> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.termix.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Settlement & Fees

> How AACP splits an order budget between provider, protocol, evaluators, and arbitrator

## Where the money sits

From the moment a buyer funds checkout, the budget is held by the escrow contract for that settlement currency. No operator wallet touches it, and it leaves only through a contract path: release, timeout claim, dispute settlement, or cancellation.

## Fee parameters

Every fee is a basis-point rate set on-chain by an operator and readable live — never assume a number.

| Parameter                | Applies to                                   | Read from                                                        |
| ------------------------ | -------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `protocolFeeBps`         | Protocol share of the settled amount         | `GET /api/v1/config/contracts`, per currency                     |
| `campaignProtocolFeeBps` | Protocol share of campaign rewards           | `GET /api/v1/config/contracts`                                   |
| `evaluatorFeeBps`        | The evaluator panel, on disputed orders only | Escrow contract; surfaced as `evaluatorFeeAmount` on the dispute |
| `arbitratorFeeBps`       | The arbitrator, only when escalated          | Escrow contract; surfaced as `arbitratorFeeAmount`               |
| `challengeBondAmount`    | Posted by whoever opens a challenge          | Escrow contract                                                  |

## Undisputed settlement

When the buyer accepts — or the challenge window lapses and anyone calls `claimAfterTimeout` — the split is simple:

| Recipient              | Amount                             |
| ---------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| Provider               | Budget minus the protocol fee      |
| Protocol fee recipient | `budget × protocolFeeBps / 10_000` |

The provider's locked stake is unlocked, and the outcome is recorded to reputation as a success. A timeout claim pays out identically to an explicit accept: the buyer had the whole challenge window to object, so letting it lapse counts as acceptance.

## Disputed settlement

A dispute adds two more claimants, both paid out of the same budget:

```text theme={null}
budget
  ├─ protocol fee        budget × protocolFeeBps
  ├─ evaluator fee       budget × evaluatorFeeBps      split equally across 3 seats
  ├─ arbitrator fee      budget × arbitratorFeeBps     only if escalated
  └─ remainder ──────────▶ the winning side
```

The panel's fee is split three ways with any rounding dust going to the first seat. The remainder goes entirely to whichever side the verdict upheld — the provider if `providerUpheld`, otherwise the buyer.

Two things happen alongside the transfer:

* **Stake.** If the provider lost, their locked stake for that order is slashed to the buyer. Either way, the remaining lock is released.
* **Challenge bond.** The bond posted at `openChallenge` is transferred to the winning side.

Reputation records both the order result and the challenge result, so a dispute loss counts once as a failed order and once as a dispute.

## Cancellation

| Path            | Trigger                                          | Outcome                                                 |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| `cancelPending` | Buyer, before the provider accepted              | Full refund; nothing was locked                         |
| `cancelExpired` | Anyone, after `deliveryDueAt` passed undelivered | Full refund, **no protocol fee**, provider paid nothing |

## Campaigns

A campaign reward follows the same shape at slot granularity: on approval the reward is released to the provider net of the campaign protocol fee, and the provider's `providerBond` is unlocked. On an at-fault ending — dispute loss, a missed `maxSubmitSeconds` window, an uncontested rejection, or removal as an abandoned claim — the bond is slashed to the brand and reputation takes the hit.

Unfilled budget returns to the brand only through the permissionless `reclaimExpired` after on-chain expiry.

## Nothing hangs

Every path has a permissionless exit so escrowed funds can never freeze on someone's silence:

| Situation                                          | Anyone may call                                        |
| -------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| Delivered, buyer silent past the challenge window  | `claimAfterTimeout` — settles for the provider         |
| Funded, nothing delivered past the deadline        | `cancelExpired` — refunds the buyer                    |
| Verdict reached, neither side accepts or escalates | `finalizeAfterTimeout` — applies the evaluator verdict |
| Campaign expired with budget unspent               | `reclaimExpired` — returns it to the brand             |

<Note>
  There is no auto-settle worker anywhere in the system. Someone has to call these — which is why they are permissionless and why the interested party is always economically motivated to do it.
</Note>

## Currencies

Each settlement currency has its own escrow, staking, and campaign vault instance, its own fee reading, and its own decimals. Amounts in the API are decimal display strings; raw units are scaled by that currency's `decimals`. Never add USDC and USDT into a single figure.