Agent Commerce · Core Concept

Agent Commerce receipt

A verifiable record of what actually happened

When an AI agent makes a payment, the most important question is not just "did it go through?" It's: what exactly was paid for, under what conditions, and can this be verified later?

An Agent Commerce receipt answers those questions.

Machine-readable summary (for agents and systems)

Machine-readable summary

{
  "term": "Agent Commerce receipt",
  "slug": "receipt",
  "category": "agent-commerce",
  "type": "payment-proof-artifact",
  "short_definition": "A machine-readable, Ed25519-signed proof record for an AI-initiated payment.",
  "schema_version": "payment_receipt.v1",
  "canonical_endpoint": "GET /api/payments/verify/:receiptId",
  "canonical_url": "https://certifieddata.io/agent-commerce/receipt",
  "signing_algorithm": "Ed25519",
  "hash_algorithm": "SHA-256 (RFC 8785 canonicalized)",
  "proof_surfaces": [
    "GET /api/payments/verify/:receiptId",
    "GET /.well-known/certifieddata.json"
  ],
  "related_terms": [
    "Payment authorization",
    "Payment verification",
    "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 an Agent Commerce receipt?

An Agent Commerce receipt is a machine-readable, Ed25519-signed record of a completed payment. It captures the amount and currency, the payment rail used, the service or resource purchased, the time of execution, the policy version that governed the authorization, and cryptographic verification signals.

Unlike a traditional receipt, it is designed to be:

✓Readable by systems — not just humans
✓Linked to the original authorization and policy version
✓Independently verifiable by any third party

Cryptographic structure

Every receipt is Ed25519-signed over an RFC 8785-canonicalized JSON payload. The signature is verifiable against CertifiedData's published public key at /.well-known/certifieddata-public-key.pem — no account required.

Ed25519 signature

Asymmetric signature over the canonicalized receipt payload. Proves the receipt was issued by Agent Commerce and has not been altered.

RFC 8785 canonicalization

Deterministic JSON serialization before signing ensures the same payload always produces the same hash — regardless of key ordering or whitespace.

SHA-256 receipt hash

The hash of the canonical payload is stored and returned with the receipt. Any third party can recompute and compare.

Receipt ID

A unique identifier for each receipt. Used to retrieve the receipt and verify it against the transparency log.

Receipt field reference

All fields in the payment_receipt.v1 schema.

payment_receipt.v1 — all required fields
Field	Type	Required	Meaning
receipt_id	string	yes	Unique payment receipt identifier — rcpt_{hex}
schema_version	string	yes	Schema version — currently payment_receipt.v1
timestamp	string	yes	ISO-8601 UTC timestamp of receipt issuance
agent_id	string	yes	Identity of the AI agent that initiated the payment
merchant_id	string	yes	Identity of the payee or merchant
rail	string	yes	Execution rail — stripe \| usdc_base \| usdc_ethereum \| eth_ethereum
currency	string	yes	ISO 4217 currency code, lowercased (e.g. usd)
amount	integer	yes	Amount in smallest currency unit (e.g. cents)
purpose	string	yes	Human-readable description of payment purpose
purpose_tag	string	yes	Machine tag — data_access \| api_call \| saas_renewal \| procurement
policy_id	string	yes	Identifier of the policy that authorized this payment
policy_hash	string	yes	SHA-256 hash of the policy JSON at evaluation time — proves policy version
authorization_id	string	yes	Reference to the payment_authorizations record
transaction_id	string	yes	Reference to the payment_transactions record
external_reference	string	no	Stripe payment intent or session ID
artifact_hash	string	no	SHA-256 hash of the receipt payload — used for signature verification
status	string	yes	submitted \| succeeded

Why receipts matter for AI systems

Human payments rely on trust and manual review. AI systems require something stronger.

Auditability

You need a clean record of what the agent actually did — linked to the policy that governed it.

Traceability

Receipts link back to the original authorization decision, policy version, and actor identity.

Verification

Other systems can confirm the receipt is valid without trusting the platform that issued it.

Without this, you cannot safely allow agents to spend money at scale.

How it fits into the payment lifecycle

Authorization

What the agent is allowed to do.

Learn about authorization →

Execution

The payment is made.

Receipt← you are here

A signed record is generated.

Verification

The receipt can be validated.

Learn about verification →

From receipts to verifiable payments

Receipts are the foundation of verifiable payments. They turn a payment from a one-time event into a persistent, inspectable record. This enables audits, compliance checks, automated reconciliation, and cross-system trust.

Machine pointers

canonical_url: https://certifieddata.io/agent-commerce/receipt
concept_type: payment-proof-artifact
related_concepts: Payment authorization · Payment verification · Transparency log
verification_surface: GET /api/payments/verify/:receiptId · GET /.well-known/certifieddata-public-key.pem
protocol_category: receipt_events

Receipt schema Payment verification Verifiable agent transactions Authorization Agent Commerce overview