# check

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

> Check says whether a Customer may call a Verb now, how much of its Limit remains, when that resets, and which Offer lifts it.

Check says whether a [Customer](/business/nouns/customer) may call a [Verb](/business/nouns/verb) now, how much of its [Limit](/business/nouns/limit) remains, when that resets, and which [Offer](/business/nouns/offer) lifts it.

## Inputs
| Input | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `customer` | [Customer](/business/nouns/customer) | Yes | The Customer making the call. |
| `verb` | [Verb](/business/nouns/verb) | Yes | The Verb it wants to call, as `Noun.verb`. |
| `amount` | `integer` | No | How many units the call would use. Defaults to 1. |

## Outputs
| Output | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `allowed` | `boolean` | Yes | True when an Entitlement grants the call and its Limit has room for `amount`. |
| `entitlement` | [Entitlement](/business/nouns/entitlement) | No | The Entitlement that grants the Verb, when one does. |
| `remaining` | `integer` | No | Units left in the current period; absent for a `feature` Entitlement. |
| `resetsAt` | `datetime` | No | When the period resets; absent when the Limit never resets. |
| `upgrade` | [Offer](/business/nouns/offer) | No | The Offer that lifts the bound, when its Offer’s `atBound` is `upgrade`. |

## Effects
- Emits [`Entitlement.checked`](/business/events/Entitlement.checked).
- Two-way: it runs at once, in the `try`, `send` and `do` modes.
- Changes nothing and never refuses: past the bound it answers `allowed: false`, and the Verb it guards then replies 402 `payment-required`, unless `atBound` is `overage`.

## 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. | [Entitlement.check](/business/nouns/entitlement/check) |

## 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
Check the latest entitlement with a customer and a verb.
```

**API**

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.sb/ledgerlark.com/entitlements/check \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"customer":"customer_1","verb":"verb_1"}'
```

```json
{
  "api": "https://api.sb/ledgerlark.com",
  "allowed": true,
  "entitlement": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/ledgerlark.com/entitlements/entitlement_1",
    "$type": "Entitlement",
    "verb": "verb_1"
  },
  "remaining": 1,
  "resetsAt": "2026-10-22T12:00:00Z",
  "upgrade": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/ledgerlark.com/offers/offer_1",
    "$type": "Offer",
    "price": {
      "amount": 400,
      "currency": "USD"
    }
  },
  "action": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/ledgerlark.com/actions/action_1",
    "operation": "Entitlement.check",
    "status": "done"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "https://api.sb/ledgerlark.com/actions/action_1"
  }
}
```

**SDK**

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

const { allowed, entitlement, remaining, resetsAt, upgrade } = await $.Entitlement.check({ customer: 'customer_1', verb: 'verb_1' })
```

**CLI**

```bash
npx startup-builder do Entitlement.check --json '{"customer":"customer_1","verb":"verb_1"}'
```

**MCP**

```json
{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "return await $.Entitlement.check({ customer: 'customer_1', verb: 'verb_1' })"
  }
}
```

Guides that call it: [Check what a customer can do](/products/offers/check-what-a-customer-can-do).