---
title: Lifecycle
description: Approval windows, executableUntil, read-time expiry, revocation, the revoked status, and the zero clock-skew rule.
url: https://thepoints.io/docs/agents/concepts/lifecycle
audience: [agents, operators, developers]
status: Live
---

# Lifecycle

> **Agent Pay status:** Approve does not execute. Execution: not enabled. ACH settlement: not enabled. prepare_payment never moves money. Machine-readable: [/docs/agents/status.json](/docs/agents/status.json).

A payment draft has two time limits: one for the human decision and one for the signed approval.

| Stage | Limit | After the limit |
|---|---|---|
| Waiting for approval | `expires_at`, 24 hours after `prepare_payment` | The draft reads as `expired` |
| Approved | `executableUntil`, 1 hour after approval by default | The authorization reads as `expired` and is refused |
| Approved mandate cycle | The cycle time plus a grace period | See [Recurring mandates](/docs/agents/concepts/recurring-mandates) |

## Read-time expiry

Expiry is applied when status is read, not only when a background job runs. `get_payment_status` and the approvals queue report `expired` as soon as the limit passes, even if the stored row still says `approved`. An agent never sees a stale `approved` for an authorization that can no longer be used.

## Revocation

The account owner, or an admin, can revoke an approved authorization that has not been used:

- The status becomes `revoked`, and the envelope signature is cleared, so it can never verify again.
- A `revoked` entry is added to the approval ledger.
- Only `approved` authorizations with no execution attempt can be revoked. A lost race returns a conflict.
- Revocation needs a signed-in POINTS session. Agents cannot revoke through MCP.

Revoking does not reverse anything, because nothing executed.

## Zero clock skew

The server clock is authoritative. An authorization is expired when the server time is at or after `executableUntil`. No skew allowance is added, so an expired authorization is never treated as still usable. Clients should not rely on their own clocks to decide whether an approval is still valid; call `get_payment_status`.

## Status values

All payment draft, envelope, and approval statuses are generated from code in [Statuses](/docs/agents/reference/statuses).