Show HN: CommerceTXT – An open standard for AI shopping context (like llms.txt)

Summary

CommerceTXT Protocol v1.0 Transaction-ready context for AI agents Like llms.txt, but for e-commerce TL;DR: llms.txt is for content discovery. CommerceTXT is for commerce transactions. If AI needs to know your price, inventory, or shipping policy—you need CommerceTXT. Key Features CommerceTXT includes powerful directives for transaction-ready commerce: @INVENTORY Real-time stock levels eliminate "Is it available?" hallucinations. Stock: 42 LowStockThreshold: 10 RestockDate: 2025-12-20 Impact: AI can say "Only 3 left" instead of guessing. @SUBSCRIPTION Handle recurring payments for SaaS and subscription products. Plans: - Monthly: 29.99 - Annual: 299.00 Trial: 7 Days Free Impact: AI compares one-time vs. subscription pricing accurately. @REVIEWS Aggregated review data in 50 tokens instead of scraping 15,000. Rating: 4.7 / 5.0 Count: 1243 TopTags: "Great battery" Impact: 99.7% token reduction for review queries. CommerceTXT vs llms.txt Both protocols help AI understand websites, but they solve different problems: llms.txt Use case: Content & Documentation 📄 Links to blog posts and docs 🔍 Discovery focused 💬 "What does this company do?" 📊 Static content CommerceTXT Use case: E-commerce & Transactions 💰 Live pricing and inventory 🛒 Transaction ready 🤖 "Can I buy this? How much? When ships?" ⚡ Dynamic commerce data Detailed Comparison Feature llms.txt CommerceTXT Primary Use Case Content discovery Commerce transactions Data Type Static URLs Dynamic pricing, inventory, policies Structure Flat list Hierarchical (Root → Category → Product) Updates Needed When new content published When inventory/prices change Schema.org Mapping ❌ No ✅ Yes (legal compliance) Multi-regional Support ❌ No ✅ Built-in (@LOCALES) Real-time Inventory ❌ No ✅ @INVENTORY directive Subscription Pricing ❌ No ✅ @SUBSCRIPTION directive Why Merchants Need CommerceTXT 🎯 Transaction-Ready llms.txt is for content. CommerceTXT is for commerce. Price, inventory, shipping, returns—everything AI needs to help cust...