Machine Spending Authority

Your AI agents spend money.
You have no idea how much.

Every API call, every SaaS subscription, every compute purchase — happening at machine speed with no policy, no approval, no audit trail.

authorail-admin-server
🛡️ Non-bypassable
🔒 Zero secrets exposed
📋 Every attempt audited
⚡ Deterministic decisions

How Authorail protects your spend

Three layers of control — from policy definition to real-time enforcement to complete auditability.

Policy Enforcement

Define spending rules per agent — daily limits, vendor restrictions, resource types. Evaluated deterministically on every purchase attempt. 

policy:
  daily_limit: $500
  vendors: [openai.com, anthropic.com]
  require_approval: amount >= $100

Approval Workflows

Purchases exceeding thresholds pause automatically. Admins approve or deny via dashboard. Agents resume on approval. 

purchase: $150.00 → openai.com
status: require_approval
reason: amount ≥ $100 threshold
action: awaiting admin review

Audit Trail

Every purchase attempt, policy evaluation, and approval decision is logged. Full traceability from intent to settlement. 

event: purchase_attempted
agent: research-bot
amount: $50.00
decision: allow (policy v1)
timestamp: 2025-01-15T10:30:00Z

How it works

From agent intent to settled payment in four steps.

01

Agent Intent

Agent requests a purchase via the Authorail SDK — vendor, amount, resource type.

02

Policy Engine

Request is evaluated against the agent's policy — limits, vendor rules, approval thresholds.

03

Decision

Allow, deny, or require approval. Deterministic, audited, non-bypassable.

04

Execution

Approved purchases are settled via Stripe. Full audit trail from intent to payment.

Simple, predictable pricing

Start free. Scale when you're ready.

Sandbox

Free

Explore the platform with test data.

  • ✓ 1 agent
  • ✓ 100 purchases/month
  • ✓ Community support

Pro

$199 /mo

For teams running agents in production.

  • ✓ 25 agents
  • ✓ 10,000 purchases/month
  • ✓ Approval workflows
  • ✓ Priority support

Enterprise

Custom

Dedicated infrastructure and SLAs.

  • ✓ Unlimited agents
  • ✓ Unlimited purchases
  • ✓ SSO & RBAC
  • ✓ Dedicated support
View full pricing details →

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about Authorail and machine spending authority.

What is machine spending authority? +
Machine spending authority is a governance layer that sits between AI agents and payment systems. It enforces policies, requires approvals for high-value transactions, and maintains a complete audit trail of every purchase attempt — ensuring no agent spends without oversight.
Can agents bypass Authorail? +
No. In gateway mode, Authorail is the only path to payment execution. Agents never hold payment credentials directly — they submit purchase requests through the SDK, and the policy engine evaluates every request before any money moves.
What payment providers are supported? +
Authorail supports Stripe for automated payment settlement. For organizations with existing payment infrastructure, manual settlement mode lets you use Authorail for policy enforcement and approval workflows while handling payments through your own systems.
How does the approval flow work? +
When a purchase exceeds the approval threshold defined in the agent's policy, the transaction is automatically paused with a "require_approval" status. An admin reviews and approves or denies the purchase via the dashboard. Once approved, payment settles automatically.
Is Authorail open source? +
The Authorail core platform is source-available with a commercial license. The Python SDK and MCP server adapters are open source under MIT, so you can inspect and extend the integration layer freely.
How long does setup take? +
Under 10 minutes. Install the SDK, configure your Stripe keys, define your first policy, and register an agent. The quickstart guide walks you through a working setup with a test purchase in about 5 minutes.