# withhold

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

> Withhold keeps a Review off display for one of five reasons, none of them its rating or its tone.

Withhold keeps a [Review](/business/nouns/review) off display for one of five reasons, none of them its rating or its tone.

## Inputs
| Input | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `review` | [Review](/business/nouns/review) | Yes | The Review to withhold. |
| `reason` | `string` | Yes | Why it is not shown. |

## Outputs
| Output | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `review` | [Review](/business/nouns/review) | Yes | The Review, now `withheld`. |

## Effects
- Emits [`Review.withheld`](/business/events/Review.withheld).
- Performed by the [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead).
- Two-way: it runs at once, in the `try`, `send` and `do` modes.
- Records the reason beside the Review, where every reader of the record sees it.

## 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. | [Review.withhold](/business/nouns/review/withhold) |

## 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
Withhold the latest review.
```

**API**

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.sb/routewise.dev/reviews/review_1/withhold \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"reason":"fake"}'
```

```json
{
  "api": "https://api.sb/routewise.dev",
  "review": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/routewise.dev/reviews/review_1",
    "$type": "Review",
    "rating": 1,
    "status": "submitted"
  },
  "action": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/routewise.dev/actions/action_1",
    "operation": "Review.withhold",
    "status": "done"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "https://api.sb/routewise.dev/actions/action_1"
  }
}
```

**SDK**

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

const review = await $.Review.withhold({ review: 'review_1', reason: 'fake' })
```

**CLI**

```bash
npx startup-builder do Review.withhold --json '{"review":"review_1","reason":"fake"}'
```

**MCP**

```json
{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "return await $.Review.withhold({ review: 'review_1', reason: 'fake' })"
  }
}
```