Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)
Also known as: UCP
In short
An open commerce protocol for discovering and using compatible capabilities across platforms, businesses, and payment-related services.
Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) defines a shared way for platforms and businesses to describe and use commerce capabilities. Those capabilities can cover parts of a shopping interaction rather than assuming every participant implements everything.
UCP has published specifications and releases. “Universal” describes the protocol’s interoperability goal; it does not mean every store or AI application already supports it.
A practical example
Imagine a shopping application discovering that a merchant supports a compatible checkout capability and delivery extension. The participants use their mutually supported capabilities to proceed.
If the application requests a feature the merchant does not support, that feature is outside the agreed interaction. This illustrative scenario shows why capability negotiation matters even when both parties describe themselves as UCP-compatible.
Understand the protocol layers
UCP can expose services through different interfaces, including REST and MCP. MCP connectivity and UCP commerce behavior therefore address different parts of an integration.
Before implementation, check the exact version, capabilities, authentication, and payment handling supported by both sides. Keep the merchant’s operational responsibilities explicit, including price validation and order fulfillment. A compatible connection does not establish consumer availability on a particular platform or guarantee product discovery. Verify those requirements separately from the protocol specification.