# answer

URL: /business/nouns/action/answer · Id: `verb:Action.answer` · Call: `await $.Action.answer({ … })` (SDK) or the `do` tool at `https://api.sb/mcp`. Inputs says what to pass, Outputs what returns, When it waits who approves.

> Answer gives the reply to an Action’s open Question, through any Interface, and the Action resumes.

Answer replies to an open [Question](/business/nouns/question) on an [Action](/business/nouns/action), from the asked [Party](/business/nouns/party) or an [Agent](/business/nouns/agent) under its [Mandate](/business/nouns/mandate), and resumes the Action.

## Inputs
| Input | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `action` | [Action](/business/nouns/action) | Yes | The Action waiting on the Question. |
| `question` | [Question](/business/nouns/question) | Yes | The Question answered. |
| `payload` | `json` | Yes | The answer, matching the Question’s choices or schema. |

## Outputs
| Output | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `action` | [Action](/business/nouns/action) | Yes | The resumed Action. |

## Effects
- Emits [`Action.answered`](/business/events/Action.answered).
- Two-way: it runs at once, in the `try`, `send` and `do` modes.
- Records who answered and through which Interface; an agent answering for a Human records both, under a Mandate.
- A free-text reply in the record’s Thread becomes an answer once an agent maps it to the schema.

## Refuses when
| Check | Error | Fix | Then call |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| The key is valid, but its scopes do not allow this operation. | [`forbidden`](/code/api/errors/forbidden) | Use a key whose scopes cover the operation, or ask an owner of the namespace to grant them. | [Action.answer](/business/nouns/action/answer) |

## When it waits
| Gate | Default |
| --- | --- |
| Decision class | Low: two-way, nothing at stake |
| [Delay window](/systems/trust-and-governance/controls/one-way-windows) | None: it runs once review passes. |
| Limit | The call [Limit](/business/nouns/limit) of the [Permission](/business/nouns/permission) it runs under. |
| Over the Limit | It waits `pending` for an [Approval](/business/nouns/approval) from the [Founder](/agents/founding/founder). Approved, it runs; refused, it ends `refused` with [`limit-exceeded`](/code/api/errors/limit-exceeded); unanswered by its deadline, it ends `canceled`. |

## Example

**Ask**

```text
Answer the latest action with a question.
```

**API**

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.sb/petpantry.shop/actions/action_1/answer \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"question":"question_1","payload":{}}'
```

```json
{
  "api": "https://api.sb/petpantry.shop",
  "action": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/petpantry.shop/actions/action_1",
    "$type": "Action",
    "status": "done",
    "mode": "try",
    "operation": "Action.answer"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "https://api.sb/petpantry.shop/actions/action_1"
  }
}
```

**SDK**

```ts
import { $ } from 'startup-builder'

const action = await $.Action.answer({ action: 'action_1', question: 'question_1', payload: {} })
```

**CLI**

```bash
npx startup-builder do Action.answer --json '{"action":"action_1","question":"question_1","payload":{}}'
```

**MCP**

```json
{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "return await $.Action.answer({ action: 'action_1', question: 'question_1', payload: {} })"
  }
}
```