What Happens When a Transaction Is Blocked?
BLOCKED is final: the transaction violates a hard rule, no money moves, and the attempt is logged. Here's the full sequence.
The sequence
1. The agent calls evaluate with the proposed transaction.
2. The rules engine returns BLOCKED with the reason and rule_id.
3. The payment rail is never reached — nothing settles.
4. The attempt is written to the audit log with amount, merchant, and rule.
What the agent does
Well-built agents handle BLOCKED gracefully: stop, log, notify, or ask a human.
There is no override path — the rule stands until you change it.
What you can do
Review the log, decide if the rule is right, adjust it, and let the agent retry.
The response
{
"decision": "BLOCKED",
"reason": "Block any single transaction over $500",
"rule_id": "rul_d8edb12ffa",
"transaction_id": "txn_e340f0e12489"
}Deterministic, logged, final.
FAQ
Can a blocked transaction be force-approved?
No override exists by design. You change the rule if it's wrong — then the next attempt is evaluated against the new rule.
Is the block retroactive?
No — it prevents this transaction from settling. It doesn't reverse past settlements.
How do I know what got blocked?
The audit log records every BLOCKED decision with the rule that fired.
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