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The Lava desktop agent draws from your balance each time it calls an app’s API on your behalf. Before it can do paid work, your balance needs funds. This page covers how to add funds, check your balance, understand what costs money, and what happens when it runs low.
Adding funds opens the Lava dashboard in your browser. There is no in-app checkout. The desktop app links you directly to the billing page.

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Prerequisites

  • Lava Desktop installed and signed in.

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Add Funds

1

Open the Lava home pane

Click the Lava icon at the top of the sidebar (the orange stacked circles). The home pane opens in the main area.
2

Go to the Account tab

Click Account in the home pane tab row. Your current balance appears here alongside an Add funds button.
3

Click Add Funds

Click Add funds. Lava opens https://www.lava.so/dashboard/wallet/billing in your default browser.
4

Complete payment in the browser

Enter an amount, add a payment method, and confirm. Your balance reflects the added funds.
5

Return to Lava Desktop

Switch back to the app. The Account tab reflects your new balance.
Expected result. The balance shown on the Account tab increases by the amount you added.

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Check Your Balance and Recent Usage

Open the Lava home pane and click Account. The tab shows:
  • Your current balance in USD
  • A list of recent activity with per-call costs
For a fuller view of your usage history, the dashboard at https://www.lava.so/dashboard/wallet shows spend by day and by service.

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What Costs Money

Every time the agent calls an app’s API on your behalf, that call draws from your balance. There are two kinds of calls:
  • Model calls: the AI model the agent uses to understand your request and decide what to do. These run on every task.
  • Provider calls: the API requests the agent makes to your connected apps (reading a calendar, sending an email, posting to Slack, querying a CRM). Each app’s API charges a small amount per call.
Together, a single task can involve several calls. A task that sends one email, for example, typically makes one model call to draft it and one provider call to send it. Cost per task varies with complexity. A task that reads one inbox and drafts one reply costs less than a task that searches across three apps and makes multiple writes. You can review a breakdown of calls and costs on the Account tab after any run. Free providers (apps whose APIs do not charge Lava) draw no balance for provider calls. Only the model call applies. For more on how the gateway handles billing, see How to Fund Your Lava Account.

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When Your Balance Runs Low

The agent checks your balance before each task. If your balance is too low to start a task, the agent pauses and tells you. It does not attempt the task. Add funds and ask it to try again. When a paid call would exceed your balance mid-task, Lava stops that call before it runs. The task halts at that point.
To avoid interruptions, keep a comfortable buffer. Check the Account tab after a few tasks to get a sense of your typical per-task cost, then top up accordingly.

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Troubleshooting

Check your internet connection and try again. If the dashboard page doesn’t load, go to https://www.lava.so/dashboard/wallet/billing directly in your browser.
The Account tab may be showing a cached value. Navigate away from the tab and back, or restart Lava Desktop. If the balance is still zero after refreshing, check your browser for a payment confirmation from Lava.
Add funds via the Account tab, then ask the agent to continue or restart the task. See Add Funds above.
For other issues, see Troubleshooting.

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Next Steps

Working with the Agent

Give the agent tasks, follow its work, and review what it does.

How Lava Desktop Works

Understand the gateway, the approval gate, and what the agent can do.