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

# cowboy fund-actor

> Fund an actor's balance so it can pay its own gas

## Synopsis

```bash theme={null}
cowboy fund-actor --actor <address> --amount <cby> [flags]
```

## Behavior

1. Load the private key using [key auto-discovery](/cli-specs/key-auto-discovery).
2. Submit a transfer from the sender to the actor address.
3. Print the transaction hash and the actor's new balance.

Funded actors can pay gas for handlers that don't receive a caller-paid message — for example, actors driven by the scheduler (CIP-1 timers) or off-chain runner callbacks.

## Flags

| Flag            | Default         | Description                     |
| --------------- | --------------- | ------------------------------- |
| `--actor`       | Required        | Target actor address (hex)      |
| `--amount`      | Required        | Amount in CBY (1 CBY = 10⁹ wei) |
| `--private-key` | Auto-discovered | Sender's private key            |
| `--rpc-url`     | Auto-discovered | RPC endpoint                    |

## Example

```bash theme={null}
$ cowboy fund-actor --actor 0xdef456... --amount 10
Transaction: 0xabc123...
  Actor 0xdef456... balance: 10 CBY
```

## Edge Cases

* **Insufficient sender balance** — The transaction reverts at execution. The receipt contains `InsufficientFunds`.
* **Unknown actor** — Funding a non-existent address succeeds (balance is tracked at the address level, not per-actor). If the address is eventually deployed to, the funds will be available.