Wallet & Billing Guide

Overview

SDCStudio uses a pre-paid USD wallet for pay-as-you-go billing. There are no subscriptions or monthly fees. You fund your wallet with the amount you choose, and small amounts are deducted automatically as you use platform services.

Your wallet is created automatically when you first sign in.

Adding Funds

  1. Go to Settings > Wallet
  2. Click Add Funds
  3. Choose a funding amount: $10, $25, $50, $100, or $250
  4. Click Pay to open Stripe Checkout
  5. Complete payment with your card
  6. Your balance updates within seconds

Your payment method is saved securely by Stripe for future top-ups and auto-reload.

Per-Operation Costs

Every billable operation deducts a small amount from your wallet:

Operation Cost Description
Validate instance $0.001 XML validation via VaaS
Sign instance $0.005 Digital signature via VaaS
Mint component $0.10 Creating a new catalog component
Assemble model $0.50 Assembling a data model from components
Download app $1.50 Downloading a generated application

Examples: - Upload a CSV that creates 8 new components: 8 x $0.10 = $0.80 - Assemble a model from existing components (pure reuse): $0.50 - Assemble a model that also mints 3 new components: $0.50 + (3 x $0.10) = $0.80 - Validate and then sign an XML instance: $0.001 + $0.005 = $0.006

Free operations: Reusing existing components (those already in the catalog with a ct_id) costs nothing during minting. You only pay for genuinely new components.

Checking Your Balance

Your current balance is displayed on the Settings > Wallet page, color-coded for quick reference:

  • Green: Balance above $25 — plenty of funds
  • Yellow: Balance between $10 and $25 — consider adding funds
  • Red: Balance below $10 — add funds soon

Auto-Reload

Auto-reload automatically tops up your wallet when the balance drops below a threshold, so you never run out of funds mid-workflow.

Setting Up Auto-Reload

  1. Go to Settings > Wallet
  2. Toggle Auto-Reload on
  3. Set your Threshold — the balance at which auto-reload triggers (default: $10.00)
  4. Set your Reload Amount — how much to add each time (default: $50.00, minimum: $1.00)
  5. Click Save Settings

Auto-reload uses the payment method saved from your most recent Stripe Checkout. If no payment method is on file, auto-reload will not trigger until you complete at least one manual top-up.

How It Works

When any operation (validation, minting, etc.) brings your balance below the threshold:

  1. The operation completes normally
  2. An automatic top-up is triggered in the background
  3. Your saved card is charged for the reload amount
  4. The funds appear in your wallet within seconds

A safety mechanism prevents duplicate charges if multiple operations trigger simultaneously.

Insufficient Funds

If your wallet balance is too low for an operation:

  • The operation is not performed
  • You receive an HTTP 402 response with the estimated cost and your current balance
  • Add funds via Settings > Wallet, then retry

Staff and beta users bypass wallet checks for testing purposes.

Transaction History

View a complete audit trail of all wallet activity:

  1. Go to Settings > Wallet
  2. Scroll to the Transaction History section

Each entry shows: - Date — when the transaction occurred - Type — reload, mint_component, assemble_model, validate, sign, etc. - Amount — positive for credits, negative for debits - Balance After — your wallet balance immediately after the transaction - Description — human-readable details

Filtering

Use the Type dropdown to filter transactions by category (e.g., show only reload transactions, or only minting charges).

CSV Export

Click Export CSV to download your full transaction history as a spreadsheet. The CSV includes date, type, amount, balance, description, and Stripe payment ID for each transaction.

Security and Privacy

  • Stripe handles all payments — SDCStudio never sees or stores your card number
  • Immutable ledger — transaction records cannot be modified or deleted after creation
  • Atomic operations — balance deductions are protected against race conditions
  • Idempotent payments — duplicate webhook deliveries from Stripe do not result in double credits

FAQ

What happens if my card is declined during auto-reload?

The auto-reload is skipped and your balance remains as-is. You can add funds manually at any time. No retries are attempted on declined cards.

Can I get a refund?

Contact support@axius-sdc.com for refund requests. Wallet credits are non-transferable between accounts.

Is there a minimum balance required?

No minimum balance is enforced. However, operations will fail with HTTP 402 if your balance cannot cover the cost. We recommend keeping at least $10 in your wallet.

Do reused components cost anything?

No. When assembling a model, components that already exist in the catalog (identified by their ct_id) are free. You only pay for newly minted components.

Where do I see my wallet?

Go to Settings (gear icon in the navigation), then select the Wallet tab. The direct URL is /app/settings?tab=wallet.

Need help? Contact support@axius-sdc.com for billing questions.