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An AI Unit is a standardized metric used to measure the consumption of chargeable Box AI features. AI Units simplify capacity planning by condensing complex technical details, such as token counts (text read by the AI) and model latency, into a single, easy-to-understand value. Whether an action consumes AI Units depends on the action and the mode of use (user-driven vs. automated/at-scale).

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AI Units included

Upgrading your Box subscription tier unlocks advanced foundational reasoning, orchestration capabilities, and larger baseline AI Unit allocations. Key Capacity Considerations:
  • Entitlements: AI Units are allocated for a defined entitlement period (e.g. monthly) and are comprised of your base plan allotment plus any additional units purchased via a service order.
  • No Rollover: Unused AI Units expire at the end of each entitlement period and do not roll over to the next period.
  • Aggregated Use: If you utilize multiple chargeable AI features (e.g., Q&A AI API and Text Gen AI API), your unit consumption is aggregated against your enterprise-level entitlement pool.

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Included vs. Chargeable Features

To manage your budget effectively, it is critical to understand what triggers an AI Unit charge. Chargeability is determined by the feature and mode of access (Box Web App UI vs API).

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Features included in your plan

In plan interactions do not deduct from your monthly AI Unit pool:
  • Box Agent (Standard Mode): Standard interactive end-user prompts within the UI.
  • Box Agent (Pro Mode): Exclusive to Enterprise Advanced. When enabled, the agent utilizes advanced reasoning capabilities for complex tasks like strategic analysis or coding. Note: Responses may take longer due to increased processing, but it remains included in your plan when run interactively by a user in the Web App. The Box Agent via API is chargeable, however.
  • Custom Agents (Standard Mode): Tailored agents used within the Web App, provided they are not configured in Expanded Mode.
  • Box Apps and Search: Built-in platform conversational search capabilities.
  • Box Shield Pro & Auto-Classification: Includes native security classifications, the AI Classification Agent, and the AI Threat Analysis Agent. These automated protections run in the background at zero AI Unit cost.
AI Units do not apply to free Box AI features, such as Box Agent in Standard Mode (not Expanded Mode). Actions using the Box Agent or custom agent in Standard Mode do not count toward AI Units.
While these features do not consume your monthly AI Unit allocation, Box enforces a daily Box Agent quota on in-plan features to maintain performance stability.

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Model Context Protocol (MCP) Partners Integrations

For third-party platform integrations connected via the MCP framework, capacity metering is split by call type and feature category:
  • Only AI Usage Consumes AI Units: Traditional platform transactions (such as file fetches, folder navigation, or standard structural metadata requests) triggered by an MCP app do not affect your AI pool.
  • AI Extraction is Always Chargeable: Any metadata extraction (MDE) task orchestrated by an MCP tool is executed via API and consumes AI Units under standard extraction rules.
  • AI Q&A and Text Generation Metering:
    • Current State: Because MCP integrations function as API-driven developer access, all Q&A and text generation tasks orchestrated through the Box MCP server consume AI Units. (Note: Standard interactive use of Box AI directly within the native Box Web App UI remains included in your plan).
    • Future State: The metering framework will transition to differentiate between Published MCP Apps (from the public marketplace) and Custom-Built MCP Apps, altering how unit deductions are calculated.

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Chargeable Features (Consumes AI Units)

AI Units are consumed when actions are performed at scale, are automated, are not directly managed user-driven, or leverage advanced enterprise configurations:
  • Box AI APIs: Any access via the Q&A AI API or Text Gen AI API.
  • Box Automate Workflows: Any agent execution integrated into an automated Box workflow process.
  • Expanded Mode Agents: An optional configuration in Box AI Studio for Box or Custom Agents that removes standard query restrictions, allowing the agent to process massive, content-heavy datasets.
  • Standard and Enhanced Extract Agents: A tool designed for simple, structured, or short documents (e.g., receipts, invoices, passports, salary slips, or resumes typically under 5 pages). It is optimized for high-volume, time-sensitive pipelines where information can be directly read or normalized without complex reasoning or calculations.
    • Metadata Templates: Using Box AI to generate a new metadata template. See Using Box Extract to learn more.
Admin Console model labeling and Auto selection: Within the Admin Console and Box AI Studio, models are explicitly labeled as Standard or Premium to remove any guesswork. When building or configuring a custom agent, selecting the Auto model configuration defaults to a Standard model tier to optimize performance speed and unit cost-efficiency. Choosing a Premium model increases the rate of AI Unit consumption, but only when paired with one of the chargeable features listed above.

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Monitoring AI Unit usage

Only Account Admins have visibility into AI Unit consumption. To view current consumption against your monthly entitlement:
  1. Go to the Admin Console.
  2. Select Home > AI Insights to open the AI Insights dashboard.
  3. Locate the AI Units card.
To access historical data, Admins can now download the historical AI units consumption report with an ability to filter by date, user and AI Capability from the Reports page in the Admin Console.
Important Tracking Discrepancies to Note:
  • Data Lag: The AI Unit Insights card operates with an approximate 2-hour data lag. It does not track consumption in absolute real-time.
  • AI Studio Dashboard Window: The “Monthly Queries” chart within the AI Studio dashboard reflects a rolling 30-day window, whereas your official AI Unit allocation resets strictly on the first day of the calendar month.
  • User-Level Auditing: Admins can download detailed User Activity Reports to break down unit spend by individual user or specific agent. (Data is available retroactively to January 1, 2026).

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Reaching AI Units Quota

Box notifies admins at the following consumption thresholds:

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On track to exceed entitlement

  • What happens: The admin sees a purple warning banner in the Admin Console.
  • Recommended action: Contact your Box account manager to purchase an expansion block before operations are interrupted.

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At full entitlement:

  • What happens: Paid/chargeable AI features are blocked until the next entitlement period or until additional units are purchased. Free/included in plan Web App features remain fully functional.
    • Admin view: A persistent red warning banner appears in the Admin Console, and an automated email notification is sent.
    • User view: Users receive an error message (“AI unit entitlement has been reached”) if they attempt to trigger a blocked feature.
Minor overages: You may occasionally notice that your final monthly usage slightly exceeds your allotment (e.g., 20,320 / 20,000). This occurs due to the 2-hour processing lag and internal business rules designed to let active, in-flight requests finish rather than breaking an active user’s session mid-task. New requests are blocked immediately following.

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Daily Box Agent quota

The daily Box Agent quota applies to included usage for the Box Agent and custom agents not in Expanded Mode, and resets automatically each day at midnight in the user’s local timezone. These quotas are set globally, allocated on a per-user basis, and are not shared across users in the organization.

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How Box Agent usage varies by type of work

Box Agent supports a wide range of enterprise workflows, from quickly finding information to performing complex analysis across large volumes of content. The amount of daily quota used depends on the complexity of the task, the content being analyzed, and the level of reasoning required.
These percentages are planning estimates and are subject to change. Actual daily quota usage varies based on the complexity of the request, the amount of content analyzed, and the level of reasoning required.

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After a user’s daily Box Agent quota is used

When a user reaches their daily quota while working with the Box Agent, they are automatically transitioned to Box Agent Lite across all surfaces (Box AI Home, Box Documents, Box Notes, and Box Hubs).
  • Box Agent Lite is a simplified Box AI experience where you can continue asking for insights on your files.
  • Box Agent Lite remains the AI experience until the quota resets automatically and the user returns to the full Box Agent.
  • You can continue getting insights on your content across AI Home, Documents, Notes, and Hubs.

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AI experiences not affected by the daily quota

The following AI capabilities do not use a user’s daily Box Agent quota because they consume your organization’s AI Unit allotment instead:
  • Custom agents running in Expanded Mode
  • Box Automate
  • Box Extract
  • Box AI APIs
  • MCP Server AI workflows
  • CLI AI workflows

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Expanded Mode and the daily quota

Agents in Expanded Mode are not subject to a user’s daily Box Agent quota. Queries consume your organization’s shared AI Unit allotment and remain available while AI Units are available. If your users regularly reach their daily Box Agent quota, consider one of the following:
  • Use custom agents with Expanded Mode for higher-volume AI workflows.
  • Use Box Automate for repetitive or background AI tasks.
  • Contact your Box administrator or Box account team to discuss the best option for your organization.

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AI Unit consumption

For information on how AI Units are consumed across Box AI APIs, agents, and Automate workflows, reference the Box AI Units consumption table.

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Chargeability & Exhaustion Matrix

To manage your budget effectively, it is critical to look at both the feature name and how it is being executed. The table below outlines the definitive chargeability status and the expected operational behavior if your organization exhausts its monthly AI Unit allocation.

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Best practices for efficient AI Unit management

  • Choose models intentionally: Use Standard models (or select the Auto setting) for routine tasks, bulk processing, and basic summarization to optimize cost-efficiency. Reserve Premium models for complex reasoning, multi-step tasks, and long-document analysis.
  • Configure Custom Agents smartly: Prevent unexpected drawdowns by setting a maximum query length cap, disabling agents that are not actively used, and restricting agent folder scope (fewer scanned files equals fewer AI Units consumed).
  • Monitor proactively: Review the AI Units card on the AI Insights dashboard weekly. Identify heavy users through the Top AI Users chart on the AI Insights dashboard or in the AI Units report.

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How the entitlement resets

  • Calendar reset: Entitlements reset at the start of each entitlement period. Unused units do not carry over.
  • Mid-period purchases: If you purchase additional AI Units mid-period, access to blocked features is restored shortly after the purchase is processed. These add-on units will carry over through the end of your contract order date.
  • To purchase more: Contact your Box account manager or reach out directly to the sales team at sales@box.com for baseline pricing tiers and subscription blocks.

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Box AI Units FAQs

No. AI Units operate on a “use it or lose it” basis and reset on the first day of each entitlement period (e.g. monthly).
The AI Studio dashboard displaying Monthly Queries tracks usage on a rolling 30-day window, which functions independently of your strict entitlement period (e.g. calendar month).
No. Standard document interactions, standard Custom Agents, and Pro Mode within the Box Web App UI are user-driven and are included in the plan. AI Units are primarily consumed by API calls, Automate workflows, Expanded Mode configurations, and Metadata Extraction Agents.
No. Box Agent in Pro Mode (and access to Box AI Studio for Custom Agents) requires an upgrade to the Enterprise Advanced tier.
No. The background AI tools included with Box Shield Pro (like the AI Classification Agent and AI Threat Analysis Agent) are native security features covered by the Shield Pro license and do not deplete your monthly AI Units.
Box explicitly labels all model options in the Box AI Studio configuration dropdown as either Standard or Premium. If you select Auto, the agent dynamically defaults to a Standard model tier to protect your unit allocation.
Box employs a ~2-hour data processing lag and chooses not to terminate in-flight active processes mid-query to avoid data corruption. Once those active sessions conclude, new chargeable requests are blocked.
No. The following do not count toward a user’s daily Box Agent quota because they use your organization’s shared AI Units instead:
  • Custom agents running in Expanded Mode
  • Box Automate workflows
  • Box Extract
  • AI workflows accessed through the Box AI APIs, MCP Server, or CLI
Expanded Mode is not subject to a user’s daily Box Agent quota. Instead, queries consume your organization’s shared AI Units and are limited by your organization’s available AI Unit allocation.
Contact your organization’s Box Administrator. The administrator can contact Box Sales to purchase an immediate allotment block or coordinate internal workflows until the entitlement resets.
Yes. AI remains available in Notes, Documents, Hubs and AI Home. After reaching the daily Box Agent quota, AI requests continue through the standard AI experience until the user’s daily quota resets. If Expanded Mode is available, users can also use a custom agent running in Expanded Mode.
Last modified on August 19, 2026