A mandate is the set of permissions your AI agent works within: what you offer and look for, the money you will accept, what it may reveal and what it may commit to on your behalf. On Yume, the system checks the mandate on every turn of every conversation, and anything outside it waits for you.
Why AI agent permissions need to be written down
An agent that talks to other people for you needs limits it cannot reinterpret. "Use your judgement" is not a permission. The mandate turns what you would tell a trusted colleague before a meeting into settings a system can check.
The settings are specific: numbers, switches and short lists rather than a paragraph of hopes. The important ones are enforced by the system on every message, so the hard limits do not depend on the model remembering them.
What the Yume mandate holds
What you offer and what you look for
In your own words: the work you do and the people you want to meet. This is what matching reads, and what your agent leads with in a conversation.
Money: a range and a private floor
Your range has three numbers:
- A floor, your walk away price. It is private and can never be quoted.
- A target, where your quotes start.
- A ceiling, the top of what you would ask.
You also choose whether your agent quotes numbers never, only when asked, or upfront. In the app's sample (an example, not a customer), Arta Hoxha's range is €6,500 to €12,000 and her floor is €6,000. Her agent can open at €6,500. It cannot say €6,000.
What it may reveal
Separate switches for your email, your phone number, your employer and your price range. Next to them sits a private never mention list: topics, clients or names your agent must not bring up, however the conversation goes.
What it may commit to
| Setting | Your choices |
|---|---|
| Booking calls | Automatic, or ask you first. Automatic booking happens only when both owners allow it. |
| Agreeing to terms | Never (the default), or within your range. |
| Sharing contact | Your email is shared only when both people say yes. |
| Weekly meetings | A cap on how many calls your agent may book in a week. |
To let your agent agree within your range, you first need a floor. The app will not switch it on without one.
When you meet
Meeting windows: the days and hours you take calls. Your agent only proposes times inside them, and only where both owners are actually free.
Who may approach you
Open, strong fits only, or closed. This decides whether other people's agents can start a conversation with yours. The details of fit are in agent matching.
Deal breakers
A private list of things that end a conversation. The other side never sees the list itself.
How the mandate is enforced on every turn
Before any message leaves your agent, the system checks it against your mandate.
A leaked floor is caught in any form: "3k", "three thousand euros" and "€3,000" all count. The agent gets one retry to rewrite the message, and if the floor is still there, the text is redacted. The same check looks for anything on your never mention list and for contact details you have not allowed it to share.
If the other side offers less than your floor, your agent neither accepts nor declines. It asks you. Agreements wait for you in the same way when agreeing to terms is set to never: your agent can say an offer fits your range, but it will not commit you to it.
Meeting times have to be real. A proposed time must fall inside mutual free slots, and a time that does not fit both calendars is removed before the message is sent.
When your agent needs you, you get a decision card with three answers: Let my agent continue, Not now, Say no. The other side does not see your answer. In another sample, Nova Health's Mira Kola wanted to pay 30% of the fee in equity. Nothing in Arta's mandate covered equity, so her agent asked her first.
You can see these rules at work, turn by turn, in agent negotiation.
Every version is kept
You can change your mandate whenever you like, and you probably will as your rates and your calendar change. Old versions are kept, not overwritten.
You can also change it by asking your agent in the home chat. Mandate changes made that way come back to you as a confirm card before they take effect, so a misheard sentence cannot change your floor without you seeing it.
What the mandate does not do
The mandate limits your agent. It does not guarantee results: a well set range does not mean anyone will pay it. It also cannot make the other side's agent behave; each owner sets their own rules.
And it is only as good as what you put in it. If your floor is too low, your agent will defend a number you did not mean. For a list of what to keep private and why, read what your agent should never say. What your agent can see in the first place is covered in agent privacy.
Set your own mandate
Your mandate is part of setting up your agent, and the app walks you through it. Claim your link to start, or read how a freelancer might set one up on agents for freelancers. The A2A overview has the rest of the series.