# Contracts ## What is a contract? A contract is a binding agreement between two or more parties that defines the rights and obligations of each party. An agreement is legally enforceable once it meets the requirements of applicable laws. The most common elements of a contract include the offer of something of value (services or product), the acceptance of that offer, and payment or the promise to pay for the item being offered. ## Who has authority to bind Mattermost to its contracts? Our [Approvals Matrix](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fDIMiO0uydB_1zCUxZ4sGfSnBJ0P_49zbeQGgTqbYPI/edit#gid=1731392656) and [Signing Authority](https://handbook.mattermost.com/operations/operations/company-processes/company-agreements#who-can-sign-on-behalf-of-the-company) policy address who within the company has the authority to bind the company and sign on behalf of the company. These are coded into Ironclad for your convenience. However, our internal policies may not always be available or apparent to individuals outside of Mattermost. Accordingly, there could be times when your actions could lead others to believe you have authority when you do not. For this reason it is important to clearly state when you do not have the authority to enter into agreements on behalf of the company with third parties. ## How do we Contract at Mattermost? All contracts, with the exception of People Ops contracts, are centralized through the Ironclad contract management system. If you do not have access to Ironclad, you can contact [IT](https://helpdesk.mattermost.com/support/home) and request access, ask your manager to submit on your behalf, or reach out to Legal via email with the name of the agreement you need and legal will follow up with questions. Through Ironclad you can: * Request a new contract template to be sent out to a third party * Request a third party's contract template be reviewed * Submit a Legal Ticket * Initiate the signing process of a contract * Upload executed contracts * Search for existing contracts Guidelines and procedures for many workflows can be found within this [Legal section](https://handbook.mattermost.com/operations/legal) of the Handbook. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://handbook.mattermost.com/operations/legal/contracts.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.