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Framework

Four layers, one contract, one audit.

The UCP framework breaks down the agentic commerce stack into four mappable layers. Each layer describes its objects, standards, maturity and audit checkpoints.

I Layer

Semantic

Make the catalog machine-addressable.
II Layer

Agent

Open surfaces that agents can query, propose to, and confirm through.
III Layer

Transaction

Make payment and identity compatible with a delegated buyer.
IV Layer

Governance

Expose, version and control the rules that govern the offer.

Layer I

Semantic Layer

Make the catalog machine-addressable.

Key objects

  • Product
  • Offer
  • Policy
  • Availability
  • Brand
  • Review
  • Shipping

Standards & protocols

Standard Role Maturity
schema.org Product / Offer Open web semantic contract Established
GS1 / GTIN Global product identifiers Established
Google Merchant Feed De facto commerce feed standard Established
JSON-LD + microdata Structural vehicle in HTML Established

Audit checkpoints

  • 01 Rate of product pages with GTIN, brand, canonical category.
  • 02 Return policy and delivery time exposed in JSON-LD.
  • 03 Consistency across Merchant feed, PIM and HTML DOM.
  • 04 % of pages with enriched attributes (sizes, materials, compatibility).

Layer II

Agent Layer

Open surfaces that agents can query, propose to, and confirm through.

Key objects

  • Tools
  • Resources
  • Prompts
  • Capabilities
  • Identity

Standards & protocols

Standard Role Maturity
MCP (Model Context Protocol) Agent-tool context contract Established
A2A (Agent-to-Agent) Horizontal agent cooperation Emerging
OpenAI Apps SDK Application surface in the ChatGPT client Emerging
ActivityPub / ActivityStreams Candidate open surfaces Prospective

Audit checkpoints

  • 01 Does a typed entry point exist for querying the catalog?
  • 02 Are tools discoverable (manifest, registry)?
  • 03 Can sensitive actions be scoped and audited?
  • 04 What is the end-to-end agent response latency?

Layer III

Transaction Layer

Make payment and identity compatible with a delegated buyer.

Key objects

  • Intent
  • Credential
  • Limit
  • Confirmation
  • Dispute

Standards & protocols

Standard Role Maturity
Stripe Agentic Commerce (ACP) Agent intents and tokens Emerging
Visa Intelligent Commerce Agent-linked card identifiers Emerging
Mastercard Agent Pay Network-side agent rail Emerging
3DS agent-aware Authentication adapted for agents Prospective

Audit checkpoints

  • 01 Can a delegated payment go through with limits and revocability?
  • 02 Is the agent identity traceable in accounting?
  • 03 Are disputes attributed to the correct actor (human / agent)?
  • 04 Does checkout remain deterministic under agentic constraints?

Layer IV

Governance Layer

Expose, version and control the rules that govern the offer.

Key objects

  • Pricing rule
  • Eligibility
  • Territory
  • Audit log
  • Consent
  • Retention

Standards & protocols

Standard Role Maturity
OPA / Rego Policy as code Established
W3C VC (credentials) Verifiable attribute presentation Emerging
ODRL Rights and constraints expression Emerging
ISO 20022 / EDI taxonomy Existing standards to reuse Established

Audit checkpoints

  • 01 Are pricing, eligibility and shipping policies exposed for reading?
  • 02 Does a versioned log of governance decisions exist?
  • 03 Can you opt out a category of agent for a product line?
  • 04 Are retention and consent verifiable by a third party?

The framework in one sentence

A merchant is UCP-ready when an agent can read its offer, interact without ambiguity, pay under control, and the merchant can audit every decision.

Audit methodology View use cases