What a 402 error means
An HTTP 402 from FluxRouter means your account reached its spend ceiling, either the Free $1 hard cap or your paid account ceiling. How to diagnose and resolve it.
An HTTP 402 (Payment Required) from FluxRouter means your account has reached its spend ceiling for the month. The request was not served because serving it would exceed your cap. This is a safety limit, not a bug, and it is recoverable.
Symptom
Your request fails with an HTTP 402 status. You may see it as a 402 from your SDK, a "Payment Required" message, or an error body indicating the account spend limit was reached.
Cause
You have hit your monthly spend ceiling. There are two cases:
- Free plan: you reached the $1 monthly hard cap. Free hard-stops at the cap rather than charging you. See The Free plan.
- Paid plan: you reached your account's monthly spend ceiling. The ceiling is a runaway-cost protection that starts modest and rises as you build a payment history.
In both cases the gateway is doing its job: it stops at the ceiling instead of letting spend run unbounded.
Fix
Pick the path that matches your situation:
| If you are on... | To resolve a 402 |
|---|---|
| Free and hit $1 | Add a paid plan to keep going now, or wait for the monthly cap to reset. |
| Pay As You Go / Builder / Scale and hit your ceiling | Wait for the next monthly reset, or request a higher ceiling. |
| Any plan and the 402 is unexpected | Check your usage for a runaway loop or leaked key (see below). |
1. Add a plan or upgrade
If you are on Free and need more than $1/month, choose a paid plan on the pricing page. Your API key does not change when you upgrade. See Plans and what's included.
2. Wait for the monthly reset
Spend ceilings are per calendar month. If you can wait, your account resumes serving when the cap resets at the start of the next month.
3. Request a higher ceiling
On paid plans the ceiling rises automatically over time with your cleared spend and account age, so for most accounts the answer is to keep using the platform and let it grow. If you have a near-term spike (a launch or a batch job), contact support or your account rep to discuss raising it ahead of schedule. See Spend ceilings and limits.
4. Rule out a runaway
If a 402 arrives sooner than expected, check your usage at /home/usage for unexpected volume. A retry loop, a misconfigured job, or a leaked API key can burn through a ceiling fast. The ceiling is exactly what caps the damage in that case. Rotate the key in the dashboard if you suspect it leaked, then fix the source of the traffic. See Reading your usage and invoices.