Dogfooding the Billable Actions metric: How granular observability improved our metering validation

Temporal has introduced the Billable Actions metric alongside the Billing API to provide enhanced usage visibility for their customers, transforming what began as an internal engineering initiative into a valuable tool for both internal and external users. Previously, customers could only see aggregate usage data on the Temporal Cloud dashboard, which limited their ability to identify specific Workflow Types or Action Types that were driving costs. The new metric allows for detailed breakdowns via OpenMetrics, enabling customers to query and receive time series data broken down by action type and workflow type, which aids in identifying high-volume workflows and opportunities for optimization. This granular visibility has significantly improved Temporal's internal validation processes, allowing them to more accurately verify metering and troubleshoot discrepancies with increased confidence. By releasing this feature, Temporal anticipates that customers will benefit from greater usage visibility, optimization opportunities, and improved validation and alerting capabilities, thereby enhancing their ability to manage and audit their usage independently.