What is AIC in the Copilot CLI?
AIC stands for AI Credits, the billing unit GitHub Copilot switched to on June 1, 2026. One AIC is $0.01, so a footer reading "Session: 100 AIC used" cost $1.00. The abbreviation is what the Copilot CLI prints; GitHub's billing docs write it out as "AI credits". Verified 2026-07-30.
Where you saw it
These are the three places the Copilot CLI prints the AIC token.
| Where | What it looks like | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Session footer | Session: 14.1 AIC used | On by default, redrawn as you work. This is the running total for the current session only, not your month. |
| /usage | 6,219 / 12,000 AIC | Session and weekly limit progress, with the reset date. What it shows depends on the limits your plan exposes. |
| Overage counter | 100 of 500 AIC | Appears once you are spending past the included allowance, against the overage budget you set. |
Read the "what it looks like" column as the format, not an exact quote of what you will see: the CLI rounds any value at or above 100 to a whole number, so a real footer can read "14.1 AIC used" but never "100.0 AIC used".
What your session cost
A session's AIC total converts to dollars at $0.01 each. The columns on the right show what share of each plan's monthly included allowance that many credits would use.
| AIC | Dollars | Copilot Pro | Copilot Pro+ | Copilot Max | Copilot Business | Copilot Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $0.01 | 0.067% | 0.014% | 0.005% | 0.053% | 0.026% |
| 5 | $0.05 | 0.333% | 0.071% | 0.025% | 0.263% | 0.128% |
| 10 | $0.10 | 0.667% | 0.143% | 0.05% | 0.526% | 0.256% |
| 25 | $0.25 | 1.67% | 0.357% | 0.125% | 1.32% | 0.641% |
| 50 | $0.50 | 3.33% | 0.714% | 0.25% | 2.63% | 1.28% |
| 100 | $1.00 | 6.67% | 1.43% | 0.5% | 5.26% | 2.56% |
| 250 | $2.50 | 16.7% | 3.57% | 1.25% | 13.2% | 6.41% |
| 500 | $5.00 | 33.3% | 7.14% | 2.5% | 26.3% | 12.8% |
| 1,000 | $10.00 | 66.7% | 14.3% | 5% | 52.6% | 25.6% |
| 1,300 | $13.00 | 86.7% | 18.6% | 6.5% | 68.4% | 33.3% |
| 2,500 | $25.00 | 166.7% | 35.7% | 12.5% | 131.6% | 64.1% |
A share above 100% means that session alone would exceed the plan's included monthly allowance and run into overage.
Dollars to credits
Working the other way, from a budget in dollars to the AIC it buys:
| Dollars | AIC |
|---|---|
| $1.00 | 100 |
| $5.00 | 500 |
| $10.00 | 1,000 |
| $20.00 | 2,000 |
| $50.00 | 5,000 |
| $100.00 | 10,000 |
What the CLI will not tell you
Every surface above is scoped to the current session. The CLI has no view onto your monthly quota or how much of it is left, and there is no command that prints it. Showing monthly AIC usage is an open feature request, github/copilot-cli#3932, still open as of 2026-07-30. Until it ships, the subtraction is manual: your plan's included AIC per month, minus what you have already spent.
| Plan | Included AIC / month | Value | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copilot Pro | 1,500 | $15.00 | Per user |
| Copilot Pro+ | 7,000 | $70.00 | Per user |
| Copilot Max | 20,000 | $200.00 | Per user |
| Copilot Business | 1,900 | $19.00 | Per user, pooled at the billing entity |
| Copilot Enterprise | 3,900 | $39.00 | Per user, pooled at the billing entity |
FAQ
- What does AIC stand for in the Copilot CLI?
- AIC stands for AI Credits, the billing unit GitHub Copilot switched to on June 1, 2026. One AIC is $0.01, so a footer reading "Session: 100 AIC used" cost $1.00. The abbreviation is what the Copilot CLI prints; GitHub's billing docs write it out as "AI credits". Verified 2026-07-30.
- How much is 1 AIC in dollars?
- One AIC is $0.01. 100 AIC is $1.00, and 1,000 AIC is $10.00.
- Why don't GitHub's billing docs say AIC?
- GitHub's own billing documentation spells the unit out as "AI credits" and never abbreviates it there. AIC is a CLI-only convention: the Copilot CLI prints it in the session footer, the /usage command, and the overage counter, which is where most people first run into the token.
- Can the Copilot CLI show my monthly AIC usage?
- Not yet. The CLI can show what the current session spent, but not your month-to-date total or what is left of your plan's allowance. Showing monthly usage is an open feature request, github/copilot-cli#3932.