# requestChange

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

> RequestChange sends a pending Approval back to the agent that asked, with the change the founder wants, and the Action keeps waiting.

RequestChange sends a pending [Approval](/business/nouns/approval) back to the agent that asked, with the change the founder wants, and the [Action](/business/nouns/action) keeps waiting.

## Inputs
| Input | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `approval` | [Approval](/business/nouns/approval) | Yes | The pending Approval. |
| `change` | `text` | Yes | What to change before you decide, such as "a cheaper option". |

## Outputs
| Output | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `approval` | [Approval](/business/nouns/approval) | Yes | The Approval, still pending, with the change attached. |

## Effects
| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Action class | None: no approval rule names it, so it runs within its seat's Permissions and Limits |
| Who calls it | A Human answers it: the owner of record, or a Human the owner named as approver. An Agent caller is refused with `human-required`, and the Worker that requested the Action with `self-approval` |
| Stakes | Who may act |
| Door | Two-way: it runs at once |
| Modes | `try` previews it and stores nothing; `send` returns a pending Action; `do` (default) waits for the result |
| Idempotent | Only with a key: a repeat with the same `Idempotency-Key` and input returns the first Action, the same key with other input is refused with `409`, and a repeat without a key runs again |
| Undo | [Action.undo](/business/nouns/action/undo) reverses it |
| Emits | [`Approval.changeRequested`](/business/events/Approval.changeRequested) |

- Keeps the held Action `pending`; the agent answers with a new Approval for the changed Action and cancels this one.

## 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. | None. |
| The Verb is a Human’s own act, answering an Approval or claiming the Startup, and the caller is an Agent | [`human-required`](/code/api/errors/human-required) | Send it to the owner of record, or to the Human the owner named as approver; an Agent prepares the work and waits. | None. |
| The caller is the Worker that requested the Action this Approval holds, and nobody answers their own request | [`self-approval`](/code/api/errors/self-approval) | Leave it for the owner of record, or the Human the owner named as approver. | None. |
| `approval` is missing, or is not a approval | [`invalid-input`](/code/api/errors/invalid-input) | Send `approval` as a approval, then call it again. | None. |
| `change` is missing, or is not a text | [`invalid-input`](/code/api/errors/invalid-input) | Send `change` as a text, then call it again. | None. |
| The `Idempotency-Key` was sent before with another operation or other input | [`idempotency-mismatch`](/code/api/errors/idempotency-mismatch) | Send a new key for new input; reuse a key only to retry the same request. | None. |

## When it waits
| Gate | Default |
| --- | --- |
| Decision class | Low: two-way, no delay window |
| [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), which a Human answers: the owner of record, or a Human they named to approve for the [Founder](/agents/founding/founder) seat. 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
Request change the approval I named, approval_TlxQeWh9uX.
```

**API**

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.sb/leaseline.app/approvals/approval_TlxQeWh9uX/requestChange \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SB_TOKEN" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: leaseline-approval-request-change-1" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"change":"Example change"}'
```

```json
{
  "api": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app",
  "approval": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/approvals/approval_TlxQeWh9uX",
    "$type": "Approval",
    "status": "pending",
    "mode": "do"
  },
  "action": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/actions/act_br07HsG8MG",
    "operation": "Approval.requestChange",
    "status": "done"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/actions/act_br07HsG8MG"
  }
}
```

**CLI**

```bash
npx startup-builder do Approval.requestChange --data '{"approval":"approval_TlxQeWh9uX","change":"Example change"}' \
  --idempotency-key leaseline-approval-request-change-1
```

**MCP**

```json
{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "return await $.Approval.requestChange({ approval: 'approval_TlxQeWh9uX', change: 'Example change' })",
    "idempotencyKey": "leaseline-approval-request-change-1"
  }
}
```

**SDK**

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

const approval = await $.Approval.requestChange({ approval: 'approval_TlxQeWh9uX', change: 'Example change' }, { idempotencyKey: 'leaseline-approval-request-change-1' })
```

To retry, send the same `Idempotency-Key`: the retry returns the first Action and runs nothing twice. A new key runs the call again.

Guides that call it: [Ask for a change to an approval](/agents/ask-for-a-change-to-an-approval).