# Failed generations and refunds

What happens to your credits when a generation or message fails.

Sometimes a model can't finish a job. When that happens, you don't pay for it. Refunds are automatic, so you don't need to contact anyone.

## How refunds work

| Situation | What happens |
| --- | --- |
| An image generation fails | All its credits are returned |
| You create several images and some fail | Only the failed ones are refunded |
| A Magic tool fails | The credits are returned |
| A chat model fails to answer | The message credits are refunded. If the model used its whole reply limit thinking and wrote no text, the tokens it used are charged |
| The Movies Agent fails | The 8 credits are refunded |

Refunds appear in your balance and in the credit history on your [account page](/account).

## Example

You create 4 images with Nano Banana 2 at 20 credits each, so 80 credits are charged. If 3 images arrive and 1 fails, you get 20 credits back and keep the 3 images.

## What is not a failure

A refund happens when the model doesn't deliver a result. A result you don't like is still a finished generation, so it isn't refunded. To get better results:

- Read the [Complete prompting guide](/guide/prompting-guide).
- Try a different model in [Choosing a model](/guide/choosing-a-model).
- Test ideas with a cheap model first, like Nano Banana Lite (10 credits).

## Why generations fail

- The model's service is temporarily busy or down.
- The request was blocked by the model's safety filters.
- A network problem interrupted the job.

If a generation fails, wait a moment and try again. If it keeps failing, try another model or reword the prompt.

> [!NOTE]
> Prompts that break our [Content rules](/guide/content-rules) may be blocked. Repeated attempts won't help; change the request instead.

## Checking your history

Open your [account page](/account) to see every charge and refund with its date. If something looks wrong, this is the place to check first.

## Related

- [Credits and pricing](/guide/credits-and-pricing)
- [Frequently asked questions](/guide/faq)