Agentic Commerce Protocol
Also called ACP
An open standard, from OpenAI and Stripe, that lets an AI agent complete a purchase for a user while the merchant stays the seller. Not the same as the Agent Communication Protocol.
What is the Agentic Commerce Protocol?
The Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) is an open specification that lets an AI agent buy things on a person's behalf. It defines how the agent, the merchant and the payment provider pass product, checkout and payment information to each other. It is open source and was developed by Stripe and OpenAI.
How does it work?
The agent shows the user a product and collects their approval. The business remains the merchant of record: it receives the order and handles fulfilment, and payment goes through a secure token rather than raw card details. The protocol standardises these messages so a merchant can support many agents with one integration.
What is a simple example?
You ask an assistant to find running shoes under a set price. It lists options, you choose one, and checkout completes inside the chat, with the shop receiving the order as if you had bought on its site.
Why does it matter?
If people buy through assistants, merchants and payment companies need a shared way to take those orders safely. Related efforts include the Agent Payments Protocol. Not to be confused with the Agent Communication Protocol, which shares the abbreviation.