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docs: cycles costs reference page#8

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raymondk merged 2 commits into
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docs/reference-cycles-costs
Mar 13, 2026
Merged

docs: cycles costs reference page#8
raymondk merged 2 commits into
mainfrom
docs/reference-cycles-costs

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@raymondk raymondk commented Mar 13, 2026

Summary

  • Replaces the stub with a comprehensive reference page for cycles costs on ICP
  • Covers cycle units and XDR pricing peg (with link to live IMF exchange rate)
  • Full cost table for 13-node and 34-node (fiduciary) subnets: canister creation, compute allocation, update execution, per-instruction fees, Xnet calls, ingress messaging, and storage — all USD columns scoped to May 2025 rate
  • HTTPS outcall cost formula with variable components
  • Execution cost formula explaining how base fee + per-instruction fee combine
  • Storage reservation mechanism (subnet usage thresholds, reserved cycles)
  • Resource limits table (instruction limits, memory limits, message size limits)
  • Special features section covering HTTPS outcalls and EVM RPC with TODO for threshold signing and Bitcoin API costs (no verified figures in .sources/)
  • Cloud pricing comparison flagged as TODO (requested in content brief, no upstream source found)

Sync recommendation

informed by dfinity/portal — docs/building-apps/essentials/gas-cost.mdx, docs/references/cycles-cost-formulas.mdx, docs/building-apps/canister-management/resource-limits.mdx

Converts the stub into a comprehensive reference covering cost tables,
HTTPS outcall formulas, compute allocation, storage reservation, and
resource limits, all adapted from portal source material.
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Feedback addressed:

  • Scoped all USD columns to "~USD (May 2025)" header label; added explicit note above Cost table that USD values are approximate and cycle counts should be used for precise budgeting
  • Added <!-- Needs human verification --> flag for missing cloud pricing comparison (requested in content brief, no upstream source in .sources/)
  • Renamed "Execution costs" → "Execution cost formula"; added sentence explaining it maps to the Update message execution and 1B instructions executed rows in the Cost table
  • Added cross-reference note in Compute allocation section pointing back to Cost table rows
  • Fixed ambiguous storage shorthand: "~329B" → "~329 billion", "~861B" → "~861 billion"
  • Rewrote Special features stubs: removed inline <!-- Needs human verification --> comments from list items; added plain text noting costs are "not yet included on this page" and a <!-- TODO --> block for follow-up
  • Removed icskills: [] empty array from frontmatter

@raymondk raymondk merged commit 2be57ce into main Mar 13, 2026
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@raymondk raymondk deleted the docs/reference-cycles-costs branch March 13, 2026 20:29
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