# Agentic Commerce

> Transactions initiated and completed by AI agents on a user's behalf, through protocols like x402, AP2 and the Agentic Commerce Protocol.

_The Agentic Web Lexicon · /glossary/agentic-commerce · [JSON](/api/glossary/agentic-commerce) · [all The Agentic Web Lexicon](/glossary)_

- **term:** Agentic Commerce
- **category:** commerce
- **short_def:** Transactions initiated and completed by AI agents on a user's behalf, through protocols like x402, AP2 and the Agentic Commerce Protocol.
- **long_def:** Spans micropayments for data and tools (x402), mandate-based settlement across rails (AP2) and in-conversation checkout (ACP / Instant Checkout). The shared challenge is authorization: proving the agent had the user's permission to spend.
- **see_also:** x402, agent-identity
- **etymology_origin:** — (verify-against-primary-at-build)
- **related_to:** x402, agent-identity, a2a
- **contrast_with:** Unlike e-commerce, where a human clicks checkout, agentic commerce has the AI agent transact on the user's behalf — shifting the hard problem from UX to verifiable authorization (did the agent have permission to spend?).
- **example:** OpenAI and Stripe launched the Agentic Commerce Protocol with ChatGPT Instant Checkout on 29 September 2025, going live with Etsy on launch day.
- **source:** https://openai.com/index/buy-it-in-chatgpt/
- **status:** emerging
- **why_it_matters:** Agentic commerce is the revenue side of the agentic web; a site that wants agents to buy from it must speak one of its authorization-plus-settlement protocols.
- **sameAs:** —
- **bridge_entity:** protocols/payments/x402
- **last_verified:** 2026-06-15
- **md_twin:** /glossary/agentic-commerce.md