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A workflow execution is the main metric unit in Brain Studio. It is counted once, when the workflow starts, regardless of how long it runs, how many messages it exchanges with the user, or whether it finishes successfully or fails.

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Key concepts

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Workflows vs Tools

Workflow

Designed to converse with users. Contains message nodes (text, images, buttons) and logic nodes (code, API, conditionals).

Tool

Designed to execute technical operations. Only contains logic nodes. It does not converse, it only processes.
Only workflows add executions. A Tool never counts as an execution, whether a workflow uses it, an AI Agent uses it, or you call it directly via API.

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Child workflow

A child workflow is a workflow that another workflow calls. It starts its own execution, so it counts separately from the workflow that called it.

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What counts as an execution?

The rule is simple: every workflow that starts = one execution.

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Counts as an execution

  • Every workflow that starts, through any channel (WhatsApp, Instagram, web, etc.), via API, or via webhook
  • Every child workflow that another workflow calls
  • A workflow that fails halfway: the execution counts when it starts, not when it finishes

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Doesn’t count as an execution

  • Tools, both the ones a workflow or AI Agent uses and the ones you call directly via API
  • Tests from the Brain Studio Tester
  • Messages the user sends while the workflow is still running
  • Sending a WhatsApp template or campaign, which is billed as a template message
Tests you run by messaging a real WhatsApp number or the sandbox do count as executions, just like production traffic.

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Same execution or a new one

While the workflow is running, everything that happens inside it is the same execution, and resuming it is not billed again:
  • A Question node waits for the user’s reply.
  • The user opens a payment link, pays, and comes back to the conversation.
  • A node fails and the workflow takes its error branch.
A new execution happens when another workflow starts:
  • The user writes again after the workflow finished.
  • The user writes again after the workflow’s wait expired.
  • A workflow calls a child workflow.

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What is included in the cost?

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Included in one execution

  • Unlimited messages while the workflow is running
  • Every node that runs inside the workflow
  • The use of Tools (Workflow → Tool)

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Billed separately

  • AI model tokens: Natural language processing is billed according to model usage (GPT-4, Claude, etc.). This applies to the AI Agent, the AI Router, and AI Tasks.
  • KYC: Identity verifications have an independent cost per validation performed. In addition, the marketplace biometrics app is built with workflows: every workflow that starts inside the app adds its own execution.
  • Electronic signature: Each signature process is billed individually.
  • Payments: Each transaction has its own rate and is only billed when it succeeds.
  • WhatsApp templates: Billed as template messages according to their category and destination country.
  • Conversations: Channel messaging has its own billing, which doesn’t change the execution count.
The store (Shop) has no charge of its own: browsing the catalog and building the cart adds no executions or other charges.
The rule is the same for every company: the main workflow and each child workflow always count, and no per-company setting changes that. What changes is how you pay. Self-service plans deduct executions from their plan’s bundle and, once it runs out, from their credit wallet. SMB and Enterprise customers have a monthly package and pay for whatever exceeds it at month end. See Pricing.

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Practical examples

A user says hello, picks options from a button menu, and asks a question. That’s six messages, and each reply goes through a Question node that waits for the user within the same execution.Total: 1 execution
Your “Support” workflow attends the user → calls 3 Tools (validate user, query history, create ticket) → calls the “Satisfaction Survey” child workflow.Total: 2 executions (Tools don’t count; the child workflow does)
Your account-opening workflow uses the marketplace biometrics app. The app starts its own workflows, for example one that validates identity and another that builds the report.Total: 3 executions (1 from the main workflow + 2 from the app), plus the identity validation, which is billed separately. The number depends on how many workflows the app starts.
You send 1,000 WhatsApp templates and 120 people reply with a button that starts your support workflow.Total: 120 executions. The 1,000 templates aren’t executions: they’re billed as template messages.
A user asks for a credit card and the workflow asks for their monthly income. The user doesn’t reply, the wait expires, and two days later they write again.Total: 2 executions. Had they replied before the wait expired, it would be 1.
The workflow looks up an order in an external API that doesn’t respond. The workflow takes the node’s error branch and asks the user to try again later.Total: 1 execution. The execution counts when it starts, so failing doesn’t remove it.
A user contacts you 3 times in the same day:
  • 9:00 AM - Asks about their balance
  • 2:00 PM - Requests a report
  • 6:00 PM - Asks to update their data
Total: 3 executions (each conversation starts a new workflow)
Your external system calls a workflow via API every time an order is created, and the workflow sends the buyer a confirmation template. 50 orders are created during the day.Total: 50 executions, plus the 50 templates, which are billed separately

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Getting an execution ID

When an execution starts, Brain Studio generates a unique identifier (executionId). This ID stays the same for the whole execution, including when the workflow waits for the user and then resumes. Each child workflow and each Tool has its own executionId; to group a full chain, use the Root execution ID in the executions report. You can access it from any node using:

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Summary

In Brain Studio you pay for every workflow that starts, not for each step of the process. Long conversations, messages, and Tools don’t add executions.
Splitting a large workflow into several child workflows keeps the project organized and easier to maintain, but each child adds its own execution. Keep that in mind when you design your workflows.

How billing works

Key concepts about organization-level billing in Jelou.

Pricing

Pricing details for conversations, campaigns, and Connect seats.

Your First Tool

Create your first Tool from scratch and publish it to reuse it in your flows.

Workflows with AI

Configure an AI Agent that collects data from your users.

Context Variables

Access the executionId and other variables available during execution.