TechnologiesProtocols
Agent Payments Protocol (AP2)
A secure, open, and scalable protocol for agentic commerce under human oversight.
First published Dec 2025 · Updated 2d ago
Why AP2?
Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) is a secure, open, and scalable solution designed specifically for agentic commerce. It addresses the security challenge of a non-human entity making a transaction decision by allowing an agent to initiate a payment under a human's pre-approved oversight and guidance.
How Does AP2 Work?
This sequence diagram below illustrates the flow where an agent (buyer) negotiates a service, settles the payment on a ledger, and then executes the service with the seller (unlocking the service or resource).
What It Enables
- Agent-initiated payments with clear, auditable human constraints.
- Safer delegation of transaction decisions to autonomous systems.
- A shared standard for interoperable agentic commerce workflows.