Mandate
Category
A mandate is a delegation of spending authority from a principal to an agent, with defined scope and limits. It states who authorized the spending, what the agent may spend it on, up to how much, and for how long. Mandate is the central noun in agent payment protocols including AP2.
How it works
A mandate is issued by a principal — a person or an organization — and grants an agent authority to transact within its bounds. Enforcement compares cumulative executed spending against the mandated amount: executed must never exceed mandated. A mandate has a lifecycle, moving from authorized through partially executed to exhausted or expired.
Example
Northwind's finance team issues a mandate: $5,000, market-data APIs only, March, one named research agent. By 22 March the agent has executed $3,200, leaving $1,800. The mandate is partially executed. On 31 March it expires, whether or not the balance was used.
Common questions
How is a mandate different from a budget?
A budget is a plan. A mandate is an authorization that can be enforced at transaction time, and that names the agent it was granted to.
What happens when a mandate is exhausted?
Further requests against it are refused. Continuing requires a new or amended mandate from the principal.