Overview
How might we let a person set the rules for future agent purchases, so the agent can buy inside a cap and must ask when it steps outside?
When to use
- The same agent will buy more than once, such as restocks or price-triggered orders.
- The person can name a price cap, merchants or categories, and an expiry.
- A network or wallet already supports a payment mandate or spending limit.
- Overflow charges should fall back to agent payment approval.
When to skip
- A first purchase from a new merchant, where the person has not set a cap yet.
- High-value or one-off buys, where a single agent payment approval is the clearer ask.
- Token or compute budgets for a coding agent. Those belong on Hard Budget Ceilings, not a shopping mandate.
States
The limit is a standing object the person can read and revoke.
- 01
Draft
The product proposes a cap from the task: amount, merchants, category, expiry, and uses.
- 02
Set
The person confirms the limit. It is active and visible anywhere the agent can spend.
- 03
Inside
A charge fits the cap. The agent pays with a virtual card. The activity log records it.
- 04
Outside
The charge breaks a rule. The agent stops and opens agent payment approval.
- 05
Spent
The budget or the use count is exhausted. Further buys wait for a new limit.
- 06
Revoked
The person turns the limit off. In-flight charges that have not captured should stop.
Key UX elements
The rules that have to be on the mandate.
Cap
State the maximum amount.
Per charge, and a running budget if the mandate can fire more than once.
Merchants
Name who may be paid.
An allowlist of merchants or a category. An amount cap with any merchant is too wide.
Expiry
Show when the limit dies.
Date and time. A limit with no end should say “until you revoke it.”
Uses
Show how many charges remain.
Count down. At zero, the next buy needs a new limit or a one-time approval.
Overflow
Say what happens past the cap.
Route that charge to agent payment approval. Do not silently raise the cap.
Revoke
Let the person turn it off.
Revoke sits next to the active limit, in the same place as connected agents.
Rules
A cap with no merchant list, so any store under the dollar amount is allowed.
A limit that never expires and never shows how many uses are left.
Silent raises of the cap after the person set it.
Hiding which purchases already counted against the budget.
Evidence
| Product | Implementation |
|---|---|
| Google AP2 | A payment mandate can cap amount, payee, budget, and how often the agent may charge. An intent mandate records what the person agreed to buy. |
| Mastercard Agent Pay | The agent gets a job and a spending limit, then pays with signed vouchers inside that limit. |
| Stripe Link | Per-request and rolling limits bound what a connected agent can ask the wallet to approve. |
| Visa Intelligent Commerce | Network spend controls apply across checkout protocols so the same cap follows the agent. |