Ask the buyer · services.dev

Some work needs something only a person on the buyer's side can give: an answer, a file, a signature, consent or a decision. An ask step puts it to them through a hosted link that needs no account, and the job's deadline pauses until they act. Here the buyer says which terms stay in English. This is Grow 2.

Add the ask

check counts 9 lines:

grow/ask.ts

import { Service } from 'services.dev'

// Grow 2, ask the buyer: before the AI starts, the buyer says which terms stay in English, through a
// link that needs no account. The job waits on them, and its clock pauses until they answer.
export default Service({
  name: 'Translation',
  input: { document: 'file', to: 'language: a BCP 47 tag, such as fr-CA' },
  output: { document: 'file' },
  deliver: {
    glossary: { ask: 'buyer', to: 'answer', items: () => [{ id: 'terms', label: 'Which terms stay in English?' }] },
    translate: 'ai',
    harden: { review: 'adversarial', lenses: ['meaning', 'terms'], rounds: 2 },
  },
  price: 49,
})

glossary is an ask. It's written first, so it runs first, and translate waits for it.

Key	What it does	Default
`ask`	Who acts: `'buyer'`, or a `party` input such as a co-signer (`party?` when optional, `party[]` for several)	required
`to`	What they do: `answer`, `upload`, `sign`, `consent`, `decide`, `direct`, or `grant`, a scoped and expiring permission a later step `needs` (Grants)	required
`items`	A request list, a function of the job, so the questions can follow the input. Each item is answered, waived with a reason, or substituted; a step can start on one with `after: 'glossary.terms'`. Request lists derives one from the job and its subject `deliver.items`	none
`expires`	When the link stops working. The ask then opens once more, with a new link; a second expiry lapses the job, which charges only the acts already committed	`7d`
`remind`	Reminders, each this long before the link expires	`['1d']`
`choices`	For `decide`: the options the party picks from. A decision is theirs alone	none
`how`	How the act is proven: `'click'`, `'esign'`, `'id-verified'` or `'notarized'`, kept on the record	`'click'`

Asks lists the rest: what a signature binds, all for several parties, capacity and void.

Check it

Run

npx services.dev check

magic values: none

services/translation.ts · 9 lines · $49 per job, within 48 hours, charged on delivery.
  who     AI delivers every job. The buyer answers at glossary.
  steps   glossary · buyer · answer → translate · ai → harden · ai · adversarial · 2 lenses
  agent   order_translation · 29 of 30 words · job_7Hq2 waits on party
  ledger  +$49.00 · AI $1.26 (example) · you $47.74
  margin  at least $39.20 a job (80%) · a job that stops costs you at most $9.80
  apps    customer portal · owner console

mcp     13 buyer tools · 4,494 of 8,000 tokens · 9 more with ?toolset=sandbox
✓ ready to sell · 1 Service · it keeps at least 80% of every job
  next    npx services.dev dev

AI and money are simulated until you wire them. $0.42 a call is an example.

The who line names the step where the buyer answers, and the agent line says an order now waits on a party. The margin doesn't move: asking costs nothing.

Run one job

No magic value is needed. In this capture the buyer answers two hours after the order; on localhost, dev serves the link, so open the one the CLI prints and answer it yourself.

npx services.dev translation document=https://example.com/lease.pdf to=fr-CA --max 49 --key grow

job_7Hq2 · working · $49.00 held
job_7Hq2 · waiting · on party · $49.00 held
  record  
  next    hand http://localhost:8787/a/ask_7Hq2?t=8FaWT5EoCj4h-uMyjlXp3_ to the person it asks

# 2 hours later, the buyer answers through the link
→ POST /asks/ask_7Hq2?t=8FaWT5EoCj4h-uMyjlXp3_ {"items":{"terms":{"answer":"Lessee, Lessor, Premises"}}}

$ npx services.dev jobs wait job_7Hq2
job_7Hq2 · delivered · lease.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 charged

curl -X POST http://localhost:8787/jobs -H 'content-type: application/json' -d '{"service":"translation","document":{"url":"https://example.com/lease.pdf","name":"lease.pdf"},"to":"fr-CA","key":"grow","max_usd":49}'

  next    get_job {"id":"job_7Hq2"}

$ curl http://localhost:8787/jobs/job_7Hq2?wait=50
← 200 · job_7Hq2 · waiting · on party · $49.00 held
  next    hand_to_person {"ask":"ask_7Hq2"}

# 2 hours later, the buyer answers through the link
→ POST /asks/ask_7Hq2?t=8FaWT5EoCj4h-uMyjlXp3_ {"items":{"terms":{"answer":"Lessee, Lessor, Premises"}}}

$ curl http://localhost:8787/jobs/job_7Hq2?wait=50
← 200 · job_7Hq2 · delivered · lease.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 charged

→ tools/call order_translation {"document":{"url":"https://example.com/lease.pdf","name":"lease.pdf"},"to":"fr-CA","key":"grow","max_usd":49}

← job_7Hq2 · working · $49.00 held
  next    get_job {"id":"job_7Hq2"}

→ resources/read job://job_7Hq2?wait=50
← job_7Hq2 · waiting · on party · $49.00 held
  next    hand_to_person {"ask":"ask_7Hq2"}

# 2 hours later, the buyer answers through the link
→ POST /asks/ask_7Hq2?t=8FaWT5EoCj4h-uMyjlXp3_ {"items":{"terms":{"answer":"Lessee, Lessor, Premises"}}}

→ resources/read job://job_7Hq2?wait=50
← job_7Hq2 · delivered · lease.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 charged

await lingua.translation.order({"document":{"url":"https://example.com/lease.pdf","name":"lease.pdf"},"to":"fr-CA","key":"grow","max_usd":49})

← job_7Hq2 · working · $49.00 held
  next    get_job {"id":"job_7Hq2"}

await lingua.jobs.wait("job_7Hq2")
← job_7Hq2 · waiting · on party · $49.00 held
  next    hand_to_person {"ask":"ask_7Hq2"}

# 2 hours later, the buyer answers through the link
→ POST /asks/ask_7Hq2?t=8FaWT5EoCj4h-uMyjlXp3_ {"items":{"terms":{"answer":"Lessee, Lessor, Premises"}}}

await lingua.jobs.wait("job_7Hq2")
← job_7Hq2 · delivered · lease.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 charged

Every surface answers the same way: the job waits on: party, and its next step is hand_to_person, with the link. An answer or upload may also come from an agent holding the party's delegated key; sign, consent and decide need the party's own link, and any other caller is refused needs_the_party. The record:

Call

→ POST /translation {"document":"lease.pdf","to":"fr-CA","key":"grow","max_usd":49}

magic values: none

← job_7Hq2 · waiting · on party · $49.00 held
  waiting {"on":"party","since_at":"2026-10-25T14:02:11.000Z","step":"glossary","clock":"paused"}
# 2 hours later, the buyer answers through the link
→ POST /asks/ask_7Hq2?t=8FaWT5EoCj4h-uMyjlXp3_ {"items":{"terms":{"answer":"Lessee, Lessor, Premises"}}}

← job_7Hq2 · delivered · lease.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 charged
  record  glossary.terms · answered | glossary · buyer · answer · clock paused 2h | translate · ai | harden · ai · adversarial · 2 lenses · pass
  ledger  +$49.00 · AI $1.26 · you $47.74

waiting reads "clock":"paused", and the record keeps the two hours as clock paused 2h, so the wait doesn't count against the 48-hour deadline. Deadlines lists everything that pauses it.

What changed

Run

npx services.dev diff grow/review.ts grow/ask.ts

magic values: none

grow/review.ts (8 lines) → grow/ask.ts (9 lines)
Translation · changed deliver, human · adds an ask step: a party acts through a hosted link

API   ~ operation service.order.translation  POST /translation  item.description
      ~ operation service.quote.translation  GET /translation.json  answers.deliver, answers.human.sentence, answers.surfaces.description
      + operation ask.get                    GET /asks/{id}
      + operation ask.complete               POST /asks/{id}
      + operation ask.reissue                POST /asks/{id}/reissue
      ~ operation brand.manifest             GET /manifest.json  answers.services
      + object ask_                          ask
      + 10 events                            job.paused, job.ended, ask.opened, item.done, ask.reminded, ask.done, ask.expired, ask.voided, ask.relinked, consent.given
      + 4 errors                             needs_the_party, ask_expired, ask_voided, signature_void
CLI   + operation ask.get                    services.dev asks get <ask>
      + operation ask.reissue                services.dev asks reissue <ask>
      + 10 events                            job.paused, job.ended, ask.opened, item.done, ask.reminded, ask.done, ask.expired, ask.voided, ask.relinked, consent.given
      + 4 errors                             needs_the_party, ask_expired, ask_voided, signature_void
MCP   ~ operation order_translation          order_translation  description
      + operation reissue_ask                reissue_ask
SDK   + operation ask.reissue                asks.reissue()
      ~ object job_ (translation)            Job<"translation">  + stage: "glossary" | "translate" | "harden"

An ask is the first key that adds calls: ask.get, ask.complete and ask.reissue, the hosted page at /a/:id, ten events and four errors, each on every surface that reaches it.

In a brand, the legal example asks the client for consent before any work starts, and for a decision when a reply comes back.

Add a signer: a sworn translator signs every job.

Add the ask#

Check it#

Run one job#

What changed#

Next#

Add the ask

Check it

Run one job

What changed

Next