ACP (Agentic Commerce)

Lets an agent complete a purchase inside the conversation — the checkout that powers ChatGPT's Instant Checkout.

name
ACP (Agentic Commerce)
full_name
Agentic Commerce Protocol
layer
payments
creator
OpenAI + Stripe
status
live (ChatGPT Instant Checkout)
year
2025
one_liner
Lets an agent complete a purchase inside the conversation — the checkout that powers ChatGPT's Instant Checkout.
spec_url
https://www.agenticcommerce.dev
snippet
Agent submits a delegated payment token; merchant confirms the order over the protocol.
abbreviation
ACP
also_known_as
Agentic Commerce Protocol
canonical_spec_url
https://github.com/agentic-commerce-protocol/agentic-commerce-protocol
entity_uri
https://www.agenticcommerce.dev
taxonomy_layer
payments
sub_layer
in-conversation-checkout
protocol_type
settlement
central_problem
Lets an AI agent complete a retail purchase inside the conversation while keeping the merchant as merchant of record and the payment provider swappable.
maintainer
OpenAI + Stripe (agentic-commerce-protocol on GitHub)
governance_body
vendor (OpenAI + Stripe)
license
Apache-2.0
maturity_tag
production-ready
current_spec_version
2026-04-17 verify-against-primary-at-build ↗ https://github.com/agentic-commerce-protocol/agentic-commerce-protocol
spec_date
2026-04-17 verify-against-primary-at-build ↗ https://github.com/agentic-commerce-protocol/agentic-commerce-protocol
launch_date
2025-09-29
last_verified
2026-06-15
transport
REST over HTTP (delegated payment token handed to the merchant)
core_mechanism
ACP defines a contract among buyer, the buyer's AI agent, the merchant, and a payment provider: the agent collects the buyer's payment selection, hands a narrowly scoped delegated token to the merchant, and the merchant charges that token through any compliant payment service provider while remaining merchant of record.
discovery_endpoint
Merchant-published ACP endpoints (implementation-defined)
settlement_type
card-rail (delegated token via any compliant payment service provider)
adoption_metric
Debuted with ChatGPT Instant Checkout (Etsy at launch; Shopify brands such as Glossier, Vuori, SKIMS added over following weeks) source
notable_adopters
{"value":"OpenAI (ChatGPT Instant Checkout)","source":"https://github.com/agentic-commerce-protocol/agentic-commerce-protocol"} {"value":"Stripe","source":"https://commercetools.com/press-releases/commercetools-partners-with-stripe-to-launch-acp"} {"value":"Etsy","source":"https://github.com/agentic-commerce-protocol/agentic-commerce-protocol"}
relationships
{"predicate":"competes_with","target":"ap2","note":"ACP (OpenAI/Stripe in-conversation checkout) and AP2 (Google mandate framework) address overlapping agent-commerce ground."}
ideal_use_case
Letting a conversational agent (e.g. ChatGPT) complete a retail checkout while the merchant keeps control and record.
when_to_use
When you sell goods and want agents to buy inside the chat surface, charging via your existing payment provider with the merchant of record intact.
when_not_to_use
When you need sub-cent API metering (x402) or a bank/crypto-agnostic mandate framework across rails (AP2).
code_example
// Agent hands the merchant a delegated, narrowly-scoped payment token; // the merchant charges it via any compliant PSP and confirms the order. // POST /checkout { "delegated_token": "tok_...", "items": [ ... ] }
source
Launch 2025-09-29 under Apache-2.0, four-actor contract, ChatGPT Instant Checkout: https://github.com/agentic-commerce-protocol/agentic-commerce-protocol (OpenAI + Stripe).
agent_readiness_link
agent-readiness/x402
layer_legacy
payment

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