ap2-payment-mandate

AP2 Payment Mandate

Before writing code

Fetch live docs:

1. Fetch https://ap2-protocol.org/specification/ for the Payment Mandate schema
2. Web-search site:github.com google-agentic-commerce AP2 payment mandate for type definitions
3. Web-search site:github.com google-agentic-commerce AP2 src/ap2/types payment for Python types
4. Fetch https://ap2-protocol.org/topics/core-concepts/ for Payment Mandate conceptual details

Conceptual Architecture

What the Payment Mandate Is

The Payment Mandate is a separate VDC specifically for the payment ecosystem — shared with payment networks (Visa, Mastercard) and issuers (banks). Unlike the Cart/Intent Mandates that focus on purchase authorization, the Payment Mandate provides visibility into the agentic nature of the transaction.

Purpose

The Payment Mandate serves three functions:

1. Signals AI involvement — Tells the network/issuer that an AI agent initiated this transaction
2. Signals user presence — Indicates whether the user was present (human-present vs human-not-present)
3. Provides authorization proof — Includes user-signed authorization for the payment

Who Creates It

The Merchant Payment Processor (MPP) constructs the Payment Mandate from the transaction information after the user has authorized the purchase. The Shopping Agent does not create the Payment Mandate — it is assembled on the MPP side from the payment context.

Payment Mandate Contents

{
  "payment_mandate_contents": {
    "payment_mandate_id": "pm_unique_id",
    "payment_details_id": "order_id",
    "payment_details_total": {
      "amount": {
        "currency": "USD",
        "value": "29.99"
      },
      "refund_period": 30
    },
    "payment_response": {
      "request_id": "order_id",
      "method_name": "CARD",
      "details": {
        "token": "dpan_token_xyz"
      },
      "shipping_address": null
    },
    "merchant_agent": "MerchantAgentName",
    "timestamp": "2025-09-01T12:00:00Z"
  },
  "user_authorization": "eyJhbGc..."
}