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The best way to buy something is to stop watching for it. An Errand is how you hand that watching to an agent: you name what you want, the most you will pay, and the window it has to happen in. The system finds the seller, vets it, and transacts the moment your terms are met. Not a saved cart. A mandate. A saved cart sits there until you come back and click buy. An Errand carries your authorisation with it — once your terms hold, it acts without you in the loop.

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How an Errand works

An Errand runs through three phases. You set the first two; the third runs on its own until your terms are met.
1

Intent

What you want, and the conditions it must meet. You describe the purchase in plain language and attach the limits it has to respect — the most you will pay, the window it must happen in, and anything else that defines a good outcome.
2

Authorization

Permission to act inside your limits. You grant a scoped authorisation that lets the agent transact on your behalf, but only within the bounds you set in the intent. Nothing happens outside those bounds.
3

Vigilance

It watches, and acts the moment your terms hold. The Errand monitors for a seller and an offer that satisfies your conditions. When one appears inside your window and under your limit, it transacts — and tells you it did.

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Where it fits

An is what executes an Errand — the money agent acting on your behalf. The authorisation it acts under is a : a signed permission scoped to exactly what you allowed in the Intent and Authorization phases. On the wire, an Errand is driven by the IPA (Intelligent Purchase Authorisation) routes — /v0/user/ipa and its lifecycle. The product name is Errand; the technical surface keeps the IPA identifiers.

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Where to start

1

Walk the lifecycle

Errand lifecycle — the state machine: every state an Errand moves through, the transitions between them, and the terminal states.
2

Read the API surface

Errand API — the request and response shape for creating and driving an Errand.
3

Stand one up end-to-end

Set up an Errand — a quickstart that takes you from intent to a running Errand.
  • Errands — the concept and composition model behind an Errand.
  • Envoy — how the money agent executes on a user’s behalf.
  • Stamped Mandate — the signed authorisation an Errand acts under.
  • Atomic Money — the payments and settlement an Errand transacts through.
Errands are in private preview. The Intent, Authorization, and Vigilance contracts are still hardening — partners integrating now help shape them. Contact your account manager to get started.