AI Control Center — settings, usage, and credits in one place
AI Control Center — settings, usage, and credits in one place
Overview
The AI center is the top-level workspace page where admins configure Walnut's AI features, watch how much AI is being used across the workspace, and — where enabled — track AI credits and buy more.
Everything AI-related in the product now flows into one place: what's turned on, who's using it, and how much of your credit budget is left.
Open it from the left navigation → AI center, or go straight to /ai.
Snapshot
Location: Left navigation → AI center
Role access: Anyone in the workspace can open the page. Editing settings requires the Edit Company Settings permission (Admin).
Tabs (each is gated separately, so you may see a subset):
- Usage — always visible when the AI center is enabled. This is the landing tab.
- Settings — AI Mode context and knowledge sources.
- Buyer Xpert — Buyer Xpert workspace configuration (also requires the Buyer Xpert entitlement).
- Credits & billing — credit balance, purchase history, and the "Buy more" entry point.
- Provider keys — connect your own LLM provider keys with bring your own key (BYOK). Admins only, and requires the BYOK entitlement.
When only one tab is available, the tab bar hides itself and the page shows that tab's content directly.
Usage
The Usage tab is the landing view — the "why open this page" surface. It shows how AI is being consumed across the workspace:
- The current AI credit balance (when credits & billing is enabled).
- A breakdown of AI usage per feature — AI Mode edits, Buyer Xpert conversations, image generation, and the other AI-powered tools your workspace has access to.
- Which users are driving the most AI activity.
Use Usage to spot which features are earning their keep, catch runaway usage, and decide whether to buy more credits or tune settings.
Settings
The Settings tab is where an admin configures how Walnut's AI understands your workspace. It's the same AI Mode context configuration that previously lived in Company Settings — moved here so every AI control sits under one roof.
Editing requires the Edit Company Settings permission. Presenters and Editors see the tab in read-only form.
Buyer Xpert
The Buyer Xpert tab is the workspace-level configuration for Buyer Xpert. Configure your persona, tone, knowledge sources, and the questions Buyer Xpert should — and shouldn't — answer.
The tab only appears if:
- Your workspace has the Buyer Xpert entitlement, and
- The Buyer Xpert feature is enabled for your workspace.
Credits & Billing
The Credits & billing tab is where you see the credit balance for the current contract term, review recent purchases, and top up.
Credits are the currency Walnut uses to meter AI-powered features (AI Mode edits, Buyer Xpert conversations, image generation, and more). Every AI action costs a small number of credits; the Usage tab shows what's been spent on what.
Buy credits
Click Buy more — from either the Credits & billing tab or the credit chip in the workspace top bar — to open the Buy credits picker.
Buying credits requires an Account Owner or Company Admin role. Anyone else opening the picker sees a message asking them to contact an admin.
The picker lists the available credit bundles. Each row shows the bundle name, the number of credits it includes, and the price; the middle bundle is pre‑selected. Pick a bundle, review the total at the bottom of the picker, and click Continue to payment to open a secure Stripe‑hosted checkout in a new tab. Pay by card, and the purchased credits are added to your workspace balance as soon as Stripe confirms the payment.
Purchased credits sit on top of the credits included in your plan and expire one year after the purchase date. Walnut always draws down the plan's allotment before touching purchased credits, so buying more never shortens the life of what you already have.
Click Cancel, press Esc, click the background, or use the ✕ button to close the picker without buying. Buying credits does not create a browser-history entry, so the browser Back button won't reopen the picker.
Invoices
Underneath the buy flow, the Invoices panel lists every AI‑credit purchase this workspace has made, most recent first. Each row has:
- Invoice — the invoice number, linking to the Stripe‑hosted invoice PDF (opens in a new tab). Older purchases and any others that don't have a numbered invoice show a Receipt link to Stripe's hosted receipt page instead. A dash means Stripe has no downloadable document for that purchase.
- Date — when the purchase was made.
- Description — the bundle that was bought. The expiry date appears on a second line underneath. Packs arranged directly with Walnut (rather than self‑served through the picker) show Invoiced by Walnut on the second line — they have no Stripe invoice number and no downloadable receipt.
- Status — Paid for a successful purchase, or Refunded once a charge has been refunded.
- Amount — the total amount charged.
Before any credits have been bought, the panel reads "No credit purchases yet. Buy credits from the Usage tab and the receipts will show up here."
Provider Keys
The Provider keys tab is where an admin sets up bring your own key (BYOK). BYOK routes Walnut's AI features through your own OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or xAI account instead of Walnut's shared keys. While BYOK is active, AI calls on the tiers you've mapped are billed to your provider account rather than deducted from your Walnut AI credits.
On this tab you can:
- Connect a provider key. Walnut verifies each key with the provider before saving it.
- Map each AI tier to a model, or leave it on Walnut default.
- Choose a failure policy (Fall back to Walnut or Stop) and what content Walnut retains.
- Activate or Deactivate BYOK, and review every change in the Change history panel.
The tab only appears if:
- You have the Edit Company Settings permission (Admin). Editors and Presenters don't see the tab at all, and
- Your workspace has the BYOK entitlement.
If a provider key stops working while BYOK is active under the Stop policy, a Provider outage banner appears at the top of every AI center tab until you replace the key or switch to Fall back to Walnut.
For the full setup, see Bring your own key (BYOK).
When You Only See Some Tabs
The AI center is designed to grow with your workspace:
- Usage-only — new workspaces see just Usage until other AI features are turned on. The tab bar hides itself in that case, and the page acts as a pure AI usage monitor.
- Settings and Buyer Xpert — appear once those features are enabled for your workspace.
- Credits & billing — appears when your workspace is on a credits-based AI plan.
- Provider keys — appears for admins once your workspace is entitled to BYOK.
If a tab you expect isn't there, check with your Walnut CSM or contact support@walnut.io to confirm what's included in your plan.
FAQs
Where did the AI settings under Company Settings go? AI Mode context and Buyer Xpert configuration moved into the AI center so every AI control lives in one place. The same permissions still apply — you need Edit Company Settings to change them.
Who can open the AI center? Anyone in the workspace can open the page and see Usage. Editing Settings or Buyer Xpert configuration requires Admin. The Provider keys tab is visible only to admins.
How are credits counted? Different AI actions cost different numbers of credits. The Usage tab breaks down consumption per feature so you can see where the credits went.
What happens if I run out of credits? Depending on your plan, AI features either soft-warn or hard-stop when the balance reaches zero. Buy more from the Credits & billing tab (or the "Buy more" chip in the top bar) to keep going.
Can we use our own LLM provider instead of Walnut credits? Yes, if your workspace is entitled to BYOK. An admin connects your provider keys in the Provider keys tab. See Bring your own key (BYOK).