Relationship to Authorization Protocols
LCP captures the merchant's side of a transaction. Authorization protocols capture the consumer's side. Together they form a complete agreement.
This section is advisory.
The agentic commerce ecosystem has developed sophisticated authorization protocols that capture the consumer's side of a transaction — who authorized it, what constraints were set, and whether the agent complied. LCP captures the merchant's side — what terms were offered, what obligations were accepted, and what recourse is available. Together they form a complete agreement.
The Two Sides of a Transaction
| Side | What It Captures | Who Provides It |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer authorization | Who authorized the agent, what constraints were set, whether the agent complied | Visa TAP, Mastercard Verifiable Intent, AP2 mandates |
| Merchant terms | What was offered, under what conditions, with what obligations and recourse | LCP |
| Mutual agreement | That both sides accepted, bound together with parties, jurisdiction, and timestamp | Agreement Identity (Integra) |
Authorization protocols answer: "Is this agent legitimate and authorized?" LCP answers: "What terms govern this transaction?" Agreement Identity binds the answers together into a single verifiable record.
Complementary, Not Competing
LCP does not replace or duplicate authorization protocols. The relationship is additive:
- Visa TAP proves agent identity + consumer identity → LCP adds what terms the merchant offered
- Mastercard Verifiable Intent proves consumer authorization + agent compliance → LCP adds what the merchant committed to
- AP2 mandates prove user approval of a specific cart or intent → LCP adds the legal framework governing the transaction
No authorization protocol captures the merchant's terms, the mutual agreement, the dispute resolution process, or the temporal obligations that extend beyond payment. These are the domain of LCP and Agreement Identity.
Combined Evidence for Dispute Resolution
When a dispute arises, the resolution process requires evidence from both sides:
| Evidence | Source |
|---|---|
| Did the consumer authorize this transaction? | Verifiable Intent Layer 1-2 / TAP Consumer Recognition / AP2 Cart Mandate |
| Did the agent stay within authorized scope? | Verifiable Intent Layer 2-3 / AP2 mandate vs. transaction comparison |
| What terms did the merchant offer? | LCP contentHash + preserved terms document |
| Did both parties accept? | Agreement Identity record (Level 3-4) |
| What dispute resolution was specified? | LCP disputeResolution field |
| What jurisdiction governs? | LCP disputeResolution.jurisdiction |
No single protocol provides all of this evidence. The combination of authorization protocols + LCP + Agreement Identity creates the complete evidentiary foundation that institutional dispute resolution (AAA) requires.
Mastercard Agent Pay and Verifiable Intent
Mastercard Agent Pay acceptance framework and Verifiable Intent open-source authorization — LCP as the merchant-side complement.
MCP as Delivery Mechanism
An LCP MCP server is the natural delivery mechanism for making legal context discoverable and accessible to every agent in the ecosystem.