Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP)
The Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) is an open standard, co-developed by OpenAI and Stripe, that defines how AI agents complete purchases with merchants on a buyer's behalf.
ACP was first released in September 2025 under the Apache 2.0 license. It powers Instant Checkout in ChatGPT, bundles checkout and payment through a Shared Payment Token, and lets a merchant integrate once to sell across any ACP-compatible agent. The merchant remains the merchant of record, keeping control of fulfillment, returns, support, and the customer relationship.
ACP is one of the two protocols defining the agentic-commerce category in 2026, alongside Google's Universal Commerce Protocol. ACP bundles checkout and payment; UCP separates them. Most brands selling at scale will need to support both.
FAQ
Who built the Agentic Commerce Protocol?
It was co-developed by OpenAI and Stripe and released as an open standard.
What does ACP power?
ACP powers Instant Checkout in ChatGPT and enables merchants to sell across ACP-compatible AI agents with a single integration.
Related: Universal Commerce Protocol | Instant Checkout | Shared Payment Token | Agentic Checkout
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