> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.thaler.finance/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Closing a vault
> How to close a Thaler vault. The single-transaction unwind, the 96-day penalty decay schedule, and what the user receives at settlement.
## What the close operation does
Closing a vault settles all three pillars and returns the deposit plus accumulated yield to the user's wallet, denominated in SOL. The close runs in one transaction.
The position is unwound on the configured venue and any realised funding is booked to the
vault.
Borrowed SOL is returned to Kamino and the supplied liquid staking collateral is
recovered.
The recovered LST is converted back to SOL through the staking provider or a same-chain
swap.
The net SOL amount is settled to the user's wallet. No further action is needed.
## The 96-day penalty schedule
A vault closed before day 96 incurs a closure fee. The fee starts at 3 % of the deposit on day 0 and decays linearly to 0 % at day 96.
The formula for the penalty rate as a function of the holding period in days:
```
penalty_rate(d) = max(3 % × (1 − d / 96), 0)
```
The penalty applies only to early closure. After day 96 it is zero.
## Penalty by closure day
The table below shows the penalty rate at representative days, applied to a 2 SOL deposit.
| Day closed | Penalty rate | Penalty on 2 SOL |
| ------------ | ------------ | ---------------- |
| 0 | 3.000 % | 0.0600 SOL |
| 7 | 2.781 % | 0.0556 SOL |
| 14 | 2.563 % | 0.0513 SOL |
| 30 | 2.063 % | 0.0413 SOL |
| 60 | 1.125 % | 0.0225 SOL |
| 90 | 0.188 % | 0.0038 SOL |
| 96 and later | 0.000 % | 0.0000 SOL |
The penalty exists because the strategy is most efficient when capital can be held long enough to ride out short-term variance in funding rates and lending spreads. A very short hold can leave the vault on the wrong side of a funding regime change, and the protocol reserves a buffer to smooth that case.
The penalty is paid from the vault's balance at closure. It is not added separately; the SOL the user receives is already net of the fee.
## When closing makes sense
Close when:
* The user wants to withdraw the deposit. There is no other way to exit.
* The vault is past day 96 and the penalty is zero.
* The penalty schedule has decayed to a level the user is comfortable paying.
Close is not the right action when the user only wants to collect yield. Use the [claim operation](/vault/claim) instead.
## What the user receives at close
The payout is denominated in SOL. It equals:
| Component | Sign |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ---- |
| Deposit | + |
| Accumulated unclaimed yield (all three pillars) | + |
| Closure penalty (only if applicable) | − |
| Network fees for the close transaction | − |
If any claim was made during the vault's life, the already-claimed amount sits in the user's wallet from those earlier transactions. The close only pays what is left.
## Policy enforcement
The close is enforced by the policy extension. The worker can propose a close, but the smart account checks that the proposed instructions match the closure procedure baked into the policy: same unwind order, same venue interactions, same payout address. If the proposed close deviates, the smart account refuses the transaction.
A close therefore always returns funds to the user's wallet. There is no path inside the policy that lets the worker route the payout elsewhere.
## Next read
The service fee that applies to realised yield, the creation fee, and the closure penalty
in detail.
The reserve that tops up the deposit on a normal close if realised yield falls short.