agentic-commerce-protocol

Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP)

The Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) is an interaction model and open standard for connecting buyers, their AI agents, and businesses to complete purchases seamlessly.

The specification is maintained by OpenAI and Stripe and is currently in beta.

• For businesses - Reach more customers. Sell to high-intent buyers by making your products and services available for purchase through AI agents—all while using your existing commerce infrastructure.
• For AI Agents - Embed commerce into your application. Let your users discover and transact directly with businesses in your application, without being the merchant of record.
• For payment providers - Grow your volume. Process agentic transactions by passing secure payment tokens between buyers and businesses through AI agents.

Learn more at agenticcommerce.dev.

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Repo Structure

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Quick Links

Spec Type Latest Stable Description RFC (Markdown) rfcs/ Human-readable design doc with rationale, flows, and rollout plan. OpenAPI (YAML) spec/2026-04-17/openapi/ Machine-readable HTTP API spec for integrating checkout endpoints. JSON Schema spec/2026-04-17/json-schema/ Data models for payloads, events, and reusable objects. Examples examples/2026-04-17/ Sample requests, responses. Changelog changelog/ API version history and breaking changes.

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Versioning

ACP uses date-based versioning in YYYY-MM-DD format. Each version represents a complete snapshot of the specification at that point in time.

Version Structure

Directory Purpose spec/<version>/ Complete spec snapshot for a released version spec/unreleased/ Current development (not yet released) examples/<version>/ Examples matching each spec version changelog/<version>.md Release notes for each version

Version Lifecycle

1. unreleased/ - New features and changes are developed here
2. Released - When ready, unreleased/ is snapshotted to a dated version (e.g., 2026-01-16/)
3. Deprecated - Older versions remain available but are marked deprecated in the changelog

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Getting Started

ACP has been first implemented by both OpenAI and Stripe, providing production-ready reference implementations for merchants and developers:

• OpenAI Documentation
• Stripe Agentic Commerce Documentation

To start building with ACP:

1. Review this repo's OpenAPI specs and JSON Schemas for the latest stable version.
2. Choose a reference implementation:
   • Use OpenAI's implementation to integrate with ChatGPT and other AI agent surfaces.
   • Use Stripe's implementation to leverage its payment and merchant tooling.
3. Follow the guides provided in the linked documentation.
4. Test using the examples provided in this repo.

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Documentation

Area Resource Checkout API Spec spec/2026-04-17/openapi/openapi.agentic_checkout.yaml Delegate Payment Spec spec/2026-04-17/openapi/openapi.delegate_payment.yaml Governance docs/governance.md Project Principles docs/principles-mission.md SEP Guidelines docs/sep-guidelines.md

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Contributing

We welcome contributions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for:

• Branching model
• Pull request templates and guidelines
• Spec versioning and review process
• Community guidelines

Pull Request Templates

When creating a PR, choose the appropriate template:

• SEP Proposal - For major protocol changes, breaking changes, or process changes
• Minor Improvement - For documentation fixes, bug fixes, or tooling improvements

See docs/governance.md for guidance on what requires a SEP.

Contributor License Agreement (CLA)

All contributors must sign a CLA before contributions can be accepted.

• Individual Contributors: Automated via CLA Assistant when you submit your first PR
• Corporate Contributors: See Corporate CLA Process

View signed CLAs | Learn more about our CLA

All changes must include:

• Updated OpenAPI / JSON Schemas (if applicable)
• New or updated examples
• Changelog entry file in changelog/unreleased/ (see CONTRIBUTING.md for details)

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Governance

ACP is jointly governed by OpenAI and Stripe as Founding Maintainers, with a clear path toward broader community governance.

• Governance Model: docs/governance.md
• Project Principles: docs/principles-mission.md
• Maintainers: MAINTAINERS.md
• Decision Process: Consensus-based with escalation procedures
• Future Path: Neutral foundation stewardship as ecosystem matures

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Community

• Code of Conduct: CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions
• Issues: Report bugs or request features
• SEPs: Propose protocol enhancements

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License

Licensed under the Apache 2.0 License.