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What uses your plan#

A plain-language rundown of which AI actions use your plan's usage, roughly how much, and why a final charge can differ from the estimate.

Usage covers only AI work. Writing in the editor, dragging scene cards, reading the script, exporting a PDF — these don't use your plan. You use part of your plan only when you ask Nisaba or one of Nabu's behind-the-scenes helpers to do something with a model.

Note: Every description on this page is representative, not a price tag. The actual cost depends on the job — see Why the cost varies at the bottom.

The quick version#

Roughly… What it is
Light A chat message to Nisaba; a quick suggestion; a logline.
A bit more A synopsis; a character profile; a small revision.
Moderate Writing or rewriting a single scene.
Substantial Coverage; a sequence of scenes; the wizard. These vary with script length and number of scenes.

Chatting with Nisaba#

Uses your plan: A chat message is light; material you've attached adds to it.

A message that needs extra steps costs more.

The cost is per message, not per session. See Chatting with Nisaba.

Writing and rewriting scenes#

Uses your plan: Writing or rewriting a scene uses a moderate amount.

Generating a whole sequence of scenes at once uses more than a single scene. Workshopping a scene several ways, or iterating until it's good, uses more than a single draft.

The wizard#

The wizard builds your pitches, synopsis, treatment, structure, and characters, and ends with a map of scene cards.

Uses your plan: The wizard runs as separate steps. Some steps show a confirmation card; others show "Estimate unavailable — uses your plan usage, billed to actual usage."

Uses your plan: If you added or removed scenes on the map, pressing Start writing makes one small edit to your synopsis. It uses a small amount of your plan (typically about 10 credits). If there isn't enough left, it doesn't run, and the synopsis stays as it was and shows it is out of date. Stopping it has three outcomes: before it starts writing, nothing runs and nothing is charged (this check is best-effort, so a Stop pressed at the last moment can miss it); while it is writing, the edit is cancelled and nothing changes, but what it had used is charged; once it has written, the edit stays — restore "Before AI draft" from the synopsis history to take it back.

See The wizard.

Coverage and the Script Doctor#

Both are in the Script Doctor page's two rooms: Notes and Coverage. Coverage is a professional-style read of the whole script; Notes is a focused set of observations. Opening the Notes room uses none of your plan.

Uses your plan: A full coverage report is substantial — it reads your entire script. Cost varies with script length.

The verdict is Recommend, Consider, or Pass. See Coverage and the Script Doctor.

Character Voice notes#

Uses your plan: a light amount, charged for what each check uses — only when a scene you changed has a main character with something on file.

See Coverage and the Script Doctor.

Reading your whole script again#

Uses your plan: Go through the whole script again is charged for what the read actually uses.

When the wizard finishes with your scenes written — or once you've written a few scenes yourself — Nabu reads the whole script once on its own. It's charged the same way.

Update threads on the timeline is charged the same way: for what its reads actually use.

Importing a script#

  • Import only — free, no AI. Nabu parses the file but doesn't analyze it. This option appears only when Nabu confidently recognizes the file as a screenplay.
  • Import and analyze — uses your plan. Nabu reads and enriches your script, figuring out scenes, characters, and structure. It isn't on every plan.

If Nabu doesn't confidently recognize the file as a screenplay, analysis is required.

Uses your plan: Importing and analyzing a script is a moderate, length-dependent job.

See Importing a script.

Story elements#

Uses your plan: A logline is one of the lightest things going. A synopsis uses a bit more. A character profile is a moderate-small amount.

The cost only applies when you ask Nisaba to draft or expand one. See Logline, synopsis, and treatment and Characters and locations.

The quiet helpers#

Some small AI work happens in the background to keep Nabu aware of your story. Each job costs very little, and you don't trigger it yourself.

If you'd rather they didn't run, the workspace owner can turn background AI off under Settings → Preferences › Background work — see Your profile and account. The switch's line reads: "Nabu's own work between your requests, like rereading pages and keeping notes current. Chat and anything you start are not affected." With it off, you lose the automatic awareness; chat is chat, so a decision you state there is still filed in your story.

Why the cost varies#

  • How big the job is. A two-page scene uses less than a ten-page one. Coverage on a feature uses more than on a short.
  • The final charge can be less than the estimate.

For bigger jobs, Nabu shows a confirmation card before starting: "Estimated cost: up to N% of your plan (settled to actual)." Smaller actions run without confirmation.

Seeing where your usage went#

On Usage & billing, under Payment & receipts, pick a month and click Download statement (CSV).

Good to know#

  • Usage is per workspace, not per project. The same plan covers all your screenplays.
  • Nabu checks before a job starts. If a job you start needs more usage than you have left, Nabu tells you before it runs. The synopsis edit after Start writing is skipped instead. See Understanding your plan's usage.