diff --git a/docs/reference/help.json b/docs/reference/help.json
index 4e8bf2e..c5f0d50 100644
--- a/docs/reference/help.json
+++ b/docs/reference/help.json
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@
           },
           {
             "key": "credits",
-            "what": "credits billed (0 on a cached hit)"
+            "what": "credits the run billed (a cached hit echoes the original run's bill; nothing new is billed \u2014 see cached)"
           },
           {
             "key": "tier",
@@ -685,7 +685,7 @@
           },
           {
             "key": "credits",
-            "what": "credits billed (0 on a cached hit)"
+            "what": "credits the run billed (a cached hit echoes the original run's bill; nothing new is billed \u2014 see cached)"
           },
           {
             "key": "tier",
diff --git a/src/ade_cli/help.py b/src/ade_cli/help.py
index 2f33319..e7f7bf6 100644
--- a/src/ade_cli/help.py
+++ b/src/ade_cli/help.py
@@ -172,7 +172,8 @@
             ("job_item_id", "store key every other verb takes"),
             ("environment", "resolved environment"),
             ("version", "resolved parse model version"),
-            ("credits", "credits billed (0 on a cached hit)"),
+            ("credits", "credits the run billed (a cached hit echoes the "
+             "original run's bill; nothing new is billed — see cached)"),
             ("tier", "service tier the run was billed at"),
             ("page_count", "pages parsed"),
             ("failed_pages", "1-indexed pages the server could not parse"),
@@ -197,7 +198,8 @@
             ("parse_job_item_id", "the parse it references (absent for markdown)"),
             ("environment", "resolved environment"),
             ("version", "resolved extract model version"),
-            ("credits", "credits billed (0 on a cached hit)"),
+            ("credits", "credits the run billed (a cached hit echoes the "
+             "original run's bill; nothing new is billed — see cached)"),
             ("tier", "service tier the run was billed at"),
             ("extraction", "THE RESULT: the schema-shaped object, verbatim"),
             ("fields", "number of leaf fields"),
diff --git a/tests/test_extract.py b/tests/test_extract.py
index 09ad4cd..d1f97ba 100644
--- a/tests/test_extract.py
+++ b/tests/test_extract.py
@@ -101,6 +101,26 @@ def test_same_item_and_schema_twice_is_one_submit_total(cli, document, schema_fi
     assert len(extract_posts(cli)) == 1
 
 
+def test_cached_extract_echoes_the_original_bill(cli, document, schema_file):
+    # Same contract as parse: the free cached hit reports the original
+    # run's bill next to cached=true, never a zero.
+    parse_id = parse_doc(cli, document)
+    first = complete_extract(
+        cli, parse_id, "--schema", str(schema_file),
+        result=extract_result(total_credits=1.1),
+    )
+
+    again = cli.invoke(
+        "extract", parse_id, "--schema", str(schema_file), "--json", env=AUTH_ENV
+    )
+
+    payload = json.loads(again.stdout)
+    assert first["credits"] == 1.1
+    assert payload["cached"] is True
+    assert payload["credits"] == 1.1  # the original bill, never zeroed
+    assert payload["tier"] == first["tier"]
+
+
 def test_extract_item_references_the_parse_never_copies_it(
     cli, document, schema_file
 ):
diff --git a/tests/test_parse.py b/tests/test_parse.py
index bb53ab2..33c5ef4 100644
--- a/tests/test_parse.py
+++ b/tests/test_parse.py
@@ -316,6 +316,26 @@ def test_different_params_on_the_same_file_are_sibling_variants(cli, document):
     assert len(cli.transport.requests) == 4  # two submits + two polls only
 
 
+def test_cached_hit_echoes_the_original_bill(cli, document):
+    # The published contract: a cached hit re-bills nothing, and `credits`
+    # echoes what the original run billed — `cached: true` is the
+    # free-serve marker, matching the summary's credits line.
+    cli.transport.respond(202, {"job_id": JOB_ID})
+    cli.transport.respond(200, completed_job(parse_response(total_credits=1.1)))
+    billed = json.loads(
+        cli.invoke("parse", "-d", str(document), "--json", env=AUTH_ENV).stdout
+    )
+
+    cached = json.loads(
+        cli.invoke("parse", "-d", str(document), "--json", env=AUTH_ENV).stdout
+    )
+
+    assert billed["credits"] == 1.1
+    assert cached["cached"] is True
+    assert cached["credits"] == 1.1  # the original bill, never zeroed
+    assert cached["tier"] == billed["tier"]
+
+
 def test_failed_pages_and_206_surface_in_summary_and_metadata(cli, document):
     data = parse_response(page_count=5, failed_pages=[1, 3])
     cli.transport.respond(202, {"job_id": JOB_ID})