Agent Commerce · Core Concept

Agent payment verification

Confirming that a payment is real, valid, and untampered

When an AI agent makes a payment, it is not enough to record what happened. You also need to answer: is this receipt authentic, has it been altered, and does it match what was authorized?

Agent payment verification provides those answers.

Machine-readable summary (for agents and systems)

{
  "term": "Agent payment verification",
  "slug": "payment-verification",
  "category": "agent-commerce",
  "type": "verification-surface",
  "short_definition": "The process of checking that an agent payment receipt is authentic, intact, and matches its cryptographic proof.",
  "schema_version": "verification_check_entry.v1",
  "canonical_url": "https://certifieddata.io/agent-commerce/payment-verification",
  "canonical_endpoint": "GET /api/payments/verify/:receiptId",
  "auth_required": false,
  "verification_checks": [
    "sha256_hash_match",
    "ed25519_signature_valid",
    "overall_valid"
  ],
  "proof_surfaces": [
    "GET /api/payments/verify/:receiptId",
    "GET /.well-known/signing-keys.json"
  ],
  "related_terms": [
    "Agent Commerce receipt",
    "Payment authorization",
    "Transparency log"
  ],
  "sdk_typescript": "npm install @certifieddata/payments",
  "sdk_python": "pip install certifieddata-agent-commerce",
  "repos": [
    "https://github.com/certifieddata/certifieddata-agent-commerce-public"
  ]
}

What is payment verification?

Payment verification is the process of confirming that an Agent Commerce receipt is valid and trustworthy. It ensures the receipt corresponds to a real transaction, the data has not been modified after signing, the payment aligns with its authorization, and the record can be trusted by external systems.

This turns payments into verifiable events — not just internal logs.

How verification works

Any party with a receipt ID can verify the receipt against Agent Commerce's published public key at /.well-known/signing-keys.json. No account required. The verification process:

Why verification matters

AI systems rely on machine-to-machine trust. Without verification, receipts can be forged or altered, systems cannot safely rely on external payment data, audits become unreliable, and automation breaks down.

Verification allows independent systems to confidently accept and act on payment data — without needing to trust the platform that issued it.

Verification response field reference

All fields in the verification_check_entry.v1 schema.

What gets verified

Verification in the payment lifecycle

From trust assumptions to trust guarantees

Traditional systems rely on implicit trust — internal logs, platform guarantees, manual reconciliation. AI systems require independent validation, machine-readable checks, and consistent verification logic.

Verification provides that foundation.