> ## 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.

# Errand

> Name what you want, your spending limit, and the window — Sumvin finds the seller and transacts when your terms hold.

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.

<Snippet file="product-term-disambiguation.mdx" />

## 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.

<Steps>
  <Step title="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.
  </Step>

  <Step title="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.
  </Step>

  <Step title="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.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Where it fits

An <Tooltip headline="Envoy" tip="The money agent that acts on a user's behalf, executing Errands against their Stamped Mandates." cta="Glossary →" href="/glossary">Envoy</Tooltip> is what executes an Errand — the money agent acting on your behalf. The authorisation it acts under is a <Tooltip headline="Stamped Mandate" tip="A signed authorisation a user grants for specific scoped actions — delivered on the wire as a PINT." cta="Glossary →" href="/glossary">Stamped Mandate</Tooltip>: 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.

## Where to start

<Steps>
  <Step title="Walk the lifecycle">
    [Errand lifecycle](/products/errand/errand-lifecycle) — the state machine: every state an Errand moves through, the transitions between them, and the terminal states.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read the API surface">
    [Errand API](/products/errand/errand-api) — the request and response shape for creating and driving an Errand.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stand one up end-to-end">
    [Set up an Errand](/guides/quickstarts/set-up-errand) — a quickstart that takes you from intent to a running Errand.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Related

* [Errands](/concepts/errands) — the concept and composition model behind an Errand.
* [Envoy](/overview/personas/agent-flows) — how the money agent executes on a user's behalf.
* [Stamped Mandate](/identity/pint) — the signed authorisation an Errand acts under.
* [Atomic Money](/products/atomic-money/overview) — the payments and settlement an Errand transacts through.

<Info>
  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.
</Info>