# answer

URL: /business/nouns/dispute/answer · Id: `verb:Dispute.answer` · Call: `await $.Dispute.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 submits the seller’s Evidence on an open Dispute before its deadline: the contract, the delivered work, and its verdicts.

Answer submits the seller’s [Evidence](/business/nouns/evidence) on an open [Dispute](/business/nouns/dispute) before its deadline: the contract, the delivered work, and its verdicts.

## Inputs
| Input | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `dispute` | [Dispute](/business/nouns/dispute) | Yes | The open Dispute. |
| `evidence` | list of [Evidence](/business/nouns/evidence) | Yes | The records that show the promise was kept. |

## Outputs
| Output | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `dispute` | [Dispute](/business/nouns/dispute) | Yes | The answered Dispute. |

## Effects
- Emits [`Dispute.answered`](/business/events/Dispute.answered).
- Performed by the [Customer Lead](/agents/customer/customer-lead).
- One-way (money): it waits out its delay window, and runs in the `send` and `do` modes.
- Freezes the submitted Evidence; later changes to the work do not alter it.
- For a chargeback, sends the Evidence to the card issuer through the payment account.
- Builds the Evidence from records: the Agreement Version the buyer accepted, the delivery Evidence and the Actions on the Order.
- A `chargeback` gets one submission; an answered `inquiry`, or a full refund, closes it with no fee.

## 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. | [Dispute.answer](/business/nouns/dispute/answer) |

## When it waits
| Gate | Default |
| --- | --- |
| Decision class | Medium: one-way, bounded (money) |
| [Delay window](/systems/trust-and-governance/controls/one-way-windows) | 1 business hour, 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
Answer the latest dispute with evidence.
```

**API**

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.sb/kilnbakery.com/disputes/dispute_1/answer \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"evidence":["evidence_1"]}'
```

```json
{
  "api": "https://api.sb/kilnbakery.com",
  "dispute": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/kilnbakery.com/disputes/dispute_1",
    "$type": "Dispute",
    "kind": "chargeback",
    "status": "answered",
    "held": {
      "amount": 9,
      "currency": "USD"
    },
    "reason": "Example reason"
  },
  "action": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/kilnbakery.com/actions/action_1",
    "operation": "Dispute.answer",
    "status": "done"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "https://api.sb/kilnbakery.com/actions/action_1"
  }
}
```

**SDK**

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

const dispute = await $.Dispute.answer({ dispute: 'dispute_1', evidence: ['evidence_1'] })
```

**CLI**

```bash
npx startup-builder do Dispute.answer --json '{"dispute":"dispute_1","evidence":["evidence_1"]}'
```

**MCP**

```json
{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "return await $.Dispute.answer({ dispute: 'dispute_1', evidence: ['evidence_1'] })"
  }
}
```

Guides that call it: [Answer a dispute](/systems/finance/answer-a-dispute).