Metering Boundary
This document explains where the metering boundary lives in the VARICON architecture and why it matters.
For broader billing context, see Billing Overview. For the usage lifecycle, see Usage Flow.
Definition
The metering boundary is the point in the pipeline where VARICON transitions from:
- free anomaly processing to
- billable intelligence work
In VARICON, the metering boundary sits:
after enrichment begins before projection and final output
Metering boundary diagram
Why the boundary is here
This placement reflects the product model:
Before the boundary
The system is performing baseline processing: • parsing • transforming • normalizing • reporting
This is part of the free, open-core value.
At and after the boundary
The system begins applying intelligence: • classification • prioritization • advanced interpretation
This is the paid value layer.
Design goals
The metering boundary is placed here to achieve four things.
1. Preserve trust
Users can adopt VARICON freely without worrying that basic detection is silently billed.
2. Align billing with value
Charging starts only when the system performs paid interpretation work.
3. Minimize infrastructure cost
VARICON does not meter raw traffic, log ingestion, or storage-heavy pipelines.
4. Keep the model explainable
The rule is simple:
detection is free intelligence is paid
What crosses the boundary
What crosses the boundary is not raw payload data. It is the anomaly as a billable analysis object.
Typical billable metadata may include: • project identifier • run identifier • anomaly count • enrichment status • billing period metadata
What does not cross the boundary
The billing layer should not require: • raw request bodies • raw response bodies • unrestricted private debugging payloads
This keeps metering clean, explainable, and safe.
Boundary behavior in failure scenarios
If enrichment succeeds
• usage is counted • anomaly continues to projection • artifacts are generated
If enrichment fails
• pipeline may continue • artifacts may still be generated • usage should not be incremented for failed paid work
This maintains VARICON’s fail-open behavior.
Boundary behavior in local mode
In local or offline usage: • anomalies can still be detected • reports can still be generated • the metering boundary may never be crossed
That means billing remains zero.
Why this matters strategically
The metering boundary is not just a technical detail. It is part of the product strategy.
It enables: • open-core adoption • usage-based monetization • strong customer trust • clean separation between free and paid value
Summary
The metering boundary sits between: • baseline anomaly processing and • paid intelligence work
That boundary is the point where VARICON begins monetizing value.
VARICON does not meter what enters the pipeline. It meters what becomes meaningful.