Shelf Protocol · v0.1 open standard

The directory agents check
before they buy.

Merchants publish one small file. Agents make one lookup. Shelf Protocol is robots.txt for commerce — the handshake layer between AI agents and the web.

Get listed free Add it to your agent

How it works

Merchantpublishes shelf.json
→
Shelf Protocolverifies & indexes it
→
Agentlooks up, then buys safely

One line in your agent

from shelfprotocol import lookup, can_buy

profile = lookup("acme-coffee.example")
ok, why = can_buy(profile, amount_usd=40)   # honors the merchant's declared limits
# → (True, "OK: $40.00 is within the $250.00 autonomous limit.")

The merchant declares its spending limits and rules. Your agent honors them. That contract is what makes autonomous buying safe enough to actually ship.

Why it spreads on its own

MERCHANTS

Can't afford to be invisible

If agents can't see you, you don't exist to AI shoppers. Listing is free and takes 5 minutes.

DEVELOPERS

Cheaper than scraping

One reliable lookup beats parsing broken websites. Drop it in once; every agent inherits it.

THE INDEX

Compounds

More merchants → agents prefer it → more developers depend on it → more merchants join.

Get listed

# 1. host this at https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/shelf.json
{
  "shelf_version": "0.1",
  "merchant": { "name": "Your Store", "domain": "yourdomain.com" },
  "agent_policy": { "agents_allowed": true, "max_autonomous_order_usd": 250 },
  "checkout": { "protocol": "AP2" }
}

# 2. register it
curl -X POST https://api.shelfprotocol.com/v1/merchants -d @shelf.json

How Shelf Protocol makes money

LayerWhat it is
FreeRegistration & lookups. Drives scale and adoption.
VerifiedMerchants pay for a verified badge that unlocks autonomous purchases (higher conversion).
Metered APIPer-lookup pricing above a free threshold — usage-based, like Stripe/Twilio.
EnterprisePriority placement, catalog feeds, reputation data for retailers & payment networks.