Salesforce Flex Credits for agent API and MCP calls
What Salesforce has said so far about billing agent traffic, and how to count yours before the rate lands.
Salesforce will charge Flex Credits for every successful call a registered AI agent makes to a production org, over MCP or direct API. It calls each one a Headless Platform Interaction (HPI). The credits per HPI are still TBA, sandboxes and developer orgs are excluded, and Salesforce promises 30 days' notice before metering starts.
By the Clientell AI team · How we write · Updated 12 Nov 2026
What is a Headless Platform Interaction?
An HPI is the billing unit for agent traffic. Per Salesforce Help, every successful call a registered agent makes to Salesforce is metered as one, whether it arrives over Model Context Protocol (MCP) or a direct API. Each HPI shows up in Digital Wallet and draws down Flex Credits.
It differs from the API limits you already watch. Those are an API request limit. This bills per call. And it only applies to an agent that has its own identity on the platform, which Salesforce calls Agentic Identity. The Help article compares it to issuing the agent its own badge instead of lending it an employee badge.
Salesforce Ben reported on 24 Sep 2026 that the cost per interaction is fixed, while the number of interactions depends on how the agent behaves. An agent that needs twelve calls to answer a question costs four times one that needs three.
What counts as an HPI, and what does not?
| Call | Counted? | What Salesforce says |
|---|---|---|
| A successful call from a registered agent over MCP, in production | Yes, once a rate is published | Named in the Help article. |
| A successful call from a registered agent over direct API, in production | Yes, same rate | Named in the Help article. |
| Any of those calls in a sandbox, scratch org or Developer Edition org | No | Salesforce says these orgs do not incur HPI metering. |
| An existing integration that is not an agent | Not under this model | Salesforce says pricing and security options for traditional integrations stay as they are. |
| A failed call | Not stated | The article says "successful" and nothing more. |
| A call from an agent that is not registered | Not stated | The article requires registration. It does not describe billing for unregistered traffic. |
The article also says credits seeded into the org cover deploying solutions to production and running tests there. Source: Salesforce Help 005360285.
When does metering start, and when do you have to register?
No metering date exists yet. Salesforce ties it to a rate-card update and promises 30 days’ notice. Registration has its own clock, and it starts from a different notice.
- 31 Aug 2026The Flex Credits Rate Card lists Headless Platform Interaction under Customer 360 Platform. The multiplier reads TBA.
- 17 Sep 2026Salesforce publishes the Help article. A customer who buys on or after this date must register agents that use Salesforce APIs within three months of notice that Agentic Identity is available.
- November 2026Salesforce says it is targeting November 2026 for the security controls, agent registration and billing model. No date was published as of 12 Nov 2026. This is not a metering date.
- Not yet setSalesforce adds a number to the rate card and gives 30 days' notice before metering begins.
- Within three months of notice that Agentic Identity is availableAny customer that uses a Salesforce MCP server must register the agent.
- At renewalAn existing customer with API agents registers all of them and moves the connections to the new billing model.
Sources: Flex Credits Rate Card and Salesforce Help 005360285.
How much will agent calls cost?
Nobody can say yet, and any blog that gives you a dollar figure is guessing. Two of the three inputs are known. Salesforce lists Flex Credits at $500 per 100,000, which is $0.005 each. Your call volume is something you can measure. The missing one is credits per HPI.
Until that lands, think in steps. Every 1 credit of multiplier costs $0.005 per call, so 100,000 production calls a month cost $500 for each credit Salesforce sets. For scale, the Agentforce pricing page puts an Agentforce action at 20 credits, which is $0.10.
The calculator takes your volume, strips out sandbox and failed calls, and leaves the rate for you to type. For the per-action and per-user side, read Agentforce pricing explained.
How do you count your agent calls today?
The HPI meter does not run yet, so you cannot read it. The closest thing you have is the API request log. It counts every Platform SOAP, REST and Bulk API request, which makes it a proxy and not the real meter. Do it org by org.
- 01
Get the daily total first.
In Setup, open Company Information and read “API Requests, Last 24 Hours”, or search System Overview for the same line. In code, call GET /services/data/vXX.X/limits/ and read DailyApiRequests, or read the Sforce-Limit-Info header on any REST response. This is every API request in the org, not only agents. - 02
Turn on event log files and pull API Total Usage.
In Setup, open Event Monitoring Settings and switch on Generate Event Log Files. You need the View Event Log Files and API Enabled permissions, or View All Data. Then open the Event Log File Browser, or query the files:
Use the daily files. Salesforce says the hourly ones can miss lines during site switches or outages.SELECT Id, EventType, Interval, LogDate FROM EventLogFile WHERE EventType = 'ApiTotalUsage' AND Interval = 'Daily' ORDER BY LogDate DESC - 03
Group the lines by user and connected app.
Each line in the CSV is one API request. USER_NAME, CONNECTED_APP_NAME and CLIENT_NAME show who made it, and STATUS_CODE lets you drop the failures. Filter to the integration users and connected apps your agents sign in with. Keep MCP clients separate from batch jobs. - 04
Split production from sandboxes.
Run the same pull in each sandbox. Those calls are excluded from HPI metering, so they are the share you enter as sandbox traffic in the calculator. - 05
Pull a week, not a day.
Log files keep one day of data by default, so start a daily export now. Longer retention needs the Event Monitoring add-on.
One gap to know about. A single MCP tool call can fire several API requests, and the Help article does not say whether Salesforce bills the tool call or each request. Until it does, count both and keep them apart. Source: Salesforce Help 000385367.
What does this change for people who use Salesforce MCP?
Two things. First, Salesforce says use of any Salesforce MCP server requires agent registration, for all customers, within three months of its notice. Second, the MCP client has to be reconfigured to present the OAuth credentials of the registered agent. That is how Salesforce tells an agent from a person. If your connection runs under someone’s own login today, plan for a separate identity.
The OAuth side has its own deadlines. The Salesforce OAuth changes for 2026 page lists them, and a new agent connection is a good moment to deal with both.
The Clientell AI MCP server answers questions about org structure from an index it already holds, and reads live records on demand on the user’s own Salesforce connection and permissions. Whether Salesforce classes any third-party MCP connection as an agent is Salesforce’s decision. Ask your account executive in writing. The Clientell AI MCP server page has the setup, and the comparison with Salesforce Hosted MCP covers edition and setup differences.
Common questions about HPIs
What is a Headless Platform Interaction in Salesforce?
A Headless Platform Interaction (HPI) is one successful call a registered agent makes to Salesforce, over MCP or direct API. Each one is metered in Digital Wallet and draws down Flex Credits. Salesforce Help describes it in article 005360285, Understand AIforce Impact.
How much does an HPI cost in Flex Credits?
Salesforce has not published a number. The Flex Credits Rate Card (updated 31 Aug 2026) shows TBA. Salesforce's Agentforce pricing page lists Flex Credits at $500 per 100,000, so each credit Salesforce assigns to an HPI adds $0.005 per call. The Flex Credits calculator does the sum once you enter a rate.
Do sandbox and developer org calls use Flex Credits?
No. Sandboxes, scratch orgs and Developer Edition orgs do not incur HPI metering. Credits are only consumed in active production orgs, after agents are registered and the rate card has a number.
When will Salesforce start charging for MCP and API agent calls?
No date is set. Salesforce says it is targeting November 2026 for new security controls, agentic registration and a new billing model. No date was published as of 12 Nov 2026, and there is still no metering date. It says it will give 30 days' notice when it adds a number to the rate card and metering begins. Agentic usage is not metered today.
Does Claude, Cursor or Codex calling a Salesforce MCP server count?
Salesforce says any use of a Salesforce MCP server requires agent registration, and that MCP clients must be reconfigured to present the registered agent's OAuth credentials. Once registered, each successful call is an HPI. The rate is still TBA.
Are normal API integrations charged Flex Credits?
Salesforce says the pricing and security options for traditional integrations stay as they are. The new usage type is for agentic traffic. If you are unsure which side a tool falls on, ask your account executive before renewal.
Sources: Salesforce Help, Understand AIforce Impact (article 005360285, published 17 Sep 2026) and Analyze Total API Requests Consumption and Limits (000385367, published 22 Jun 2026); Salesforce Flex Credits Rate Card (updated 31 Aug 2026); Salesforce Agentforce pricing page (salesforce.com/agentforce/pricing); Salesforce Ben, report of 24 Sep 2026. All checked 4 Nov 2026.
Last reviewed November 2026