How to add budget limits to an OpenAI Agents SDK agent

1. Why this guide matters

Budget limits are the simplest control that still changes behavior. They force you to define what the agent is actually allowed to spend before it acts.

In NORNR, the limit lives in the wallet mandate, and the agent only continues when the resulting decision stays inside that mandate.

2. Install what you need

pip install agentpay openai-agents

This guide uses the hosted NORNR path at https://nornr.com, so you can validate the decision flow without standing up the full local stack first.

3. Create the governed wallet

from agentpay import Wallet

wallet = Wallet.create(
    owner="research-agent",
    daily_limit=40,
    require_approval_above=15,
    base_url="https://nornr.com",
)

This wallet is the mandate. It sets the budget and review threshold before the framework-specific workflow is allowed to continue.

4. Apply it in the workflow

from agents import Agent, Runner

agent = Agent(name="research-agent", instructions="Answer user questions carefully.")

for question in ["Summarize the report", "Extract key risks", "Draft a memo"]:
    decision = wallet.pay(amount=6.00, to="openai", purpose="model call")
    if decision.get("status") != "approved":
        print("Agent may not continue:", decision)
        break
    result = Runner.run_sync(agent, question)
    print(result.final_output)

The key pattern stays the same across frameworks: ask NORNR for a decision first, then let the expensive or externally billable step run only if policy says yes.

5. What to expect

• approved means the workflow can continue immediately inside its mandate.
• queued means the request crossed an approval threshold and should wait for review.
• rejected means policy did not allow the action to proceed.

That three-way split is what makes the pattern useful: low-risk work stays fast, higher-risk work becomes reviewable, and clearly out-of-policy work never leaves the workflow.

6. Where to go next

• Hosted quickstart
• Control room
• Guides library