ACP Protocol Introduction
Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) is an open standard jointly built by OpenAI and Stripe to enable conversational shopping experiences between buyers, AI agents, and businesses.
🎯 Core Objectives
The ACP protocol aims to be:
- Powerful: Connect with millions of AI product users and build direct customer relationships
- Easy to Adopt: Easily integrate with existing commerce systems with minimal development effort
- Flexible: Works across payment processors, platforms, purchase types, and business models
- Secure: Protects payment information, maintains compliance, and provides merchants with risk signals
🏗️ Technical Architecture
The ACP protocol consists of three interconnected core specifications:
1. Product Feed
Defines how merchants share structured product data with OpenAI so ChatGPT can accurately display products.
2. Agentic Checkout
Enables ChatGPT to act as the customer’s AI agent and render an embedded checkout experience within ChatGPT’s UI.
3. Delegated Payment
Allows OpenAI to securely share payment details with merchants or their designated payment service providers.
🌟 First Product Implementation
Instant Checkout in ChatGPT
The first product experience of the ACP protocol allows users to purchase products directly through ChatGPT:
- Users express shopping needs through natural language
- ChatGPT recommends products based on product feeds
- Users complete the entire purchase process within the conversation interface
- Merchants maintain complete control over customer relationships and orders
🤝 Ecosystem Partners
OpenAI
- Provides ChatGPT platform and AI agent technology
- Responsible for user experience and intelligent recommendations
Stripe
- Provides payment infrastructure including Shared Payment Token
- First implementation supporting the delegated payment specification
📈 Merchant Value
New Channel Access
- Reach ChatGPT’s massive user base
- Gain high-quality purchase intent traffic
Customer Relationship Maintenance
- Direct Sales: Customers buy directly from merchants
- Direct Payment: Payments flow directly to merchant accounts
- Decision Autonomy: Merchants decide whether to accept orders
- After-sales Control: Merchants handle the complete after-sales experience
🚀 Getting Started
- Understand Concepts: Read Core Concepts
- Review Specifications: Browse Protocol Specifications
- Apply for Access: Visit Merchant Application Page
- Start Integration: Follow technical documentation for step-by-step implementation
Through the ACP protocol, we are building a new agentic commerce ecosystem where AI becomes the core driving force of shopping experiences.
