Intents

What Are Intents?

An intent is a user-defined request that specifies a particular action to be performed. More importantly, it is a type of order where the emphasis lies on the outcome rather than how it is executed.

This action could be anything from swapping assets, transferring funds, or fulfilling trades. The protocol handles the details, ensuring that the specified action is completed efficient and secured across different blockchain networks.

In other words, an intent is just that — the "intent" of the user.

• If you want to bridge assets from chain A to chain B, that is your intent

• If you want to transfer funds from one wallet to another, that is also your intent

In turn, intent-based systems are focused on fulfilling the intent of the user, rather than how the outcome is achieved.

This means that the way the intent is fulfilled on the backend is largely considered irrelevant to the user. As long as it successfully fulfills your intent, it can be executed in any way possible.

Intents are a poorly-defined term, because the concept itself lacks a precise definition.

CAKE Framework

Mach is an optimistic-intents based system, that utilizes Solver Price Competition architecture, as outlined by the CAKE Framework.

Solver Price Competition - A Solver Price Competition involves sharing order information with all solvers. Solvers aim to incorporate the expected value (EV) generated by the intention of the order and provide it to users. The winning solver is selected based on maximizing user price improvement.