diff --git a/src/approval-record.ts b/src/approval-record.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02f92e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/approval-record.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+/**
+ * ApprovalRecord: the structured receipt blacktea mints when a payment
+ * crosses the approval boundary AND a human is in the loop.
+ *
+ * Scope: a record exists only when the policy returned `approval` and a
+ * staged intent was created. Policy rejects (the policy fires `reject`
+ * from the start) never produce an ApprovalRecord; those are captured in
+ * the audit stream as `payment_denied` events. This keeps the record
+ * scoped to "a human made a decision," not "the policy made a decision."
+ *
+ * Storage: append-only in the same audit JSONL for v1, tagged with
+ * `event: "approval_record"`. Signing deferred until the shape is stable.
+ *
+ * Status: design draft, not yet emitted by agent.ts. Implementation lands
+ * in a follow-up PR. See issue #5.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Decision route. `revise` is reserved for a future counter-offer flow
+ * (returning unsupported in v1 if anyone tries it).
+ */
+export type ApprovalRoute = "allow" | "reject" | "human_review";
+
+/**
+ * Lifecycle state of an in-chat approval. Every state requires a staged
+ * intent to have existed; policy rejects without a stage never reach this
+ * enum (they live in the audit stream as `payment_denied`).
+ *
+ *   staged    -> waiting for the human
+ *   approved  -> human approved, settle in flight
+ *   denied    -> human rejected
+ *   expired   -> approval window elapsed without a decision
+ *   settled   -> post-approval settle succeeded (terminal happy path)
+ *   failed    -> post-approval settle failed (rail down, signature, etc)
+ */
+export type ApprovalFinalState =
+  | "staged"
+  | "approved"
+  | "denied"
+  | "expired"
+  | "settled"
+  | "failed";
+
+export interface ApprovalRecord {
+  /** Stable id from the staged intent. */
+  intent_id: string;
+
+  /**
+   * Provenance. Which MCP server + tool produced the intent. Null when the
+   * call did not come through MCP (SDK or CLI usage).
+   */
+  mcp_server: string | null;
+  tool: string | null;
+
+  /**
+   * Who initiated the spend. Null in v1: blacktea assumes one human, one
+   * agent, one wallet. Becomes required once shared-wallet / multi-tenant
+   * setups land.
+   */
+  actor: string | null;
+
+  /** Settlement target. */
+  amount: number;
+  currency: string;
+  recipient_wallet?: string;
+  recipient_url: string;
+
+  /** Why approval was needed and which policy rule fired. */
+  reason: string;
+  rule_fired: string;
+
+  /**
+   * Hash of the exact settlement-relevant request. Binds approve to settle:
+   * if the request changes between approval and settle, the record is
+   * invalid and settle must refuse.
+   *
+   * Format: a tagged string `<alg>:<canonicalization-version>:<hex>`. The
+   * tag is atomic with the value so callers can't mix records hashed under
+   * different rules. v1 uses `sha256:jcs-v1`:
+   *
+   *   "sha256:jcs-v1:" + sha256(JCS({
+   *     method: method.toUpperCase(),
+   *     url,
+   *     amount,
+   *     currency,
+   *     recipient_wallet: recipient_wallet ?? null,
+   *     body
+   *   }))
+   *
+   * JCS = RFC 8785 canonical JSON. Headers are intentionally excluded:
+   * they drift across clients and proxies, and anything that genuinely
+   * changes settlement semantics should be promoted into the explicit
+   * request shape before hashing.
+   */
+  params_hash: string;
+
+  /** Policy-driven expiry. Honors decision.timeout_seconds, not a fixed TTL. */
+  expires_at: string;
+
+  /** ISO-8601 timestamp of when the record was minted. */
+  created_at: string;
+
+  /** Decision route. */
+  route: ApprovalRoute;
+
+  /** Current lifecycle state. */
+  final_state: ApprovalFinalState;
+
+  /**
+   * Audit event ids that produced this record. The record stays tight,
+   * the audit log stays the full trail.
+   */
+  audit_event_refs: string[];
+}
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index a75748f..482115b 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -47,6 +47,11 @@ export {
   isBlackteaError,
 } from "./errors.js";
 
+export type {
+  ApprovalFinalState,
+  ApprovalRecord,
+  ApprovalRoute,
+} from "./approval-record.js";
 export type { Policy, PolicyAction, PolicyCondition, PolicyRule } from "./policy/schema.js";
 export { PolicySchema } from "./policy/schema.js";
 export { loadPolicy } from "./policy/load.js";