# release

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

> Release lets a Domain’s registration or claim end, keeping its record, history and aliases.

Release lets a [Domain](/business/nouns/domain)’s registration or claim end, keeping its record, history and aliases.

## Inputs
| Input | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `domain` | [Domain](/business/nouns/domain) | Yes | The Domain to let go. |
| `reason` | `text` | Yes | Why it is released, recorded as a Decision. |

## Outputs
| Output | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `domain` | [Domain](/business/nouns/domain) | Yes | The released Domain. |

## Effects
- Emits [`Domain.released`](/business/events/Domain.released).
- Performed by the [Legal Lead](/agents/legal/legal-lead).
- One-way (customer, brand): it waits out its delay window, and runs in the `send` and `do` modes.
- Refuses a Domain whose `carriedIdentity` is true: it received mail, hosted a Mailbox or verified an outside account.
- Refuses a canonical Domain while the Startup is Live.
- Runs when a Tenant ends or loses its Entitlement, for each name that Tenant connected.

## 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. | [Domain.release](/business/nouns/domain/release) |
| A Domain whose `carriedIdentity` is true: it received mail, hosted a Mailbox or verified an outside account | [`refused`](/code/api/errors/refused) | Clear what the check names, then call it again. | [Domain.release](/business/nouns/domain/release) |
| A canonical Domain while the Startup is Live | [`refused`](/code/api/errors/refused) | Clear what the check names, then call it again. | [Domain.release](/business/nouns/domain/release) |

## When it waits
| Gate | Default |
| --- | --- |
| Decision class | High: one-way, broad (customer, brand) |
| [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 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
Release the latest domain.
```

**API**

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.sb/shiftnote.app/domains/domain_1/release \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"reason":"Example reason"}'
```

```json
{
  "api": "https://api.sb/shiftnote.app",
  "domain": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/shiftnote.app/domains/domain_1",
    "$type": "Domain",
    "hostname": "shiftnote.app",
    "role": "canonical",
    "state": "verifying"
  },
  "action": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/shiftnote.app/actions/action_1",
    "operation": "Domain.release",
    "status": "done"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "https://api.sb/shiftnote.app/actions/action_1"
  }
}
```

**SDK**

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

const domain = await $.Domain.release({ domain: 'domain_1', reason: 'Example reason' })
```

**CLI**

```bash
npx startup-builder do Domain.release --json '{"domain":"domain_1","reason":"Example reason"}'
```

**MCP**

```json
{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "return await $.Domain.release({ domain: 'domain_1', reason: 'Example reason' })"
  }
}
```