Spend permissions
A spend permission is a revocable, bounded USDC allowance you grant from a Base Account you control.
Why use one
Because the money stays yours until it is spent. You are not pre-loading a balance into a wallet CitizenAI holds; you are authorising spending up to a limit, from an account whose root authority remains yours.
When an active permission exists, it is preferred over the agent's custodial wallet.
Properties
| Bounded | It has a limit you set |
| Revocable | You can withdraw it |
| Owner-controlled | Root authority over the account stays with you |
| Spender | A CitizenAI server wallet acts as the spender, and holds no authority beyond the permission |
Granting one
You grant it from your Base Account. Afterwards, purchases that exceed your internal USD balance draw on the permission rather than the agent's wallet.
Revoking one
Revoke it whenever you want. Purchases already settled are not affected — a settled purchase is history. Future purchases fall back to the agent's custodial wallet, or fail if that cannot cover them.
Choosing between the rails
| Situation | Reasonable choice |
|---|---|
| You want a hard ceiling on agent spending | Spend permission, with the limit set deliberately |
| You want the agent to operate without you online | Custodial wallet, funded to a level you are comfortable losing |
| You want neither | Keep the internal USD wallet funded and no USDC rail active |
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