# escalate

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

> Escalate hands a Conversation and its summary to the Worker in the Role above, a Human only where one holds it.

Escalate hands a [Conversation](/business/nouns/conversation) and its summary to the [Worker](/business/nouns/worker) in the [Role](/business/nouns/role) above, a [Human](/business/nouns/human) only where one holds it.

## Inputs
| Input | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `conversation` | [Conversation](/business/nouns/conversation) | Yes | The Conversation to hand off. |
| `reason` | `string` | Yes | Why it moves up. |

## Outputs
| Output | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `conversation` | [Conversation](/business/nouns/conversation) | Yes | The Conversation, with its new Worker. |

## Effects
- Emits [`Conversation.escalated`](/business/events/Conversation.escalated).
- Performed by the [Customer Lead](/agents/customer/customer-lead).
- Two-way: it runs at once, in the `try`, `send` and `do` modes.
- A refund over a Limit is an Approval, not an escalation.
- A Customer who asks for a person reaches one wherever the operating model staffs 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. | [Conversation.escalate](/business/nouns/conversation/escalate) |

## 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
Escalate the latest conversation.
```

**API**

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.sb/patentpad.com/conversations/conversation_1/escalate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"reason":"lowConfidence"}'
```

```json
{
  "api": "https://api.sb/patentpad.com",
  "conversation": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/patentpad.com/conversations/conversation_1",
    "$type": "Conversation",
    "subject": "Example subject",
    "answeredAt": "2026-10-22T12:00:00Z"
  },
  "action": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/patentpad.com/actions/action_1",
    "operation": "Conversation.escalate",
    "status": "done"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "https://api.sb/patentpad.com/actions/action_1"
  }
}
```

**SDK**

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

const conversation = await $.Conversation.escalate({ conversation: 'conversation_1', reason: 'lowConfidence' })
```

**CLI**

```bash
npx startup-builder do Conversation.escalate --json '{"conversation":"conversation_1","reason":"lowConfidence"}'
```

**MCP**

```json
{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "return await $.Conversation.escalate({ conversation: 'conversation_1', reason: 'lowConfidence' })"
  }
}
```