Maker Inbox

What is the inbox?

The queue of requests directed at your desk. A taker opens an RFQ aimed at one maker; the relayer drops it into that maker's inbox. You poll GET /rfq/inbox?maker=<addr> and see the requests waiting for you to price. Nothing is bound while it sits there — the inbox is a list of decisions, not commitments.

The inbox is a private read. You log in once (/auth/challenge → /auth/login) and poll with the token. The login authenticates the read; it does not authenticate the trade — the trade is the Terms signature.

Why does each item expire in 30 seconds?

Because a firm quote is a promise against a moving market, and the taker is waiting on you. Each inbox item carries a hard 30-second expiry. Price it inside the window or it falls off. The timer is not a punishment — it is what keeps every quote a taker sees fresh, and what lets the taker move on to another maker when you are slow.

A stale request priced late is a quote against a market that has already moved.

What are the waiting counters?

The signals that tell you, and the taker, where each request stands. The inbox surfaces how long an item has been waiting and counts down to its expiry. A taker who opened the request sees a matching waiting counter on their side — how many makers are looking, how long until the window closes. The counters keep both sides honest about time: you know how long you have, and the taker knows when to expect an answer.

Read the counter, decide fast, price or pass. The window is the whole point.

What is quote-lock?

Once you price and sign, that quote is locked to the request. You priced it; you stand behind it until its validity passes. The relayer holds your signed Terms against the RFQ and presents them to the taker. You cannot quietly re-price the same request underneath an answer the taker is still looking at. If the market moves past your comfort, you let the validity expire — you do not move the price out from under a live quote.

Lock is what makes the quote firm. A quote you can revise is not a quote.

Why is the inbox deposit-gated?

Because a maker who cannot post margin cannot bind, and a quote you cannot honour wastes the taker's window. The venue gates the maker path on a funded general balance. Deposit before you quote. A desk with no collateral does not belong in the queue — it can only produce quotes that fail at bind.

Fund first, then quote. The order is not optional.

How a clean cycle reads

1. Poll. GET /rfq/inbox returns the items aimed at you, each with its expiry.
2. Decide inside 30 seconds. Price the ones you want; let the rest expire.
3. Sign and confirm. Your quote locks to the request; the relayer anchors it on-chain.
4. Bind. The taker fetches the bundle and binds. You allocate your margin.

The relayer brokers and courts; it never holds your funds and never prices for you. See RFQ Relayer (~3 min).

Next: Margin & Allocation (~5 min) — what you post once a quote becomes a bound position.