Full-Code · Orchestration Frameworksactive

Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)

Type: full-code · Vendor: Google (coalition) · Language: JSON, HTTP · Status: active · Status in practice: emerging

Links: homepage

Google coalition protocol for agentic commerce in which merchants publish agent-readable product catalogs with real-time pricing and inventory, surfaced to shoppers through Search AI Mode and Gemini.

Description. UCP is Google's coalition-backed agentic commerce protocol announced in January 2026, coming to Google Search AI Mode and Gemini. Merchants expose machine-readable product catalogs with current price and stock and an agent-ready checkout so a shopper's agent can discover and transact; payment authorization aligns with the AP2 mandate model.

Agent loop shape. Commerce protocol. Step 1: the merchant publishes an agent-readable product catalog with real-time pricing and inventory. Step 2: Google Search AI Mode and Gemini surface the catalog to a shopper's agent. Step 3: the agent selects products against the shopper's goal. Step 4: checkout authorises payment through the AP2 mandate model and the order is placed.

Primary use cases

  • agent-readable product catalogs surfaced in Search AI Mode and Gemini
  • merchant discoverability to shopping agents acting on a goal
  • agent checkout with delegated, mandate-backed payment

Key concepts

  • Agent-readable catalog → agent-readable-commerce-surface (docs) — Machine-readable product catalog with real-time pricing and inventory merchants publish for agent buyers.
  • Surfacing in Search AI Mode and Gemini (docs) — UCP catalogs are surfaced to shoppers through Google Search AI Mode and Gemini.
  • Mandate-backed checkout → verifiable-purchase-mandate (docs) — Payment authorization aligns with the AP2 signed-mandate model.

Patterns this full-code implements —

References

Provenance

  • Last analyzed:
  • Last updated:
  • Verification status: partial