> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.north.cloud/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.north.cloud/docs/features/coverage.md). # Coverage Learn how North covers your cloud spend with commitments, and how North carries the commitment term and the risk on your behalf. North's Coverage is the commitment management engine for AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure. It works out how much of your cloud spend is worth covering with a commitment, and then covers it. You get the savings that a long commitment earns, without the exposure that a long commitment usually carries. North covers your spend two ways. North calls them Flexbot and Autobot. Run either one on its own, or set what share of your coverage runs on each. ## Flexbot Flexbot is coverage that North holds for you. North buys the commitment in its own accounts, and the discount reaches your account. With Flexbot, you are never on the hook for a long-term cloud commitment. North assumes the full commitment term and the risks that come with it. Your needs can scale up or down. You do not have to worry about inflexible contracts, or about being stuck with unused commitments. Traditional models expose customers to penalty fees, sunk costs, and rigid timeframes. Flexbot gives you flexibility instead. If your usage drops, or your business conditions change, North resizes your commitments. You pay for what you actually use. The flexibility works both ways: * **Downsizing.** If your needs decrease, North can retrieve or reduce commitment quantities. The average retrieval time is seven days, and the best case is same day. * **Upsizing.** If your usage increases, North adds new commitments without a procurement cycle. The risk and the operational overhead stay with North. You do not get stuck with commitments you no longer need, and you do not pay for resources you no longer use. {% hint style="info" %} **Note:**\ Retrieval times and flexibility depend on your volume and on the terms of your North Master Services Agreement (MSA). All aspects of commitment insurance and flexibility are subject to the terms in the [MSA](https://north.cloud/terms-of-service). {% endhint %} ## Autobot Autobot buys commitments directly in your own account. You own them, and they sit in your billing organization like any commitment you bought yourself. Autobot does not buy your whole target at once. It commits a share in the first month, then adds to that position month over month, until it reaches the coverage you asked for. Autobot acts within the permissions you grant it. Until you grant them, North recommends and does not purchase. ## How North Manages Risk Every commitment carries the same underlying risk. You commit for a term, and your usage moves. North manages that risk differently for each mechanism, because Flexbot commitments sit in North's accounts and Autobot commitments sit in yours. ### Flexbot Flexbot manages risk through two models. **Managed by North.Cloud.** North aggregates and orchestrates commitments across its own accounts. If a commitment becomes underutilized, North can reallocate it, or remove it from your billing organization entirely. You reach high coverage rates without the usual lock-in. **Insured by North.Cloud.** For selected commitments, North covers underutilization directly. If your usage falls below the commitment, even to zero, North covers the shortfall. North provides credits or cash back against your North invoice or fees. Up to 100% of monthly commitment costs are protected, whatever your utilization does. ### Autobot Autobot holds commitments in your own account, so North manages the risk by controlling what gets bought and when. It works two ways. **Building the position in steps.** Your exposure grows only as your coverage grows. You are never committed to your whole target on day one. **Sizing every step against current usage.** Your target is a share of your spend, so when your spend falls, the amount needed to reach that target falls too. The next step is smaller. In a month where your coverage already meets your target, Autobot buys nothing. ## How North Decides What to Buy North reads your cloud usage, your commitment history, and your projected growth. It generates a new set of recommendations every month. Each month's recommendations take account of how your usage has changed since the last set. They decide what North buys for you that month. What happens to a recommendation depends on which mechanism holds the coverage: * For your Autobot share, North purchases the commitment automatically, within the permissions you granted. * For your Flexbot share, North creates a task for your Customer Success Engineer. Your CSE works with you to attach North's Savings Pods to your account. The discount reaches you once those pods are in place. ## Where to Go Next Use these guides to configure coverage, purchase commitments, and track your savings: {% content-ref url="/pages/x83trPlFR1VQIrj9bvnE" %} [Getting Started](/docs/features/coverage/getting-started.md) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="/pages/ZNcol773ZdD9zSkCxRo2" %} [Commitments](/docs/features/coverage/commitments.md) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="/pages/FDXEhnrYjIu3VeMTjUJa" %} [Purchasing Coverage](/docs/features/coverage/purchasing-coverage.md) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="/pages/C9RmMAcuWMbTYOCEyJzp" %} [Coverage Plans](/docs/features/coverage/coverage-plans.md) {% endcontent-ref %} --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. 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