Automatic agent protection

Automatic protection freezes an agent and its wallets when its payment activity crosses a threshold. It is off for new agents. While it is off, a crossed threshold creates a dashboard alert and the agent keeps paying. A frozen agent cannot start new payments until a team member restores it. Use it as a backstop alongside payment policies and approval rules. Policies decide whether each payment is allowed. Automatic protection can stop the agent when a pattern of activity needs review.

Protection settings

Read the current settings with GET /api/agents/{id}/freeze-config. A new agent returns "enabled": false:

{
  "enabled": false,
  "thresholds": {
    "maxConsecutivePolicyViolations": 5,
    "maxConsecutivePaymentFailures": 5,
    "spendVelocityMultiplier": 3,
    "largePaymentMultiplier": 10,
    "minimumTrustScore": 0.2,
    "trustScoreDropThreshold": 0.3,
    "maxNewCounterpartiesPerHour": 10
  }
}

Threshold	What it controls
`maxConsecutivePolicyViolations`	Consecutive policy-denied payments that trigger protection
`maxConsecutivePaymentFailures`	Consecutive failed payments that trigger protection
`spendVelocityMultiplier`	How far recent payment activity may rise above the agent’s established rate
`largePaymentMultiplier`	How large one payment may be relative to the agent’s established payment size
`minimumTrustScore`	Lowest acceptable average counterparty trust score, from `0` to `1`
`trustScoreDropThreshold`	Largest acceptable drop in average counterparty trust within 24 hours, as a fraction of the earlier score (`0.3` = 30%)
`maxNewCounterpartiesPerHour`	Number of different recipients, new or known, the agent may pay within one hour

The large-payment check needs 10 confirmed payments of history, and the velocity check ignores hours with less than $50 of spend. The velocity check counts the agent’s confirmed wallet payments, its card purchases, and its checkout purchases together, and runs after each wallet payment, each connected-card purchase, and each new checkout. A checkout counts while its spend is held and after it is paid. Test card purchases are not counted. Consecutive failures and policy violations protect a new agent from its first payment.

Update settings

Send only the values you want to change. Omitted values keep their current setting. Set "enabled": true to turn protection on.

curl -X PATCH https://conto.finance/api/agents/AGENT_ID/freeze-config \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CONTO_ORG_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "enabled": true,
    "thresholds": {
      "maxConsecutivePolicyViolations": 3,
      "maxConsecutivePaymentFailures": 3,
      "maxNewCounterpartiesPerHour": 5
    }
  }'

The API key needs the agents:write scope. The dashboard has no control for these settings. The agent’s Safety tab shows freeze status and history.

Freeze or restore an agent manually

reason is optional and appears in the freeze history.

curl -X POST https://conto.finance/api/agents/AGENT_ID/freeze \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CONTO_ORG_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "reason": "Reviewing an unexpected supplier payment",
    "freezeWallets": true
  }'

curl -X POST https://conto.finance/api/agents/AGENT_ID/unfreeze \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CONTO_ORG_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "reason": "Supplier details verified",
    "unfreezeWallets": true
  }'

Review status history

Use GET /api/agents/{id}/freeze-history to reconcile when and why access changed:

{
  "items": [
    {
      "id": "freeze_01JZ...",
      "action": "FROZEN",
      "actionLabel": "Frozen",
      "source": "AUTOMATIC_PROTECTION",
      "sourceLabel": "Automatic protection",
      "reason": "Several payments failed in succession.",
      "occurredAt": "2026-07-15T18:24:00.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "total": 1,
  "limit": 20,
  "offset": 0
}

Use each event id as a stable reconciliation or support reference. Automatic events include a plain-language reason. Team actions include the optional reason supplied with the freeze or restore request.

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Automatic agent protection

Protection settings

Update settings

Freeze or restore an agent manually

Review status history

​Protection settings

​Update settings

​Freeze or restore an agent manually

​Review status history

Protection settings

Update settings

Freeze or restore an agent manually

Review status history