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  "id": "intent-based-swaps",
  "canonical": "https://degreesofsatoshi.com/encyclopedia/intent-based-swaps/",
  "collection": "defi",
  "title": "Intent-based swaps: authorizing an outcome for solvers to execute",
  "description": "Understand the outcome a signed swap intent authorizes and the work delegated to a solver or filler.",
  "aliases": [
    "crypto swap intent solver explained",
    "what does a signed swap intent authorize"
  ],
  "dates": {
    "published": "2026-10-02",
    "modified": "2026-10-02",
    "verified": "2026-10-02T19:18:00.092Z",
    "dataAsOf": "2026-10-02"
  },
  "authorship": {
    "publisher": "Degrees of Satoshi editorial project",
    "process": "AI-assisted research and drafting with a separate automated source-verification pass; no external expert or named human review is implied."
  },
  "quickAnswer": {
    "text": "A swap intent specifies an acceptable outcome while leaving an executor to choose how to produce it. In CoW and UniswapX examples, users sign orders with constraints and solvers or fillers arrange settlement. The security question is which limits the authorized transfer path actually enforces—not whether the interface calls the action gasless.",
    "claimId": "intent-based-swaps-quick-answer",
    "sourceIds": [
      "x425-defi-cow-overview",
      "x425-defi-cow-rules",
      "x425-defi-uni-x"
    ]
  },
  "keyFacts": [
    {
      "label": "Outcome",
      "value": "Signed orders constrain what assets and amounts may be exchanged.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "x425-defi-uni-x"
      ],
      "id": "outcome",
      "claimId": "intent-based-swaps-fact-outcome"
    },
    {
      "label": "Execution",
      "value": "Fillers can use their inventory or external liquidity.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "x425-defi-uni-x"
      ],
      "id": "execution",
      "claimId": "intent-based-swaps-fact-execution"
    },
    {
      "label": "Rules",
      "value": "CoW distinguishes contract-enforced limits from other competition rules.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "x425-defi-cow-rules"
      ],
      "id": "rules",
      "claimId": "intent-based-swaps-fact-rules"
    }
  ],
  "prerequisites": [
    "limit-orders-onchain"
  ],
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "example",
      "heading": "Delegate the route, not an unlimited objective",
      "sourceIds": [
        "x425-defi-uni-x",
        "x425-defi-cow-rules"
      ],
      "paragraphs": [
        "An illustrative intent might authorize selling 100 A for at least 98 B before a deadline. The executor could source B from a pool or its own inventory, but the settlement must respect the applicable order constraints. A vague request to get a good price is not an enforceable numeric limit.",
        "Check the assets, recipient, validity and cancellation mechanism of the actual order being signed."
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "cost",
      "heading": "Gasless changes who submits the transaction",
      "sourceIds": [
        "x425-defi-uni-x"
      ],
      "paragraphs": [
        "UniswapX describes fillers settling signed orders on-chain. A user may avoid submitting the swap transaction personally, while the executor still has execution costs and requires an economically viable opportunity. Compare the final net amounts rather than treating absence of a wallet gas prompt as absence of cost."
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "authority",
      "heading": "Distinguish the signature from the permission path",
      "sourceIds": [
        "x425-defi-uni-x",
        "x425-defi-cow-rules"
      ],
      "paragraphs": [
        "An intent needs a mechanism that can transfer the offered asset when conditions are met. The retrieved UniswapX description uses Permit2. Other protocols can use different approvals or settlement contracts.",
        "Order validity does not itself guarantee a willing executor, timely inclusion or safe behavior in an arbitrary integration. Read which conditions are enforced in code and which depend on competition or governance."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "question": "Is an intent guaranteed to fill because I signed it?",
      "answer": "No. A signature authorizes a constrained action; it does not supply liquidity or oblige an executor to settle an uneconomic order.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "x425-defi-uni-x",
        "x425-defi-cow-overview"
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    }
  ],
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      "statement": "A swap intent specifies an acceptable outcome while leaving an executor to choose how to produce it. In CoW and UniswapX examples, users sign orders with constraints and solvers or fillers arrange settlement. The security question is which limits the authorized transfer path actually enforces—not whether the interface calls the action gasless.",
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      "sourceLocators": [
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          "locator": "Intents; batch auctions; solvers; liquidity sources"
        },
        {
          "sourceId": "source-772abf60eddbf0c7",
          "locator": "Uniform directed clearing prices; valid solutions"
        },
        {
          "sourceId": "source-2ffecd3d628a4d03",
          "locator": "Signed orders; fillers; auctions"
        }
      ],
      "scope": {
        "collection": "defi",
        "dataAsOf": "2026-10-02",
        "blockHeight": null
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      "qualification": "",
      "evidenceStatus": "documented",
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        "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T19:18:00.092Z",
        "reviewer": "Independent automated verification — Codex root, separate from the DeFi drafting agent",
        "notes": [
          "Checked signed-intent limits, fillers and Permit2 in current UniswapX docs; no signature-as-fill or gasless-as-costless claim."
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "intent-based-swaps-fact-outcome",
      "articleSlug": "intent-based-swaps",
      "statement": "Outcome: Signed orders constrain what assets and amounts may be exchanged.",
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        "source-2ffecd3d628a4d03"
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      "sourceLocators": [
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        "notes": [
          "Checked signed-intent limits, fillers and Permit2 in current UniswapX docs; no signature-as-fill or gasless-as-costless claim."
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "intent-based-swaps-fact-execution",
      "articleSlug": "intent-based-swaps",
      "statement": "Execution: Fillers can use their inventory or external liquidity.",
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        "notes": [
          "Checked signed-intent limits, fillers and Permit2 in current UniswapX docs; no signature-as-fill or gasless-as-costless claim."
        ]
      }
    },
    {
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          "locator": "Uniform directed clearing prices; valid solutions"
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        "notes": [
          "Checked signed-intent limits, fillers and Permit2 in current UniswapX docs; no signature-as-fill or gasless-as-costless claim."
        ]
      }
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
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      "id": "x425-defi-cow-overview",
      "label": "CoW Protocol",
      "publisher": "CoW Protocol",
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      "locator": "Intents; batch auctions; solvers; liquidity sources",
      "note": "How solvers source and settle batches.",
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      "id": "x425-defi-cow-rules",
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      "url": "https://docs.cow.fi/cow-protocol/reference/core/auctions/competition-rules",
      "locator": "Uniform directed clearing prices; valid solutions",
      "note": "Current solution-level constraints, without asserting one global price across all auction winners.",
      "version": "Documentation retrieved for the 2026-10-02 editorial scope; content hash recorded",
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      "id": "x425-defi-uni-x",
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      "url": "https://docs.uniswap.org/contracts/uniswapx/overview",
      "locator": "Signed orders; fillers; auctions",
      "note": "Outcome-based swap authorization and filler settlement.",
      "version": "Documentation retrieved for the 2026-10-02 editorial scope; content hash recorded",
      "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T18:53:19.990Z",
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  ],
  "related": {
    "articles": [
      "batch-auction-swaps",
      "dutch-auction-swap-orders",
      "ethereum-token-approvals"
    ],
    "dossiers": [],
    "wallets": []
  },
  "revisionHistory": [
    {
      "date": "2026-10-02",
      "kind": "published",
      "summary": "First publication after primary-source research and separate automated verification."
    }
  ],
  "citation": "Degrees of Satoshi editorial project. “Intent-based swaps: authorizing an outcome for solvers to execute.” Published 2026-10-02; updated 2026-10-02. https://degreesofsatoshi.com/encyclopedia/intent-based-swaps/"
}