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Update credit quotas in response to plan changes, billing cycles, or usage purchases. Use this for user upgrades/downgrades, monthly quota resets, credit purchases, or promotional bonuses. Supports three operations: set, increment, or decrement credits. Set to null for unlimited usage. Important: Setting unlimited credits automatically clears existing refill configurations.

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Required Permissions

Your root key must have one of the following permissions:
  • api.*.update_key (to update keys in any API)
  • api.<api_id>.update_key (to update keys in a specific API)

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Side Effects

Credit updates remove the key from cache immediately. Setting credits to unlimited automatically clears any existing refill settings. Changes take effect instantly but may take up to 30 seconds to propagate to all edge regions.

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Request

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keyId
string
required
The ID of the key to update (begins with key_).This is the database reference ID for the key, not the actual API key string that users authenticate with.This ID uniquely identifies which key’s credits will be updated.Example: key_2cGKbMxRyIzhCxo1Idjz8q
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operation
string
required
Defines how to modify the key’s remaining credits.Use set to replace current credits with a specific value or unlimited usage, increment to add credits for plan upgrades or credit purchases, and decrement to reduce credits for refunds or policy violations.Options: set, increment, decrementExample: set
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value
integer
The credit value to use with the specified operation.The meaning depends on the operation:
  • For set: this becomes the new remaining credits value
  • For increment: this amount is added to current credits
  • For decrement: this amount is subtracted from current credits
Set to null when using set operation to make the key unlimited (removes usage restrictions entirely).When decrementing, if the result would be negative, remaining credits are automatically set to zero.Credits are consumed during successful key verification, and when credits reach zero, verification fails with code=USAGE_EXCEEDED.Required when using increment or decrement operations. Optional for set operation (null creates unlimited usage).Min: 0Max: 9223372036854775807Example: 1000

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Response

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remaining
integer
The updated credit balance. Null indicates unlimited usage.
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refill
object
Automatic refill configuration (if set).
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interval
string
How often credits are refilled (daily or monthly).
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amount
integer
Number of credits to add on each refill.
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refillDay
integer
Day of the month for monthly refills (1-31).

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Examples

curl -X POST https://api.unkey.com/v2/keys.updateCredits \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <UNKEY_ROOT_KEY>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "keyId": "key_1234abcd",
    "operation": "set",
    "value": 10000
  }'

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Increment Credits (Purchase)

curl -X POST https://api.unkey.com/v2/keys.updateCredits \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <UNKEY_ROOT_KEY>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "keyId": "key_5678efgh",
    "operation": "increment",
    "value": 5000
  }'

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Set Unlimited Credits

curl -X POST https://api.unkey.com/v2/keys.updateCredits \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <UNKEY_ROOT_KEY>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "keyId": "key_9876wxyz",
    "operation": "set",
    "value": null
  }'

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Response Example

{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_upgrade_1234"
  },
  "data": {
    "remaining": 10000,
    "refill": {
      "interval": "monthly",
      "amount": 10000,
      "refillDay": 1
    }
  }
}

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