procurement.txt
A plain-text file that tells AI agents how to transact with your business.
One file, published to your web root — no API, no SDK, no registration required.
Static by design
A plain-text key-value file served from a predictable URL. No dynamic endpoints, no authentication, no infrastructure to maintain.
Structured for agents
Declares pricing model, ordering methods, supported capabilities, and escalation paths in a machine-readable format agents can parse in milliseconds.
Open standard
An open specification published under CC0 1.0 Universal. No licensing fees, no governing body approval required to implement or extend.
How an agent uses procurement.txt
One fetch reveals everything the agent needs — catalog, API spec, and escalation path.
DISCOVER
Fetch procurement.txt
↩Catalog URL · API spec URL · escalation contact
CATALOG
Browse the product catalog
↩SKUs · descriptions · prices
API SPEC
Read the ordering API spec
↩Endpoints · schemas · auth requirements
ORDER
Place the order
↩orderId: ORD-42 · status: confirmed
ESCALATE
Escalate if needed
↩Human reviews edge cases or negotiates terms
Benchmarked against web scraping
6x
cheaper per LLM agent run
$0.20 vs $1.23 avg
5.8x
fewer tokens consumed
~58K vs ~341K avg
10x
less data transferred
~15 KB JSON vs ~140 KB HTML
Tested with structured and LLM-based agents on identical procurement tasks. See full benchmark results
A minimal procurement.txt
https://example.com/procurement.txt# procurement.txt for Acme Supply Co.
Version: 1
Contact: mailto:sales@acme.example
Catalog: https://api.acme.example/catalog.json
Ordering: api https://api.acme.example/openapi.json
Pricing: api https://api.acme.example/openapi.json
Negotiation: bulk-only
Service-Region: US, CA, DE
Payment-Terms: net-30, purchase-order
Auth: api-key
Escalation: mailto:procurement@acme.example