---
term: "Open mandate"
category: "Mandates and authorisation"
url: https://agenticopenfinance.com/glossary/open-mandate
source: AgenticOpenFinance glossary
---

# Open mandate

> In AP2, a mandate not yet bound to one action, carrying the user's constraints for the agent to act within.

In the Agent Payments Protocol, an open mandate is a mandate that is not yet bound to a particular action and instead carries the user's constraints, such as a budget, goals or allowed payment instruments, for the agent to act within. AP2 defines open forms of both its Checkout Mandate and its Payment Mandate. An open mandate is what allows a purchase to complete without the user present, because later actions are checked against its constraints.

Related terms: [Closed mandate](https://agenticopenfinance.com/glossary/closed-mandate.md), [Checkout Mandate](https://agenticopenfinance.com/glossary/checkout-mandate.md), [Payment Mandate](https://agenticopenfinance.com/glossary/payment-mandate.md), [Human-not-present transaction](https://agenticopenfinance.com/glossary/human-not-present-transaction.md)