Open Execution Protocol

The Problem

AI agents are moving from recommendation engines to coordination systems. They'll soon orchestrate orders, negotiate fulfillment, handle substitutions, and recover from failures across systems that were never designed to work together.

We have standards for product data, transactions, and inventory. But those standards were built for batch updates and human-mediated workflows. They assumed a person would bridge gaps between systems.

AI agents don't work that way. They need to understand real-time operational state, express intent with constraints, negotiate with systems that might say no, and learn from outcomes.

Current standards describe things. Agentic commerce needs standards that describe movement.

Framework Overview

The Open Execution Protocol defines a coordination layer that sits above existing operational systems. It provides the common language those systems use to communicate with external participants: AI agents, delivery networks, marketing platforms, and third-party applications.

Design Principles

• Event-driven: Communication through events, not polling
• Intent-based: Agents express goals with constraints
• State-aware: Systems share execution lifecycle status
• Outcome-oriented: Every action produces measurable feedback
• Vendor-neutral: No platform owns the standard
• Incrementally adoptable: Implement components independently

Five Core Components

Specification

{
  "event_id": "evt_7f3d8a2b",
  "oep_version": "0.1.0",
  "event_type": "ORDER_AT_RISK",
  "timestamp": "2026-02-23T14:32:17.234Z",
  "valid_until": "2026-02-23T14:37:17.234Z",
  "confidence": 0.87,
  "source": {
    "system": "inventory_360",
    "location_id": "store_4521",
    "actor_type": "system"
  },
  "correlation_id": "int_order_risk_001",
  "context": {
    "order_id": "ord_9x8y7z",
    "risk_type": "item_availability",
    "affected_items": ["sku_12345"]
  }
}

{
  "entity_type": "order",
  "entity_id": "ord_9x8y7z",
  "current_state": "IN_PROGRESS",
  "state_entered_at": "2026-02-23T14:28:00Z",
  "confidence": 0.92,
  "sub_states": {
    "picking": "COMPLETED",
    "packing": "IN_PROGRESS",
    "staging": "PLANNED"
  },
  "constraints": {
    "deadline": "2026-02-23T15:00:00Z"
  }
}

{
  "intent_id": "int_abc123",
  "intent_type": "FULFILL_ORDER",
  "requestor": {
    "agent_id": "agent_shopping_assistant",
    "agent_type": "customer_ai",
    "authorization_level": "standard"
  },
  "target": {
    "order_id": "ord_9x8y7z",
    "location_id": "store_4521"
  },
  "constraints": {
    "deadline": "2026-02-23T15:00:00Z",
    "acceptable_handoff_modes": ["curbside", "locker"],  // curbside | in_store | locker | drive_through | delivery | shipping
    "substitution_policy": "similar_approved",
    "max_substitutions": 2
  },
  "fallbacks": [
    {
      "trigger": "deadline_at_risk",
      "action": "NOTIFY_CUSTOMER"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "intent_id": "int_abc123",
  "response_type": "ACCEPTED_WITH_MODIFICATIONS",
  "commitment": {
    "estimated_completion": "2026-02-23T14:52:00Z",
    "confidence": 0.88,
    "handoff_mode": "curbside"
  },
  "modifications": [{
    "type": "substitution",
    "original_item": "sku_12345",
    "substituted_item": "sku_12346",
    "reason": "out_of_stock"
  }]
}

{
  "intent_id": "int_abc123",
  "error_type": "validation",
  "error_code": "INVALID_FIELD",
  "message": "constraints.deadline is not a valid ISO8601 datetime"
}

{
  "sku": "sku_12345",
  "name": "Organic Whole Milk, 1 Gallon",
  "dietary_attributes": {
    "contains": ["dairy", "lactose"],
    "free_from": ["gluten", "nuts"],
    "suitable_for": ["vegetarian"],
    "not_suitable_for": ["vegan", "lactose_intolerant"]
  },
  "freshness": {
    "shelf_life_days": 14,
    "quality_decay_model": "linear",
    "markdown_trigger_days_remaining": 3
  },
  "substitution_rules": {
    "equivalent_products": ["sku_12346"],
    "acceptable_alternatives": [
      {
        "sku": "sku_12350",
        "similarity_score": 0.85,
        "requires_approval": false
      }
    ]
  }
}

{
  "outcome_id": "out_f8e2a1",
  "intent_id": "int_abc123",
  "outcome_type": "PARTIAL_SUCCESS",
  "results": {
    "items_fulfilled": 8,
    "items_substituted": 1,
    "items_unavailable": 1
  },
  "performance": {
    "estimated_completion": "2026-02-23T14:52:00Z",
    "actual_completion": "2026-02-23T14:58:32Z",
    "variance_seconds": 392,
    "variance_reason": "customer_late_arrival"
  },
  "learning_tags": ["substitution_required", "curbside_successful"]
}

Use Cases

AI Agent Order Fulfillment

1. Agent sends FULFILL_ORDER intent with constraints
2. System returns ACCEPTED_WITH_MODIFICATIONS
3. Agent confirms, receives commitment
4. System emits state updates during fulfillment
5. ORDER_READY triggers customer notification
6. CUSTOMER_ARRIVED initiates handoff
7. Outcome signal captures performance metrics

Third-Party Delivery Integration

1. Delivery platform subscribes to order events
2. Receives state updates: QUEUED → IN_PROGRESS
3. Picking completion triggers driver dispatch
4. ORDER_READY finalizes driver assignment
5. Coordinated handoff minimizes wait time

Implementation

Transport Options

• Webhooks: HTTPS callbacks for events
• SSE: Real-time streaming for state
• WebSockets: Bidirectional for negotiation
• Message queues: Kafka, RabbitMQ for volume

Delivery Semantics

• At-least-once delivery is the recommended default
• Consumers must be idempotent (use event_id / intent_id for deduplication)
• Event ordering is not guaranteed across partitions
• Retry with exponential backoff on transient failures

Callback Security

• HMAC-SHA256 signature required on callbacks (X-OEP-Signature header)
• URL allowlisting for callback endpoints
• TLS required for all callback URLs

Incremental Adoption