# Post your first ask
> Post a paid ask on asks.world, choose who gives the final OK, approve or turn down completions, and close the ask to get back what was not paid out.
An ask is one task with a fixed payment for each approved completion. This guide takes you through
a whole one in the sandbox, with practice money: you post it, see how a completion is checked, and
close it to get the unspent money back. Later sections cover real money, the other kinds of ask,
and posting as a company.
| | |
| --- | --- |
| Available now | Real money on [asks.world](https://asks.world), practice money in the sandbox at [test.asks.world](https://test.asks.world). |
| You need | A Google account, and either a browser or an AI assistant that takes plugins or connectors. |
| Cost | The payment times the number of completions you want. The AI check on an ordinary ask is free. A verifier you choose from the list can charge a fee, which its operator sets at a market rate. You see the exact total before you agree. |
| You end with | A closed ask, a decision on every completion, and the unspent money back in your account. |
| Who decides | You say what counts as done. A verifier checks each completion against it. Unless you choose otherwise, you then give the final OK, and that is what pays. Only you can close your ask. |
You can also post on the asks.world website. This guide follows the AI assistant route.
## Before you start
Work in the sandbox first. It has the same previews, confirmations and limits as the real site, and
nothing real moves.
Two rules hold everywhere:
- Anything that spends money or needs your signature is one tap by you on asks.world. Your
assistant prepares it and gives you a link. It never taps for you.
- Reading, invitations, applications and messages happen in the chat, with no tap.
## Steps
```text
/plugin install asks-testnet --marketplace ixoworld/ixo-plugins
```
```bash
codex plugin marketplace add ixoworld/ixo-plugins
codex plugin add asks-testnet@ixo-plugins
```
In claude.ai, the Claude phone app or ChatGPT, add this address as a custom connector:
```text
https://test.asks.world/v1/mcp
```
Nothing is installed on your computer besides the plugin.
Sign in once with Google when the connector asks. In Claude Code, run `/mcp`, choose
`asks-testnet`, then **Authenticate**. asks.world keeps no password, recovery words or signing
key of yours.
Ask your assistant for practice money, or run `/asks-testnet:account`, then tap once on the
page it links to. You can take 10, 25 or 100 at a time. Practice money cannot be cashed out.
Run `/asks-testnet:create`, or say what you want done. The assistant asks one question at a time
and fills in these parts:
| Part | What to give | Limits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Task | What to do and what counts as done, in one piece of text | 12 to 300 characters |
| Title | A short name for the board | Up to 80 characters |
| Pay | Dollars for each approved completion | |
| Completions wanted | How many approved completions you will pay for | 1 to 10. Default 1 |
| Days open | How long the ask takes completions | 1 to 30. Default 7 |
| Place (optional) | Where the work must happen, and how close | Default 400 metres |
| Yes or no checks (optional) | Questions answered for each completion when the final OK is given | Up to 5 |
| Who can complete it | Anyone, people who apply, or people you invite | Default: anyone |
Put the acceptance test in the task itself. "Photo of the notice board at the library entrance,
taken today, all text readable" can be checked. "Check the library" cannot.
- **You, after the AI check.** This is the default. Nothing is paid until you approve.
- **The AI alone.** An approved completion is paid at once. An ask paid by card is always
decided this way.
- **Someone you name.** A person you trust gives the final OK in your place.
- **A ready-made verifier.** Pick one from the list your assistant shows. The list gives each
verifier's fee.
The assistant shows the exact total. Say yes, open the link it gives you, and tap once on the
page to post. The page shows the same total in plain words before you tap.
If you are giving the final OK yourself, you may get a second link. Tap **Approve** there so
that completions wait for your OK.
When it is done, the ask is live on the board with its number.
Run `/asks-testnet:manage` to see your open asks and what has come in. Completions that passed
the checks sit under **Waiting for you to check** on asks.world. Choose yes or no for each and
press **Send decision**. Yes pays it. No turns it down, and it is not paid.
Ask your assistant to close it, then tap once on the page. Closing stops new completions and
sends what was not paid out back to your account.
## Check the result
You are done when all three are true:
- The ask is closed.
- Every completion shows a decision: approved and paid, or not passed.
- Your account shows the unspent amount returned.
To reconcile, compare three numbers: what was set aside when you posted, what was spent, and what
came back when you closed. The first should equal the other two together.
## When something goes wrong
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The link says it expired or was used | Each link works once, and only for a while | Ask your assistant for a fresh one |
| The page says you are signed in as someone else | The browser has a different account from the connector | Sign in on that page with the same Google account |
| No tools, or "needs sign-in" | The connector is not signed in | Authenticate again, as in step 2 |
| You are not sure a post went through | The result is unknown | Check your asks before you try again. Do not post twice |
| The ask was refused | It was refused under the posting rules. A refused ask spends nothing | Change the task and post again |
| The ask is held for a person to look at | It stays off the board until it has been seen | Wait |
| A completion was not passed and you think it should have been | The verifier decided against the task as written | Post a clearer ask. asks.world describes no step for challenging a decision. The chain has its own [dispute mechanism](/guides/dev/claim-disputes) |
| The days ran out with nothing coming in | Money that was not paid out comes back when the ask is closed | Close the ask |
## Use real money
When the sandbox run works, install the real plugin (`asks` in place of `asks-testnet`, or the
connector at `https://asks.world/v1/mcp`) and sign in again. Each network signs in separately.
- You pay from your Wallet on asks.world, or by card. A card pays from $0.50 up to $999,999.99 at
the moment you post.
- A card cannot pay for an ask with a picture, an ask at a place, a company's ask, a campaign or a
plan.
- Limits apply for each ask and for each day, both when the link is made and when you tap.
## Other kinds of ask
asks.world has three markets. Your assistant suggests the one that fits what you describe.
| Market | How it works |
| --- | --- |
| Open Asks | Anyone can do it, an AI check approves each completion, there is no service fee, and it is public. The ask in this guide is one |
| Pro Asks | Verified pros do the work and send a proper report. You give the OK on each report, only you see the reports, and Asks takes a share that the total shows |
| Open Calls | Many people send entries and you pick the best, or pay everyone who passes up to a number. Entries stay sealed until it closes |
Within Open Asks there are variations:
| Variation | What it is | Worth knowing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ask at a place | An observation, a photo or a check that needs someone on the spot | It cannot be private, a company's, or paid by card |
| Private ask | An ask for people you invite, or who apply | It is not on the board. No LinkedIn is needed |
| Campaign | One spot cleaned, litter mapped over an area, or the same job in many places | It cannot be paid by card |
| Alpha ask | A market or company question researched, with a sourced report | Research only, not investment advice |
| Plan | Several small checks bought together, by people near the places a prediction market turns on | Sandbox only |
On a Pro Ask you can invite a particular pro, and you and each invited pro have a private room for
messages.
## Post as a company
A company ask is posted in your company's name and paid by the company. The money comes from the
company's Asks account, set aside when the ask is posted, or it goes to people through the
company's own payouts service.
To set a company up, use Claude Code or Codex with the Asks plugin and say "set up bank payouts".
The `bank-payouts` skill creates the company and installs its payouts service on your own
Cloudflare account, paying from your own Stripe balance. The same steps by hand are in
[Host your own payouts facilitator](/payments/self-host-payouts). A new company can use the
verifier that Asks provides. Building your own is a developer's job, covered in
[Decision oracle](/build-an-oracle/decision-oracle).
Once the company is set up:
1. Sign in on asks.world, open the page for a new ask, and pick your company under **Post as**. The
form offers the verifiers your company allows. Posting as a company is done on the website, not
from the chat.
2. Approve a review budget once. Each review is paid from your company's review credits, and only
the company's owner can approve the budget.
3. Turn on the email alert in the Decision Console's review queue. Now and then a completion needs
a person at your company to look at it. If nobody decides within 48 hours, it is turned down,
and the person who did the work is not paid.
A company's ask cannot be paid by card when it is posted.
## What is recorded
Posting, each completion, each decision and each payment leave their own record. The decision
record says the completion met the task as written. It does not say the work is true or good.
[What each record proves](/trust-boundaries) explains the difference and why it matters when you
rely on a result.
## Next steps
See the same ask from the other side: finding it, completing it and being paid.
Write the rules a verifier applies, for work that needs more than a general check.
Where the money goes at each step, and what IXO takes.
For a company that pays its own suppliers or field workers.