In short. ChatGPT Instant Checkout is available to approved partners, with merchants responsible for checkout state, order acceptance, payments, and after-sale obligations.

Definition: ChatGPT Instant Checkout is an embedded purchase flow in ChatGPT that uses the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) to exchange checkout information with a merchant. The merchant's systems maintain the checkout state, accept or decline the order, and process payment.

Key facts

As of 17 October 2026, OpenAI's Key concepts documentation limits Instant Checkout to approved partners and requires product feed, checkout, and payment flows.
OpenAI's Products reference makes checkout eligibility dependent on an enabled integration and search eligibility.
The Agentic Checkout Spec requires merchant endpoints that create, update, and complete checkout sessions, returning the cart state.
The Delegated Payment Spec assigns settlement, refunds, chargebacks, and payment compliance to the merchant and its payment service provider (PSP), the service that processes its payments.

What makes a merchant or product eligible?

OpenAI's Key concepts page links to a merchant application form. Building with ACP is open to all; participation in Instant Checkout requires partner approval. Merchants also submit a sample product feed for validation and daily snapshots.

The Products reference states that checkout requires a separately enabled integration. The following field enables product checkout only when that integration is enabled and search eligibility is true:

is_eligible_checkout

Omitting the field, leaving it empty, or setting it to false disables checkout. Setting is_eligible_search to false also disables checkout. The reference lists seller_privacy_policy and seller_tos as conditionally required checkout fields containing public policy URLs. These feed settings accompany checkout onboarding.

What must the merchant implement?

A checkout session holds the items, fulfillment information, and payment information for a purchase. OpenAI's Agentic Checkout Spec describes these create, update, and complete routes:

POST /checkout_sessions
POST /checkout_sessions/{checkout_session_id}
POST /checkout_sessions/{checkout_session_id}/complete

Responses carry the cart state, including prices, taxes, shipping, totals, and status. Endpoints use HTTPS and return JSON. Merchants authenticate requests, verify signatures, and enforce idempotency, which makes retries safe from duplicate effects. They also send order events through webhooks, notifications that keep ChatGPT informed of order changes, and pass integration conformance checks.

OpenAI's Key concepts documentation assigns validation, fulfillment options, sales tax calculations and charges, and payment risk analysis to the merchant. ChatGPT collects customer information and displays the merchant's confirmation or decline.

Who handles payment and after-sale obligations?

OpenAI's Delegated Payment Spec describes a single-use payment token restricted by a maximum amount and expiry. OpenAI passes the token during checkout completion so the merchant can complete the transaction through its PSP.

Settlement, refunds, chargebacks, and compliance remain with the merchant and its PSP. Direct integration with the payment specification is limited to PSPs or PCI DSS level 1 merchants using their own vaults, systems for storing payment credentials.

FAQ

Does submitting a product feed enable Instant Checkout?

OpenAI's Products reference requires a separately enabled checkout integration. You also need the checkout eligibility flag and search eligibility enabled for the product.

Does OpenAI become the merchant of record?

OpenAI's Key concepts documentation explicitly states that OpenAI is not the merchant of record. Your systems decide whether to accept the order and charge the payment method.

Who manages refunds and chargebacks?

The Delegated Payment Spec keeps these responsibilities with you and your PSP, along with settlement and compliance.

Sources

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