Does it need the Shopify connection?

No. Without it the machine works from the store's product list pasted in and cuts files the store imports. With it on, the card creates the drafts and reads the catalog itself, and says what it did.

Will it publish for me?

It makes drafts freely and publishes a product only when you name it; a batch is listed first. That is the law on the face.

Where do prices come from?

From you, on the ladder or off it. The card never prints a price it was not given and the store's price is the only true one.

Can it attach the files?

No — that door is the app's and yours. It checks the app's list against the record by name and bytes, and the room's punch check proves a downloaded copy.

How the house's own ticket finds a product: the handle first, then a handle or title that carries exactly its words. The card runs the same reading on the store's list so the ticket is never surprised.

No. It is a card at your elbow — a person with a machine and, when you allow it, a connection. It stores nothing, runs no server and holds no key of its own.

THE INSTRUMENTS · Nº 784 · EDITION 1 · METHOD + MACHINE

LUND CARDS · THE INSTRUMENTSNº 784 PROPOSED

THE CARD AS TEXT · FOR EYES AND FOR MACHINES

THE MANDATE CARD · the authority seat · what an AI agent may spend, signed

WAKES WHEN an AI agent that buys, books, pays or subscribes; giving an agent a budget; checking a purchase before it is made; spending by agents on someone's behalf

THE LOOP

NAME — say: "This is THE MANDATE CARD." Ask what the work is and what it must agree with; those answers are the session's source of truth.
KEY — `python3 scripts/mandate.py key owner.key` (once; it stays on the person's computer).
SIGN — `python3 scripts/mandate.py new MANDATE.json --key owner.key --holder "agent" --by "person" --each N --total N --currency CODE --allow shop-a,shop-b --expires YYYY-MM-DD`.
CHECK — before every purchase: `python3 scripts/mandate.py check MANDATE.json --key owner.key --amount N --merchant M --ledger SPENT.jsonl`.
SPEND — only when ALLOWED: the same with `spend`, which records it.
LEDGER — write the ledger line.

NEVER

a purchase past the mandate
a key inside a mandate
a changed mandate honoured

THE SEAL 68 of 100 · EPIC · WITNESSED · MACHINE ABOARD · SELFTEST 9/9 · 10 TESTS · WITNESSED ON REAL WORK

IT CAN BE WRONG an AI reading a text file: it can be wrong; check what matters. THE-CLAUSES.md rides in the packet and is part of the licence.

THE PUNCH · SHA-256 OF SKILL.MD · 6E5F473FAD2B6FAB39BF9105

THE FACE, FULL SIZE → · THE MACHINE FACE → · card.json →

THE MANDATE CARD

the authority seat · what an AI agent may spend, signed

SIGNED LIMITS · CHECKED BEFORE EVERY PURCHASE · NOTHING PAST THE MANDATE

EPICWITNESSEDIN CLAUDE IN LUNDR IN CHATGPT

WITNESSED — the studio saw this card run and produce what its tin promises, and wrote the date down. What the marks mean →

THE SPEC SHEET · READ BEFORE YOU BUY · THE STANDARD EVERY CARD MEETS →

SEAL: 68 of 100 · EPIC · WITNESSED
EDITION: E1
MACHINE: scripts/ · 1 command · selftest 9/9
RUNS: On your own computer. Standard library only, offline; no account, no key, no telemetry.
HOSTS: Claude · Claude Code · ChatGPT · Gemini · any AI that reads a file (HOSTS.md names each door)
LICENCE: One person, any number of their own AIs and computers · editions replace files · nothing renews · freeze, not loss
PUNCH: 6E5F473FAD2B6FAB39BF9105 · sha-256 of SKILL.md · check any file against it →

CITE THIS CARDTHE MANDATE CARD, Edition 1. Lund Studio LLC, Westminster, Colorado. https://lundr.tech/?view=mandate-card. Punch 6E5F473FAD2B6FAB39BF9105. Retrieved 2026-10-10.

What it is.

A seat for AI agents that spend money: the person signs exactly what the agent may spend, where and until when, and every purchase is checked against it first.

Makes a signing key, signs a mandate with per-purchase and total limits, merchants and an expiry, and checks each purchase — ALLOWED or REFUSED with every reason.

Its laws, written into the card.

An agent spends only under a mandate the person signed: a limit for one purchase, a total, the merchants allowed, an end date.
Every purchase is checked against the mandate before it is made. REFUSED means not bought.
The signing key stays on the person's computer. It is never inside a mandate, a prompt or a message.
A mandate changed by one character fails its signature and allows nothing.
Every allowed purchase is recorded, so the total counts what was really spent.
Raising a limit is a new mandate, signed by the person — never an agent's own edit.

How it works, once your AI has it.

NAME — say: "This is THE MANDATE CARD." Ask what the work is and what it must agree with; those answers are the session's source of truth.
KEY — `python3 scripts/mandate.py key owner.key` (once; it stays on the person's computer).
SIGN — `python3 scripts/mandate.py new MANDATE.json --key owner.key --holder "agent" --by "person" --each N --total N --currency CODE --allow shop-a,shop-b --expires YYYY-MM-DD`.
CHECK — before every purchase: `python3 scripts/mandate.py check MANDATE.json --key owner.key --amount N --merchant M --ledger SPENT.jsonl`.
SPEND — only when ALLOWED: the same with `spend`, which records it.
LEDGER — write the ledger line.

When it says no.

A purchase past the mandate.
A key inside a mandate.
A changed mandate honoured.

What’s in the buy.

CARD.md — the whole card · SKILL.md — the door your AI reads first · START-HERE.md — the first five minutes
AUDIT.md · CARD.md · HOSTS.md · LICENSE-NOTE.md · MANIFEST.md · MY-LEDGER.md · SKILL.md · START-HERE.md · THE-CLAUSES.md · TIN.md · WITNESS.md · card-machine.svg · card.html · card.json · card.svg · references/THE-METHOD.md · scripts/mandate.py · tests/EVALS.md · tests/evals.json · system/short-prompt.md · system/system-prompt.md — the packet as the cards chat cut it
MY-LEDGER.md · TIN.md · LICENSE-NOTE.md · THE-CLAUSES.md · card.svg + card-machine.svg + card.json · card.html · the doors for ChatGPT, Gemini, Cursor, Copilot and the rest, and an MCP door

PROOF · MACHINE ABOARD · SELFTEST 9/9 · 10 TESTS · WITNESSED ON REAL WORK · AUDIT 12/12 · EDITION 1 · PUNCH 6E5F473FAD2B6FAB39BF9105

ON EVERY DOOR · A CARD FOR YOUR AI, A FILE FOR YOUR COMPUTER

In Claude: turn on code execution under Settings › Capabilities, then Customize › Skills › + › Create skill, and upload the zip as it is — START-HERE.md in the box walks you through it, and tells you how to keep the ledger. In ChatGPT, Gemini and the rest: a Project, a GPT or a Gem with the card’s files attached and the short door in the box pasted as its instructions. The words run anywhere an AI reads Markdown; the machines run wherever the host runs Python. Witnessed in Claude only. The host marks →

Take it.

Nº 784 PROPOSED · ONE PAYMENT

Sold as is under the term printed. A card instructs an AI you operate; results depend on your model, your files and your judgement. Not legal, tax, medical or financial advice. The terms →

ONE PAYMENT · NOTHING RENEWS ITSELF

OFFLINE · ONE LICENCE · PUNCH-CHECKABLE · THE STANDARD

One payment. The file is yours to keep and keeps working at its edition; new editions issued in the year after you buy reach you by email as replacement files. Tax is added at checkout where it applies. Nothing auto-renews.

ONE PAYMENT — NOTHING RENEWS ITSELF. CHECKOUT IS SHOPIFY’S OWN; YOUR CARD COMES BY EMAIL AFTER IT.

← THE INSTRUMENTS · THE FLOOR →

IT CHECKS A PURCHASE AGAINST A SIGNED MANDATE BEFORE IT IS MADE. IT DOES NOT MOVE MONEY AND CANNOT STOP A PAYMENT MADE OUTSIDE IT — THE AGENT MUST BE BUILT TO ASK IT FIRST. · NOT A PAYMENT CARD · © 2026 LUND STUDIO LLC