Payment attempt
How an attempt formalises the expectation of payment, and why it is not an outcome.
A payment attempt formalizes one concrete expectation of payment within an intent: a specific chain, a specific token, and a specific expected amount. An intent says be paid for this order; an attempt says expect this amount, in this token, on this chain, at this address. An attempt is an expectation, not an outcome.
An attempt formalizes an expectation
An attempt fixes the chain (chain_id), the token (token_id), and the expected amount, drawn from a quote snapshot. It is the precise, payable shape of the customer's current selection. It does not assert that a payment has happened — it states what a correct payment would look like.
Many attempts, one deposit address
An intent may have several attempts. Each time the customer changes chain, token, or wallet, a new attempt is formed for that selection. Every attempt under the same intent shares the one deposit address bound to the intent; the address never changes between attempts. The deposit address belongs to the intent, and attempts inherit it.
READY_TO_PAY
When an attempt's prerequisites are satisfied — a valid quote, a passed pre-deposit screening, and the expected parameters fixed — the attempt reaches READY_TO_PAY. This is the point at which the deposit address may be paid: the expectation is complete and the customer can deposit. READY_TO_PAY is a statement about readiness of the expectation, not a statement that funds have arrived.
An attempt is an expectation, not an outcome
An attempt's expected amount is not a matching criterion and not a guarantee. Whether a deposit settles is decided by on-chain truth and the merchant's compliance decision, not by the attempt. Outcome-style labels on an attempt — PAID, FAILED — are projections of canonical on-chain truth.
Because an intent settles at most once, a settled payment corresponds to exactly one canonical attempt. Other finalized, matched payments under the same intent are recorded as duplicate_payment rather than additional settlements — including the case where an attempt reads FAILED while the intent is already settled. That caveat is described in Statuses and projections.