Say how the other ledger answered a journal

POST /ledgers/{ledgerId}/journals/{journalId}/answer

Say how the other ledger answered a journal, the ledger's own app alone (403 NotALedgerApp, NotThisLedgersApp): delivered, with its id there (accounting.ledger-journal-delivered), or refused, with the reason (accounting.ledger-journal-refused, which releases the journal's postings so the next plan claims them under the next attempt's id).

Idempotent by state: a journal is answered once (keyed answer:<ljn>), and a second answer returns the journal as the first left it.

Access

Requires financials:write.

How scopes come from roles: Scopes and roles. Getting a token: Authentication and app tokens.

Retries

Idempotent by state: a journal is answered once (keyed answer:<ljn>), and a second answer returns the journal as the first left it.

Why every write carries a key: Idempotency and retries.

Facts appended

accounting.ledger-journal-delivered
accounting.ledger-journal-refused

What a fact is: Facts and the journal.

AI agent tool

No agent tool. Only the ledger's own app, under its own token, connects its books, maps them, plans and answers their journals (NotALedgerApp for anyone else); an agent sends the merchant to the app's page under Apps instead.

Connecting an agent: AI agents.

Example

curl

curl -X POST 'https://accounting.getmanifold.io/ledgers/lgr_01a0f6b2-1c00-7f71-8a82-465768798a9b/journals/ljn_2d65a17e-ddb1-a312-5355-d026330f09e7/answer' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MANIFOLD_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "outcome": "delivered",
  "externalId": "01a1589c-983b-7a28-8d5e-7f1c9b3a6d20"
}'

JavaScript (fetch)

const response = await fetch("https://accounting.getmanifold.io/ledgers/lgr_01a0f6b2-1c00-7f71-8a82-465768798a9b/journals/ljn_2d65a17e-ddb1-a312-5355-d026330f09e7/answer", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.MANIFOLD_TOKEN}`, "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "outcome": "delivered",
    "externalId": "01a1589c-983b-7a28-8d5e-7f1c9b3a6d20"
  }),
});
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`${response.status}: ${await response.text()}`);
const answer = await response.json();

Request body · application/json

{
  "outcome": "delivered",
  "externalId": "01a1589c-983b-7a28-8d5e-7f1c9b3a6d20"
}

Response · 200 · application/json

{
  "id": "ljn_2d65a17e-ddb1-a312-5355-d026330f09e7",
  "ledgerId": "lgr_01a0f6b2-1c00-7f71-8a82-465768798a9b",
  "date": "2026-10-20",
  "granularity": "daily-summary",
  "kind": "movements",
  "narration": "Manifold · 2026-10-20 · 2 postings [ljn_2d65a17e-ddb1-a312-5355-d026330f09e7]",
  "currency": "AUD",
  "postingIds": [
    "pst_01a1588b-1a20-7b31-9c42-132435465768",
    "pst_01a1588b-1a20-7b31-9c42-243546576879"
  ],
  "postingCount": 2,
  "lines": [
    {
      "account": "1200",
      "externalAccountId": "01a15873-a19f-7e60-9a1d-3f8c2b6e4a10",
      "externalCode": "615",
      "debitCents": 10560,
      "creditCents": 0
    },
    {
      "account": "1400",
      "externalAccountId": "01a1588b-d641-7a82-8b3f-5a1e4d8c6b32",
      "externalCode": "630",
      "debitCents": 0,
      "creditCents": 3400
    },
    {
      "account": "2200",
      "externalAccountId": "01a15892-5a94-7ca4-ad5b-7c3a6f1e8d54",
      "externalCode": "820",
      "debitCents": 0,
      "creditCents": 960
    },
    {
      "account": "4000",
      "externalAccountId": "01a15858-a1fe-7ec6-8f7d-9e5c8b3a0f76",
      "externalCode": "200",
      "debitCents": 0,
      "creditCents": 9600
    },
    {
      "account": "5000",
      "externalAccountId": "01a15869-63f8-7fe8-9b9f-1a7e0d5c2b98",
      "externalCode": "310",
      "debitCents": 3400,
      "creditCents": 0
    }
  ],
  "attempt": 0,
  "status": "delivered",
  "requestedAt": "2026-10-21T04:00:00.000Z",
  "externalId": "01a1589c-983b-7a28-8d5e-7f1c9b3a6d20",
  "answeredAt": "2026-10-21T04:00:02.000Z"
}

The panel writes this call in other languages. It does not send it: Manifold's APIs do not take calls from a web page on another site, so run the call from your own code or terminal. The whole API as OpenAPI: accounting-manager.openapi.json. Base URL https://accounting.getmanifold.io.

Errors

Every refusal is a status and a JSON body whose _tag names it. A refused call changes nothing.

`401`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`Unauthorized` reason	The token is missing, expired or not one Manifold issued.	Get a fresh token and send the call again.
`TokenAlreadyUsed` tokenId	A single-use app token was already spent.	Mint a new token for this call.

`402`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`SubscriptionRequired` status	The organization's subscription has lapsed, so writes are refused.	An owner settles billing. Reads still work meanwhile.

`403`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`NotALedgerApp`	Only a ledger app may call this.	Call it with the ledger app's token.
`NotThisLedgersApp` ledgerId	This ledger belongs to another app.	Call it with the app that connected the ledger.
`TenantRequired` userId	The token names no organization.	Choose the organization, then get a new token.
`ScopeRequired` required	The token's roles do not grant the scope this call needs.	Ask an owner or admin for a role that grants it.

`404`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`LedgerNotFound` ledgerId	No such record in this organization.	Check the id in the path or the body.
`LedgerJournalNotFound` journalId	No such record in this organization.	Check the id in the path or the body.

`409`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`MirroredFromSource` source	This area is fed by your source system until the organization goes live.	Make the change in the source system, or go live first.

`503`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`RequestLogUnavailable` tokenId, reason	The service could not record the request, so it did nothing.	Send the same request again shortly.

How refusals work everywhere: Errors.