What is AP2?
Agent Payments Protocol, a standard for proving that a real person authorised an AI agent to spend a specific amount, so a business can verify that before it charges anything.
2 min read
A credential proves an agent is genuine. AP2 proves something narrower: that a real person approved this exact spend, up to this exact limit, for this kind of purchase. A business checking AP2 is checking a specific, scoped authorisation that traces back to the person the agent is acting for, rather than trusting the agent's own word that it's allowed to buy.
Good for
Proving a real person authorised a specific spend.
Not good for
Proving the agent itself is genuine, that's a credential's job, checked separately.
What is Folio?
Selfe's payment layer, the part that confirms an AI agent is authorised to spend on someone's behalf and settles the transaction with the business once it does.
What is a Wallet, in the Selfe sense?
The record of what a specific AI agent is currently authorised to spend, on whose behalf and up to what limit, checked before Folio settles anything against it.
What is an agent credential?
A short-lived, scoped proof that an AI agent is who it claims to be, checked before a business trusts a request enough to act on it.