Meta and Sierra are developing a "passport" for AI agents, with Walmart, Shopify, and other parties participating in its development.

Beating AI News Flash: Customer service agent firm Sierra has partnered with Meta to launch the Personal Agent Protocol (PAP), with companies including Walmart, Shopify, Stripe, Genesys, and Instinct co-developing the standard. PAP is designed for personal AI agents, enabling enterprises to verify an agent’s identity, the user it represents, and the actions the user has authorized the agent to take. Currently, many personal agents still simulate human web interactions—opening sites, clicking buttons, filling forms—making them vulnerable to blocks from captchas and anti-bot systems. For instance, Amazon previously banned Meta Muse from accessing its shopping platform; even Walmart, a Muse partner, deploys human verification to block agents. PAP seeks to standardize this identity and authorization framework: when a user asks an agent to check an order, only read access is granted, while separate authorization is required for modifying or placing orders. Enterprises can also define the operations agents are allowed to perform, as well as integration methods (web, API, or their own agent connections). While MCP addresses how agents call external tools and data, PAP focuses on agent identity, user authorization, and enterprise permissions. PAP remains in preview, with its first v0.1 specification set to be released later this month. On the same day, Sierra’s competitor Decagon open-sourced a similar PACT protocol and announced its entry into the PAP working group. PACT also handles agent identity and user authorization, using A2A to connect personal and enterprise agents, then completing user authorization via OAuth.