An MSA (Master Service Agreement) is a standard framework contract that defines general terms of the relationship—covering IP assignment (work-for-hire, you own the code), indemnity, termination rules, payment terms, and similar legal provisions.

The MSA itself does NOT create any long-term or minimum-volume commitment. Actual commitments only arise when you sign individual SOWs (Statements of Work) for specific engineers, and each SOW can typically be terminated with 30-day notice.