Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) by Stripe & OpenAI
What is the Agentic Commerce Protocol?#
The Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) is a joint standard from Stripe and OpenAI that enables AI agents to securely complete purchases on behalf of users. While UCP focuses on the discovery and browsing experience, ACP is laser-focused on the transaction: creating payment intents, managing shared payment tokens, handling authentication, and completing checkout flows. ACP leverages Stripe's existing payment infrastructure, which means merchants who already use Stripe can enable agentic commerce with minimal additional development. The protocol introduces the concept of a 'shared payment token' — a secure, scoped credential that allows an AI agent to make purchases within defined limits without exposing the user's full payment credentials.
ACP Architecture#
ACP uses a manifest file to declare a merchant's commerce capabilities and Stripe integration. The protocol flows through three main phases: discovery (agent finds the ACP manifest), negotiation (agent and merchant agree on payment terms), and execution (payment intent is created and confirmed). Below is an example ACP manifest.
{
"schema_version": "1.0",
"merchant": {
"name": "Example SaaS",
"stripe_account_id": "acct_xxxxx",
"supported_currencies": ["usd", "eur", "gbp"],
"acp_enabled": true
},
"capabilities": {
"payment_intents": true,
"shared_payment_tokens": true,
"subscriptions": true,
"refunds": true
},
"endpoints": {
"create_payment_intent": "/api/acp/payment-intent",
"confirm_payment": "/api/acp/confirm",
"create_subscription": "/api/acp/subscribe",
"refund": "/api/acp/refund"
},
"limits": {
"max_single_transaction": 50000,
"currency": "usd",
"requires_user_confirmation_above": 10000
}
}Frequently Asked Questions
ACP is designed around Stripe's infrastructure, so Stripe is the native payment processor. However, the protocol spec is open, and other payment processors may implement ACP-compatible endpoints in the future. Currently, Stripe is required.
ACP uses Stripe's existing refund and dispute infrastructure. The AI agent can initiate refunds through the ACP refund endpoint, and disputes follow Stripe's standard process. The merchant's liability and chargeback protections remain the same.
Yes. ACP supports creating and managing subscriptions through Stripe Billing. An AI agent can sign up a user for a subscription plan, with the shared payment token scoping the maximum recurring charge amount.