Sierra and Meta propose an open standard for personal AI agents that deal with businesses
Personal Agent Protocol uses OAuth sign-in and lets customers choose read-only or write access. Walmart, Shopify and Stripe are among the partners. The first specification is due later in October.
How this story was checked
- ResearchedWith AI assistance · 2 sources
- AI source checkEach sentence matched to its source
- Editor approvalMayank Sahu · 11 Oct, 20:26
- Published11 Oct, 20:26
In short
Sierra announced Personal Agent Protocol on 6 October 2026, an open standard it is developing with Meta. It defines how a person’s AI agent signs in to a business, what it may do and what the business can see. The v0.1 specification is due later in October.
What was announced
Sierra announced Personal Agent Protocol (PAP) on 6 October 2026. It is an open standard that Sierra is developing with Meta and industry partners.1 It sets out how a person’s own AI agent can deal with a business on their behalf: how it signs in, what it may do and what the business can see.12
The named partners are Genesys, Instinct, Rocket, Shopify, Stripe and Walmart.12
How it is meant to work
- Discovery: the agent starts on the company’s website to learn what the company offers and how to reach it.1
- Sign-in: the agent opens a session for the user, as a guest or signed in. Sessions are built on OAuth and carry across channels within one visit.1
- Permissions: the customer decides whether the agent gets read-only or write access.1
- Getting things done: the agent can use the company’s website, its APIs (for example ones built with MCP or OpenAPI) or the company’s own agent.12
Companies decide what they make available.1
What is not in it yet
Payments are not part of the first version. Sierra lists payments, push notifications such as delivery alerts, and finer permissions for specific actions as possible future additions.12
When the specification arrives
Sierra says the v0.1 specification, a reference implementation and design workshops will come “later this month”.1 Some early summaries described v0.1 as already published, but Sierra’s post and The Next Web both say it is still to come.12 Neither names a licence or a governing body.
Other efforts
The Next Web notes that Stripe and Shopify have also joined Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol, a separate effort.2
Why it matters
As more people use AI assistants to shop, book or manage accounts, businesses need a way to know which agent is acting for which customer and what it is allowed to do. PAP is one proposal. Whether it is widely used will depend on adoption by businesses and agent makers.
Fact ledger
How labels workQuestions readers ask
What is Personal Agent Protocol?
An open standard proposed by Sierra and Meta for how a person’s AI agent signs in to a business, what it may do and what the business can see.
Can agents pay for things with PAP?
Not in the first version. Payments are listed as a possible future extension.
Is the specification out?
Not yet, as of 11 October. Sierra says v0.1 will be published later in October.