU limit create a shared budget for the group?">
    No. Each member of the group gets the full limit. If three users are in a group with a 100-ACU limit, each of them can use up to 100 ACUs per billing cycle; they do not share one 100-ACU pool. To cap the total for the whole team, use the team ACU limit.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can a user use more than the team ACU limit if their own limit is higher?">
    No. The team ACU limit is checked separately. Once the whole team reaches it, all ACU-billed work is blocked for the rest of the billing cycle, even for users who are under their own limit.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens when a limit is reached?">
    New ACU-billed work is blocked until the limit is raised or the next billing cycle starts. A user who reaches their own limit sees `monthly acu limit reached`. When the team reaches its team ACU limit, users see `Team ACU limit reached for this billing cycle.`
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens if the team's ACU billing is turned off?">
    The team's ACU configuration, manual user overrides, and group ACU limits are cleared. Group model restrictions are kept and continue to apply.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why can Analytics differ from the current-cycle usage?">
    Analytics follows the date range selected in the portal, while enforcement uses the team's current billing cycle. A date range can include usage outside the current enforcement cycle.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>


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