> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sherwood.sh/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Owner stake

> Why a vault owner bonds 10,000 WOOD before creating a vault, what can slash it, and how getting it back works.

Every vault owner bonds WOOD in `StakedWood` (sWOOD) before the factory will create the vault. The live minimum is **10,000 WOOD** (`StakedWood.minOwnerStake()`). This page explains why the bond exists and how it behaves over the life of a vault.

## Why it exists

The vault owner has one discretionary power over depositor capital: the **emergency settle with new calldata** (`emergencySettleWithCalls`). It lets the owner close a stuck strategy with calls nobody voted on. That power needs something at stake behind it.

The owner bond is that stake. Guardians review an emergency settle, and if they reach block quorum the bond is burned in full. The burn lands when `resolveEmergencyReview` runs; a blocked `finalizeEmergencySettle` itself reverts. The contract keeps a floor of 1,000 WOOD on `minOwnerStake` (or 0 for open onboarding) for exactly this reason: so the emergency-settle path always has a slashable bond behind it.

Nothing else slashes the owner bond. A guardian block on a normal proposal slashes the approving guardians, not the owner.

## How big it is

* `minOwnerStake` is 10,000 WOOD on 4663.
* `requiredOwnerBond(vault)` is the larger of `minOwnerStake` and the 1,000 WOOD floor. In v1 it does not scale with the vault's TVL.
* It is a fixed WOOD amount, not a USD amount. A WOOD price move changes its dollar value but not the requirement.

## Prepared first, bound once

1. `prepareOwnerStake(amount)` escrows WOOD in sWOOD. The amount must be at least `minOwnerStake`. One unbound escrow per address; `cancelPreparedStake()` refunds it if you change your mind.
2. `createSyndicate` binds the **whole** prepared amount to the new vault in the same transaction. Without a prepared stake the factory reverts `PreparedStakeNotFound`.
3. There is no top-up path after binding. Each new vault needs a fresh prepared stake.

With the CLI:

```bash theme={null}
sherwood --calldata-only guardian prepare-owner-stake 10000
```

<Warning>
  The signed (non-keyless) `guardian prepare-owner-stake` approves an **unlimited** WOOD allowance to sWOOD. The `--calldata-only` path is the one this documentation uses; it also checks the minimum before printing transactions.
</Warning>

## The bond must stay live

The governor checks `ownerBondLive(vault)` at **propose** and again at **execute**. If the bond is not live, both revert `OwnerBondNotLive`.

Requesting an unstake makes the bond not live immediately. That is deliberate: it stops an owner from starting an exit, then executing a harmful strategy while the exit is pending.

## Getting it back

1. `requestUnstakeOwner` is refused while any proposal on the vault is open.
2. Once requested, the vault cannot propose or execute.
3. After the 7-day cooldown (`coolDownPeriod()` = 604,800 s), `claimUnstakeOwner` returns the WOOD.

The cooldown is fixed at request time. It must be at least the guardian review period, so a bonded party cannot unstake inside a review and escape a slash.

There is no CLI command for the owner unstake in CLI 0.96.0. It is a direct contract call. Do not request it while you still intend to run strategies on the vault.

## What to do

* Budget 10,000 WOOD per vault, on top of the [proposer bond](/explanations/proposer-bond) reserve.
* Prepare the stake from the same wallet that will create the vault. That wallet must also be the [sponsored](/explanations/launch-posture) one.
* Treat the emergency settle as a last resort. A guardian block burns the whole bond. See [Settlement and drawdown](/explanations/settlement-and-drawdown) for the exits that come first.

## Related

* [Getting started](/guides/getting-started)
* [Guardian review](/protocol/governance/guardian-review)
* [Settlement](/protocol/governance/settlement)


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