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Checkout provider (for AI agents)
Also known as: agentic checkout provider · agent checkout API
A service that lets an AI agent complete a purchase programmatically - building a cart, applying payment, and placing the order through a defined interface.
An agentic checkout provider is the piece that turns a recommendation into an order. When an AI agent decides to buy, the provider exposes the steps - build cart, apply a payment credential, place the order - over an interface the agent can call, so the transaction completes inside the agent flow rather than bouncing the shopper to a website.
Providers differ on two axes that matter. First, coverage: some complete purchases only in one region or on one platform; a full agentic commerce platform handles checkout as the third step of discovery, recommendation, and transaction rather than as a standalone API. Second, control: a provider that becomes the merchant of record takes the customer relationship with it, while one that keeps the brand as merchant of record leaves the data, margin, and refund path with the brand.
The security surface of an agentic checkout is real - it authorizes money movement by an autonomous client - which is why scoped payment tokens and per-agent caps are non-negotiable. See the MCP security guide for the controls a checkout tool needs before it goes live.
See also
Agentic checkout
The general pattern of completing a purchase inside an AI agent conversation, without the shopper leaving to a merchant's website. Includes ACP Instant Checkout, UCP Buy for Me, and equivalents.
Unified checkout
The pattern where transactions complete inside every major AI agent surface without kicking the shopper to an external browser. Requires ACP + UCP + protocol translation.
Scoped payment token
A single-transaction payment authorization used by an AI agent - limited to a specific merchant, amount, and time window. The primary payment primitive for agentic commerce.
Agent merchant of record
The party legally responsible for the transaction and the customer relationship when an agent closes a sale. Determines who owns the customer data, refund handling, and margin capture.
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