# collect

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

> Collect charges a Customer’s saved payment method for an open Invoice and retries on failure.

Collect charges a [Customer](/business/nouns/customer)’s saved payment method for an open [Invoice](/business/nouns/invoice) and retries on failure.

## Inputs
| Input | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `invoice` | [Invoice](/business/nouns/invoice) | Yes | The open Invoice. |

## Outputs
| Output | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `invoice` | [Invoice](/business/nouns/invoice) | Yes | The paid Invoice. |

## Effects
- Emits [`Invoice.collected`](/business/events/Invoice.collected).
- Performed by the [Billing Specialist](/agents/finance/billing-specialist).
- One-way (money, customer): it waits out its delay window, and runs in the `send` and `do` modes.
- Retries on the Startup’s retry schedule before the Invoice is marked uncollectible.
- On a `send` Invoice, charges nothing: it records the Customer’s bank transfer when it reconciles and emits `Invoice.collected` then.

## Refuses when
| Check | Error | Fix | Then call |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| The operation is part of an Offer the caller has not accepted or paid for. | [`payment-required`](/code/api/errors/payment-required) | Accept the Offer named in the response, then retry the call. | [Offer.accept](/business/nouns/offer/accept) |
| 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. | [Invoice.collect](/business/nouns/invoice/collect) |
| 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. | [Invoice.collect](/business/nouns/invoice/collect) |

## When it waits
| Gate | Default |
| --- | --- |
| Decision class | Medium: one-way, bounded (money, customer) |
| [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
Collect the latest invoice.
```

**API**

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.sb/routewise.dev/invoices/invoice_1/collect \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY"
```

```json
{
  "api": "https://api.sb/routewise.dev",
  "invoice": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/routewise.dev/invoices/invoice_1",
    "$type": "Invoice",
    "total": {
      "amount": 25,
      "currency": "USD"
    },
    "due": "2026-10-22"
  },
  "action": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/routewise.dev/actions/action_1",
    "operation": "Invoice.collect",
    "status": "done"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "https://api.sb/routewise.dev/actions/action_1"
  }
}
```

**SDK**

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

const invoice = await $.Invoice.collect({ invoice: 'invoice_1' })
```

**CLI**

```bash
npx startup-builder do Invoice.collect --json '{"invoice":"invoice_1"}'
```

**MCP**

```json
{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "return await $.Invoice.collect({ invoice: 'invoice_1' })"
  }
}
```

Guides that call it: [Retry the payments that failed](/systems/finance/retry-failed-payments).