How to Report External System Events Without Consuming Credits

• When reporting events from external systems in Dagster, use asset observations instead of asset materializations to avoid consuming credits

• Asset materializations count towards your credit usage, while asset observations do not

• Both methods allow you to view metadata in the Dagster UI, but observations are more cost-effective for external system reporting

• For more information about implementing asset observations, see the Asset Observations documentation

When setting up sensors to monitor external systems, it's important to understand the difference between asset materializations and asset observations. Asset materializations will count towards your credit usage, which can lead to unexpected spikes in credit consumption. To avoid this, use asset observations when you need to report metadata or events from external systems. This approach provides the same visibility in the UI without impacting your credit usage.