Setting The Budget

What Is A Budget?

A budget is a spending limit you set for AI agents or specific purposes. Think of it like giving your AI agent a credit card with a spending limit - except the limit is enforced by blockchain smart contracts, not by trust.

Key features:

Set maximum spending amounts

Choose which tools agents can access

Control who can receive payments

Pause or unpause spending instantly

Track spending in real-time

How Budgets Work with Smart Contracts

Two-Location System

When you create a budget, it exists in two places:

1. Your Dashboard (Database)

Fast to update

Easy to manage

Shows preferences immediately

2. Blockchain (Smart Contract)

Permanent record

Cryptographically secured

Actually enforces the rules

Cannot be modified without your signature

The Critical Point: Your budget must be synced to the blockchain before it works. The dashboard shows your preferences, but the smart contract enforces them.

What Smart Contracts Guarantee

Once synced to the blockchain, the smart contract automatically enforces:

✅ Budget caps cannot be exceeded

✅ Only authorized recipients can be paid

✅ Only approved budgets can spend

✅ Transactions must have valid signatures

✅ Paused budgets cannot spend

These protections are cryptographically guaranteed - no one can bypass them, not even AgentPMT.

Budget Properties

Each budget has these settings:

Cap Amount

Maximum amount that can be spent (e.g., $100, $500, $1000 USDC)

Reset Period

When the budget resets:

Hourly - Resets every hour (good for high-frequency testing)

Daily - Resets every day at midnight UTC (most common)

Weekly - Resets every Monday at midnight UTC

Monthly - Resets on the 1st of each month

Total - Never resets (one-time budget limit)

Authorized Wallets

Specific wallet addresses allowed to spend from this budget. Typically your AI agent's credentials or Budget Keys.

Authorized Tools

Which tools/products the agent can purchase. Agents can only spend on tools you've explicitly added to the budget.

Status

Active: Budget is operational and agents can spend

Paused: All spending blocked instantly (emergency control)

How Many Budgets Should I Have?

Separate Budgets for Different Purposes

Create separate budgets for different agents or use cases to maintain clear spending boundaries:

Examples:

Research Agent: $100/day for data gathering and analysis tools

Marketing Bot: $500/month for content creation and social media tools

Development Testing: $50/day for testing new agent workflows

Customer Support: $200/week for support-related tools

Benefits of Multiple Budgets

Isolate spending by purpose or department

Each has its own spending limit

Each has separate Budget Key (credentials)

Different tools per budget

Independent monitoring and reports

Pause one budget without affecting others

Budget Enforcement Flow

Here's what happens when your agent tries to use a tool:

Pausing and Unpausing Budgets

Instant Emergency Control

You can pause a budget at any time from your dashboard. This instantly stops spend approval once synced to the blockchain.

When to pause:

AI agent behaving unexpectedly

Need to review spending patterns

Testing or debugging

End of project or campaign

Any situation requiring immediate spending stop

To pause a budget:

1. Go to Dashboard → AI Budgets
2. Click "Pause" on the budget card
3. Sync to blockchain (enter PIN)
4. All spending stops after sync confirmation

To unpause:

1. Click "Unpause" on the budget card
2. Sync to blockchain
3. Agent is authorized to spend again

Remember: Pausing takes effect after you sync to the blockchain. The sync ensures the smart contract knows about the pause.

Monitoring Budget Spending

Real-Time Tracking

Each budget card shows:

Total Authorized: Your spending limit

Total Spent: Amount used in current period

Remaining: Amount still available

Reset Date: When budget resets (based on reset period)

Detailed Tracking

Access detailed spending information:

Order History: See every tool purchase

Vendor Access Tokens: View prepaid tool access

Payment Records: Blockchain transaction details

Tools Authorized: List of approved tools

Modifying Budgets

You can update budgets anytime:

Change budget cap amount

Update reset period

Add or remove tools

Add or remove authorized wallets

Rename budget

Pause or unpause

Critical: After making any changes, you must sync to the blockchain. Changes only take effect after syncing.

Budget Security Features

Multiple Layers of Protection

Budget Limits (Layer 1)

You set maximum spending

Smart contract enforces cryptographically

Cannot be exceeded by anyone

Recipient Controls (Layer 2)

Choose who can receive payments

Verified vendors, custom recipients, or all

Smart contract validates every recipient

Tool Authorization (Layer 3)

Agents can only use approved tools

You control the tool list

Remove tools anytime

Signature Requirements (Layer 4)

Budget changes need your PIN

Blockchain sync requires signature

Only you can authorize updates

Emergency Pause (Layer 5)

Stop spending instantly

Pause/unpause anytime

Always in your control

Next Steps

Now that you understand how budgets work, you're ready to:

→ Create Your First Budget (step-by-step guide below)

→ Learn about syncing to blockchain

→ Set up recipient management

→ Add tools and generate credentials