> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://lava.so/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to Fund Your Lava Account

> Add funds, check your balance, review usage, and recover from insufficient-balance errors — from the dashboard or your AI chat.

Lava bills paid providers from your account balance. Free providers run without funds; paid providers (most model APIs and many data services) charge per call. This guide covers funding, balance checks, usage history, and what to do when a call fails on insufficient balance.

"Wallet" and "balance" refer to the same number on your account — the dashboard says "wallet"; your chat usually says "balance".

## Prerequisites

* A Lava account.
* The Lava MCP installed in your AI chat. See [How to Install the Lava MCP](/mcp/install) if you haven't done this yet.

**On Team or Enterprise Claude accounts.** A Claude org admin must enable Lava at the org level before any member can fund a wallet through it. See [Install for a Team or Enterprise Workspace](/mcp/install#install-for-a-team-or-enterprise-workspace) for the admin and member setup.

## Add Funds via the Dashboard

The dashboard is the simplest path for the first deposit, since it lets you save a payment method for later in-chat top-ups.

1. Open `https://www.lava.so/dashboard/wallet`.
2. Click "Add Funds".
3. Enter an amount between $10 and $10,000.
4. Add a payment method or select a saved one.
5. Confirm the charge.

**Expected result.** Your wallet balance increases by the amount you charged. The new balance shows in the dashboard header.

## Add Funds from Your Chat

Once you have a saved payment method, you can top up without leaving the chat. Type:

```text theme={null}
Add $25 to my Lava wallet.
```

What happens next depends on what's on your account:

* **You have a saved payment method.** Lava charges it directly and replies with the new balance.
* **You have no saved payment method.** Lava replies with a checkout link. Open it, complete payment in the browser, and return to your chat.
* **You didn't say how much to add.** Lava replies with your saved payment methods and current balance so you can pick one and pick an amount.

The minimum charge is $10. The maximum is $10,000.

**Expected result.** After a successful charge, asking your chat for your balance returns the new total.

## Check Your Balance

From the chat:

```text theme={null}
What's my Lava balance?
```

Your chat replies with your current balance in USD:

```json theme={null}
// Lava sends back:
{
  "balance": "47.50"
}
```

The dashboard's wallet page (`https://www.lava.so/dashboard/wallet`) shows the same balance, plus a chart of recent activity.

## Review Usage

Lava tracks every call your chat makes. Two views:

### Daily Summary (Default)

Ask the chat for a summary:

```text theme={null}
Show me my Lava usage for the last 7 days.
```

Your chat replies with daily totals — spend per day, request counts per day, broken out by service.

To widen the window, just name the date you want to start from:

```text theme={null}
Show me my Lava usage since April 1.
```

### Per-Request List

To see individual calls instead of daily totals, ask:

```text theme={null}
Show me my last 20 Lava requests with cost breakdown.
```

Each entry shows the service, the model (when relevant), the cost, and whether the call succeeded.

## Insufficient-Balance Behavior

When a paid call would exceed your balance, Lava stops it before it runs and your chat tells you:

```json theme={null}
// Lava sends back:
{
  "error": "Insufficient wallet balance",
  "code": 402
}
```

The call did not run; you weren't charged.

### How to Recover

1. Top up the wallet — see [Add Funds from Your Chat](#add-funds-from-your-chat) above. The minimum is \$10.
2. Retry the call.

If you hit insufficient-balance often and want a buffer, set a higher balance from the dashboard and skim your recent usage to size your top-ups against actual spend.

## Spend Keys (Advanced)

Lava also supports **Spend Keys** — API keys with a wallet attached, useful for sharing budget with agents or other tools without sharing your account. Spend Keys are configured outside the MCP. See [Spend Keys overview](/guides/ai-spend-keys) for setup.

## Troubleshooting

### "I funded but the chat still shows zero balance"

Some AI chats cache balance. Ask the chat for the balance again, or refresh the dashboard.

### "Payment method failed"

Check the dashboard for the failure reason. Common causes: card declined by the issuer, expired card, billing address mismatch. Update the payment method in `https://www.lava.so/dashboard/wallet` and retry.

### "I want to charge in a currency other than USD"

Lava bills in USD only. Currency conversion happens at the card issuer's exchange rate.

## Next Steps

* [How to Connect Services through Lava MCP](/mcp/connect-services) — once funded, you may want to add more services.
* [Lava MCP Tool Reference](/mcp/tool-reference) — full parameter detail for `add_funds`, `get_balance`, `get_usage_history`, and `create_referral`.