# incorporate

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

> Incorporate forms a Company in a chosen jurisdiction, with its founders, shares and registered agent on record.

Incorporate forms a [Company](/business/nouns/company) in a chosen jurisdiction, with its founders, shares and registered agent on record.

## Inputs
| Input | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `legalName` | `string` | Yes | The registered name. |
| `jurisdiction` | `string` | Yes | Where the Company forms. |

## Outputs
| Output | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `company` | [Company](/business/nouns/company) | Yes | The new Company. |

## Effects
- Emits [`Company.incorporated`](/business/events/Company.incorporated).
- Performed by the [Founder](/agents/founding/founder).
- One-way (money): it waits out its delay window, and runs in the `send` and `do` modes.
- Runs through [Company formation](/systems/legal-and-corporate/entity-formation), which files the certificate and appoints the first directors.
- Waits for the Founder, as an officer, to sign the formation documents: the legal floor.
- Opens the Company’s cap table.

## Refuses when
| Check | Error | Fix | Then call |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| The input does not match the schema of the operation. | [`invalid-input`](/code/api/errors/invalid-input) | Read the schema of the operation, then send every required field with the right type. | [Company.incorporate](/business/nouns/company/incorporate) |
| 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. | [Company.incorporate](/business/nouns/company/incorporate) |
| The record is not in a state that allows this Verb, so the call is refused. | [`refused`](/code/api/errors/refused) | Read the record, run the Verb that moves it to an allowed state, then retry. | [Company.incorporate](/business/nouns/company/incorporate) |

## When it waits
| Gate | Default |
| --- | --- |
| Decision class | High: one-way, broad (money) |
| [Delay window](/systems/trust-and-governance/controls/one-way-windows) | 1 business day, in which a watcher can pause, redirect or cancel it; then it runs. |
| Limit | The spend [Limit](/business/nouns/limit) of the [Permission](/business/nouns/permission) or [Mandate](/business/nouns/mandate) 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
Incorporate the company “PatentPad Inc.”
```

**API**

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.sb/patentpad.com/companies/incorporate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"legalName":"PatentPad Inc.","jurisdiction":"US-DE"}'
```

```json
{
  "api": "https://api.sb/patentpad.com",
  "company": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/patentpad.com/companies/company_1",
    "$type": "Company",
    "name": "PatentPad",
    "legalName": "PatentPad Inc.",
    "jurisdiction": "US-DE",
    "status": "incorporated"
  },
  "action": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/patentpad.com/actions/action_1",
    "operation": "Company.incorporate",
    "status": "done"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "https://api.sb/patentpad.com/actions/action_1"
  }
}
```

**SDK**

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

const company = await $.Company.incorporate({ legalName: 'PatentPad Inc.', jurisdiction: 'US-DE' })
```

**CLI**

```bash
npx startup-builder do Company.incorporate --json '{"legalName":"PatentPad Inc.","jurisdiction":"US-DE"}'
```

**MCP**

```json
{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "return await $.Company.incorporate({ legalName: 'PatentPad Inc.', jurisdiction: 'US-DE' })"
  }
}
```

Guides that call it: [Form my company](/systems/legal-and-corporate/form-my-company).