Intents

An intent is a signed authorization to achieve an outcome using specified assets and actions. Instead of manually sending each transaction needed to move funds, swap tokens, and interact with a contract, you authorize a coordinated operation. For example, you want to deposit 100 USDC into a vault on Arbitrum, but your funds are on Base and Optimism. Your application specifies the deposit and the assets available to fund it. Rhinestone prepares a route, you authorize it, and relayers execute the required onchain transactions.

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What an intent contains

A Rhinestone intent connects funding with execution:

• Inputs: the tokens and amounts spent on the source chains.
• Outputs: the tokens and amounts required on the destination chain.
• Calls: the destination actions, such as approving and depositing into a vault.
• Constraints: conditions such as an expiry that limit when the operation can execute.

Your application can restrict which source chains and tokens routing may use. The prepared route determines the actual inputs, outputs, and fees before you sign. Intents are not limited to crosschain transfers. The same model supports same-chain transfers, swaps, and contract calls.

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From request to execution

1. Request an outcome. Your application specifies the destination, required tokens, calls, and any source restrictions.
2. Prepare a route. Rhinestone’s Orchestrator determines how to fund and execute the request, including swaps and crosschain settlement where needed.
3. Authorize the route. The account’s signer approves the selected route. The signature binds that authorization to its data; it is not permission for a relayer to perform arbitrary actions.
4. Execute and settle. Relayers submit the onchain transactions and front gas. For crosschain routes, settlement layers coordinate value movement between chains.

Fronting gas does not make execution free. Fees are paid through the supported user-paid flow or sponsored by your application. A single intent can involve multiple transactions across several chains. It is not a single atomic transaction across those chains: funds can arrive before a later destination action fails. Your application tracks the intent’s execution status rather than treating submission as success.

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Intents and smart accounts

Smart accounts define who can authorize actions and how the account executes them. Intents define the operation being authorized and how its execution is coordinated. For supported smart accounts, Rhinestone’s Intent Executor module runs destination calls through the account. This lets the account interact directly with protocols, rather than having an intermediary act on its behalf. Intents can also work with externally owned accounts, but token approvals and destination execution follow a different path.

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Next steps

• Smart accounts: understand programmable accounts and their authorization rules.
• End-to-end transaction flow: prepare, sign, submit, and track an intent.