> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sumvin.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Stamped Mandates

> A Stamped Mandate is a signed authorisation that says what one agent may do for you, on what, within what limits and until when.

A Stamped Mandate is the authority an agent presents to prove it may act for you. It is not only for spending. The same framework covers sharing your data, proving you are a real person, reading financial data through a provider, and paying for things.

You sign every mandate yourself. Your agent can ask for one; it can't sign one.

<Note>
  A Stamped Mandate is Sumvin's own object. It is not an AP2 mandate or a card-network mandate, and it doesn't claim to work with them.
</Note>

## Three layers

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart LR
  S["Sigil<br/>who you are"] --> M["Stamped Mandate<br/>what an agent may do"]
  M --> E["Errand<br/>a purchase task"]
```

| Layer               | Answers                                                  | Page                         |
| ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| **Sigil**           | Is a real, verified person behind this agent?            | [Sigil](/concepts/sigil)     |
| **Stamped Mandate** | What may this agent do for them, and within what limits? | This page                    |
| **Errand**          | Which purchase is this agent carrying out right now?     | [Errands](/concepts/errands) |

A Sigil is identity. It never authorises anything on its own. A mandate is the authorisation. An errand is one kind of work that runs under a mandate: a purchase.

## What a mandate says

| Part           | What it says                                                                                                                                                          |
| -------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **What**       | The actions it permits, written as [scopes](/concepts/mandates/scopes), such as "check out by card" or "prove this person is verified".                               |
| **On what**    | The things it is bound to, written as [resources](/concepts/mandates/resources), such as one errand.                                                                  |
| **Limits**     | Parameters on each scope, such as a spending ceiling, a currency or a date range, plus any conditions you set. See [Limits and narrowing](/concepts/mandates/limits). |
| **For whom**   | The party it is addressed to: a service Sumvin knows, or a website named by its hostname.                                                                             |
| **Until when** | An expiry. After it, the mandate no longer stands.                                                                                                                    |

Three properties hold for every mandate:

* **Signed by you, on your own page.** You read what the mandate says in plain words on a Sumvin page in your own browser, then approve it with your passkey or decline.
* **Revocable.** You can withdraw it at any time. Revocation is permanent.
* **Checkable.** Whoever your agent deals with can check what it permits and whether it still stands, without learning who you are. See [What a verifier checks](/concepts/mandates/verification).

## What mandates are for

The use cases below are examples, not a complete list. See [Use cases](/concepts/mandates/use-cases) for each one in detail.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Share data" icon="id-card" href="/concepts/mandates/use-cases#share-your-data">
    Share that you are verified, or share verified identity details, with a merchant or provider.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Open-banking data" icon="landmark" href="/concepts/mandates/use-cases#read-open-banking-data">
    Let an agent read your linked accounts and transactions through Meld.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Prove you are a person" icon="user-check" href="/concepts/mandates/use-cases#prove-a-person-sent-the-agent">
    Show a booking site that a verified person sent this agent.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Make purchases" icon="shopping-bag" href="/concepts/errands">
    Let an agent buy within a ceiling you set. Purchases run as errands.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## How a mandate is made

1. **Your agent asks.** It drafts the mandate and gives you a link to a Sumvin page.
2. **You read it.** The page shows what you would be signing, in plain words, including any ceiling in your own money's terms.
3. **You sign, or you don't.** Only you can approve it, with your passkey, in your own browser. An agent can ask for a mandate; it can't approve one, for itself or any other agent.

A request ends in one of four states:

| State      | Means                                                           |
| ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `proposed` | Waiting on you. Nothing is authorised yet.                      |
| `stamped`  | You signed. The mandate now stands.                             |
| `declined` | Refused, or withdrawn before you answered. Nothing was granted. |
| `expired`  | The request lapsed unanswered. Nothing was granted.             |

The approval link is given to your agent once. If it is lost, your agent asks again rather than looking it up.

## Two modes for purchases

**Approve each purchase.** This is the default. Your agent searches and prepares, then stops. Nothing is bought until you approve that purchase.

**Pre-authorised.** You tell your agent it may complete a purchase without asking again, as long as it stays within your mandate and any conditions you set, such as a price. This is what makes [repeat errands](/guides/repeat-errands) possible. Your agent only chooses it when you have clearly asked for it.

Either way, the mandate is the outer limit. A pre-authorised errand can't spend past its ceiling or its expiry.

## Revoking

You can revoke a Stamped Mandate at any time. A revoked mandate never becomes active again. Anything relying on it stops, including errands that were using it and any smaller mandate drawn from it. To give the authority back, sign a new mandate.

Disconnecting an agent is separate from revoking the mandates it asked for. A disconnected agent can't act for you, but the mandates it asked for stay valid until they expire or you revoke them. Revoke them separately. See [Revoke a mandate or disconnect an agent](/guides/revoke).

<Tip>**Try asking your agent:** "Set up a spending limit of \$50 for groceries this week."</Tip>

## Next

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="The mandate language" icon="code" href="/concepts/mandates/language">
    How scopes, resources and limits fit together.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Stamp your first mandate" icon="stamp" href="/get-started/first/stamped-mandate">
    Ask, read, sign.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Set limits" icon="sliders-horizontal" href="/guides/set-limits">
    Amount, merchant, expiry.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Check a mandate" icon="shield-check" href="/guides/check-a-mandate">
    For anyone an agent presents one to.
  </Card>
</Columns>