Estimating API Credits for Data Queries
Estimate query cost from documented operation rules, pagination and request budgets, while keeping a cost estimate separate from actual metered usage.
Overview
When translating these concepts into an integration, keep the scope described by the wallet history api with the result. The examples in wallet transaction history and smart contract event logs show how the same distinction affects neighbouring data questions.
A query’s cost can depend on endpoint, range, rows or repeated requests. One HTTP call is not always one billing unit, and a preview estimate is not the same as settled usage.
Read the metering contract
Identify the billable operation, minimum charges, pagination rules and error treatment. Keep account limits, rate limits and credit balances separate. A retry can increase usage even when the application treats it as one logical operation. Do not infer a service’s pricing from another API with a similar endpoint name.
Worked example: a paginated scan
A history scan is expected to need twenty pages under current observations. The application estimates cost using the documented per-page or per-operation rule and reserves a request budget. If more pages are required, it pauses or asks the caller to expand that budget instead of silently continuing without limit.
Compare estimates and actuals
Record safe operation identifiers, page counts, retries and metered usage where available. Test a query that returns no rows and one that fails after several pages. Show the estimate’s assumptions and uncertainty. A connection test should use a deliberately minimal operation and should not silently trigger a full wallet scan or paid import.
A practical acceptance test
Estimate a twenty-page scan, then make the fixture require additional pages and one retry. The client should respect its logical operation budget and expose estimate-versus-actual differences. A zero-row response must follow the documented metering rule rather than an assumed free-query rule. No connection check should initiate this full scan implicitly.
Questions about the topic
Frequently asked questions
Is one request always one credit?
No. Metering depends on the service contract.
Can retries change usage?
Yes. The billing policy may count repeated operations.
Standards & technical documentation
