Sign as tier-4

Last updated Jun 14, 2026

Heightened authorization for high-stakes signing — board consent, charter amendment, financing close. Always pairs with a human gate.

3 calls · 3 webhooks

Trigger

A document requires a tier-4 authorization — typically anything that materially changes the cap table or governance.

Call sequence

1. Request authorization

POST /v1/authorizations  { resource: doc, tier: 4 }

2. Human approves in dashboard.

// out-of-band approval

3. Sign once approved

POST /v1/documents/{doc}/sign  { authorization }

Idempotency

Authorization request idempotent on `(resource, tier)`.

Webhooks

Event	Description
`authorization.approved`	Human approved.
`document.signed`	Signed under tier-4.

Errors

Status	Code	Description
`409`	`authorization_pending`	No human has approved yet.

Tier-4 is the only tier where an electronic agent signs on the principal's behalf without a per-action human click. The legal basis is UETA §14: an electronic agent acts for the principal that configured it, provided the principal has affirmatively pre-authorized the class of action. Matter encodes that pre-authorization as a list of AcknowledgementSlug values on the AgentPolicy. Slugs expire 90 days after policy activation and require re-affirmation by a natural-person stakeholder.

Hard floor

Operations marked x-matter-hitl: { required: true } (dissolve, M&A close, grants over $250k, foreign qualifications, service-of-process routing changes) escalate to human_signature_required regardless of policy. The list is a hard floor that cannot be waived by a tier-4 standing authority.

Calling a hard-floor verb returns:

{
  "type": "https://docs.mattermode.com/errors/human_signature_required",
  "title": "Human signature required",
  "status": 403,
  "detail": "POST /v1/entities/{id}/dissolve requires a human signature. Tier-4 standing authority cannot satisfy the hard-floor HITL list.",
  "authorization_id": "auth_8mY3pQrL",
  "approval_url": "https://app.mattermode.com/authorizations/auth_8mY3pQrL"
}

Surface the approval_url to the registered human principal. Once they counter-sign in the dashboard (or via POST /v1/authorizations/{id}/sign), the cascade resumes. See legal basis for the full hard-floor list.

Create the AgentPolicy

The policy is the durable governance record. Slugs listed in standing_acknowledgements are pre-affirmed across every mutation made under the resulting tokens, until the 90-day window expires.

curl -X POST https://api.mattermode.com/v1/agent_policies \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MATTER_KEY" \
  -H "Matter-Version: 2026-05-01" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -d '{
    "name": "studio-formation-autopilot-v1",
    "tier_max": 4,
    "allowed_endpoints": [
      "POST /v1/entities",
      "POST /v1/entities/{id}/submit",
      "POST /v1/documents/{id}/sign"
    ],
    "standing_acknowledgements": [
      {"slug": "agent_action_binds_principal", "version": "2026-04-01", "accepted_by_stakeholder_id": "stk_F0und3rCEO", "accepted_at": 1745683200},
      {"slug": "tier_4_standing_authority_acknowledged", "version": "2026-04-01", "accepted_by_stakeholder_id": "stk_F0und3rCEO", "accepted_at": 1745683200},
      {"slug": "formation_is_legally_binding", "version": "2026-04-01", "accepted_by_stakeholder_id": "stk_F0und3rCEO", "accepted_at": 1745683200},
      {"slug": "formation_creates_tax_obligations", "version": "2026-04-01", "accepted_by_stakeholder_id": "stk_F0und3rCEO", "accepted_at": 1745683200},
      {"slug": "not_legal_advice", "version": "2026-04-01", "accepted_by_stakeholder_id": "stk_F0und3rCEO", "accepted_at": 1745683200},
      {"slug": "not_tax_advice", "version": "2026-04-01", "accepted_by_stakeholder_id": "stk_F0und3rCEO", "accepted_at": 1745683200}
    ],
    "spend_limit_per_period": {
      "amount": {"value": 500000, "currency": "usd"},
      "period": "month"
    },
    "frequency_caps": {
      "entities.submit": {"per_day": 3}
    },
    "escalation_email": "ops@studio.example"
  }'

Mint a tier-4 token bound to the policy via POST /v1/tokens with tier: tier_4 and agent_policy_id: pol_…. The token inherits the policy's allowed endpoints, spend limit, and pre-affirmed slugs. The response's secret field carries the bearer string exactly once — never re-fetchable.

Frequency cap exceeded

frequency_caps.entities.submit.per_day = 3. The fourth submit in a 24-hour window fails:

{
  "type": "https://docs.mattermode.com/errors/standing_authorization_limit_exceeded",
  "title": "Standing authorization limit exceeded",
  "status": 403,
  "detail": "Frequency cap reached: entities.submit per_day = 3. Resets at 2026-04-27T00:00:00Z.",
  "limit_kind": "frequency",
  "operation_id": "submitEntity",
  "resets_at": 1745798400
}

Either wait for the reset, or escalate the action through a human-signed Authorization.

Spend cap exceeded

spend_limit_per_period.amount = $5,000 / month. The mutation whose computed fee would push consumption past the cap fails with the same error class:

{
  "type": "https://docs.mattermode.com/errors/standing_authorization_limit_exceeded",
  "title": "Standing authorization limit exceeded",
  "status": 403,
  "detail": "Spend cap reached: $5,000.00 / month. Action would consume $189.00; $4,872.00 already consumed.",
  "limit_kind": "spend",
  "operation_id": "createFiling",
  "resets_at": 1746057600
}

Raise the cap on the policy (creates a new policy version and requires a human re-affirmation of standing slugs), or wait for the period to reset.

What the signature record looks like

Every signature produced under a tier-4 token records the legal basis on the underlying Document:

{
  "signer_stakeholder_id": "stk_F0und3rCEO",
  "legal_basis": "ueta_electronic_agent",
  "signed_at": 1745684012,
  "agent_authority": {
    "token_id": "tok_StudioBotV1",
    "principal_human_id": "usr_F0und3rCEO",
    "agent_id": "agt_StudioBot",
    "standing_policy_id": "pol_8mY3pQrL",
    "acknowledgements": [
      {"slug": "formation_is_legally_binding", "version": "2026-04-01", "accepted_by_stakeholder_id": "stk_F0und3rCEO", "accepted_at": 1745683200},
      {"slug": "formation_creates_tax_obligations", "version": "2026-04-01", "accepted_by_stakeholder_id": "stk_F0und3rCEO", "accepted_at": 1745683200}
    ]
  }
}

The agent_authority block is what makes the signature defensible: it names the human principal, the standing policy, and every acknowledgement that was in force at signing time.

Common errors

Code	What happened	Recovery
`human_signature_required`	Operation is on the HITL hard floor (dissolve, M&A close, qualification, SOP routing, grants > $250k).	Surface the `approval_url`; resume after the human counter-signs the `Authorization`.
`standing_authorization_limit_exceeded` (`limit_kind: frequency`)	Per-period frequency cap hit.	Wait for `resets_at`, or push the action through a human-signed `Authorization`.
`standing_authorization_limit_exceeded` (`limit_kind: spend`)	Cumulative spend cap reached.	Raise the cap on a new policy version (requires human re-affirmation), or wait for the period reset.
`acknowledgement_required`	A required slug is not on the policy and not in the per-call body.	Either add the slug to `standing_acknowledgements` (re-versioned policy) or include it inline on the mutation.
`acknowledgement_expired`	A standing slug is past its 90-day window.	A natural-person stakeholder must re-affirm via the dashboard or `POST /v1/acknowledgements`.

Full taxonomy: errors.

Agents and tokens — tier model and policy DSL
Legal basis — wet_signature / esra_consent / ueta_electronic_agent and the HITL hard-floor list
Sign as a tier-3 agent — per-action human countersign for tiers below 4
Form an entity with an autonomous agent — end-to-end formation under this token

Sign as tier-4

Trigger

Call sequence

1. Request authorization

2. Human approves in dashboard.

3. Sign once approved

Idempotency

Webhooks

Errors

Hard floor

Create the AgentPolicy

Frequency cap exceeded

Spend cap exceeded

What the signature record looks like

Common errors

On this page

Sign as tier-4

Trigger

Call sequence

1. Request authorization

2. Human approves in dashboard.

3. Sign once approved

Idempotency

Webhooks

Errors

Hard floor

Create the AgentPolicy

Frequency cap exceeded

Spend cap exceeded

What the signature record looks like

Common errors

On this page