Is My Store UCP Ready? How to Check in 60 Seconds
Source: Dev.to
What “UCP ready” means
A store is UCP ready when it publishes a valid manifest at /.well-known/ucp that AI shopping agents can discover, parse, and act on.
Levels of readiness
| Level | Description | Stores (as of this month) |
|---|---|---|
| Verified | Manifest exists, returns valid JSON, passes schema validation against the current v2026‑04‑08 spec. The store appears in the UCP directory and agents can find it. | 4,024 |
| Agent‑functional | In addition to being verified, the MCP endpoint responds, product data is clean, and the checkout flow completes without errors. Scores B+ or higher on the Playground leaderboard. | 422 |
| Agent‑ready (A) | Agents can reliably complete purchases across multiple models. Variant data is clean, latency is low, and capabilities go beyond defaults. Scores A. | 9 |
The UCP requirements checklist details the exact criteria for each level.
How to check your store in 60 seconds
- Visit UCPChecker.com/check and enter your domain.
- The checker will:
- Fetch
/.well-known/ucpfrom your domain - Validate the JSON against the current spec
- Inspect
robots.txtfor AI‑bot policies - Inventory declared capabilities, transports, and payment handlers
- Report every error and warning with specific error codes
- Fetch
The whole process takes about 1 second, and you receive a full diagnostic report on your status page.
Possible results
- Verified (green) – Manifest is valid; you’re in the directory. Check the Warnings section for improvement ideas.
- Invalid (amber) – Manifest exists but fails validation. The diagnostic panel shows which fields are wrong or missing (often a missing required field or a misplaced
signing_keys). - Not Detected (grey) – No manifest found at
/.well-known/ucp. Your store isn’t UCP ready yet. See the requirements post for what to publish. - Blocked (orange) – Your
robots.txtor firewall blocks access to the manifest. The diagnostic will indicate whether it’s a robots rule or an HTTP‑level block.
Where to find fixes
Platform‑specific guides:
Manifest reference:
/.well-known/ucpdeveloper guideError‑by‑error fixes: Common UCP errors
Spec changes: v2026‑04‑08 update
Testing with real agents
Schema validation only confirms that the manifest is syntactically correct. To verify that an agent can actually purchase from your store, use the UCP Playground:
- Run real AI‑agent sessions against your store.
- The Playground shows exactly where the shopping flow breaks.
The most common runtime failure is variant mismatches—clean product data matters more than perfect schema.
Monitoring
Your UCP endpoint is a live API. Platform updates, catalog changes, or CDN reconfigurations can break it silently. Set up UCP Alerts to receive an email the moment your status changes, before agents notice.
After you’re verified
- Compare your store side‑by‑side with competitors or partners (capabilities, transports, payment handlers, latency).
- Browse the platform list to see all verified Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or Magento stores ranked by capability depth.
- Check the leaderboard – stores are graded A through F on real‑agent shopping performance.
UCP adoption is accelerating: over 1,400 new merchants were discovered in April alone. Shopify migrated its entire fleet to the latest spec in four days, and new BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Magento stores appear weekly.
Quick checklist before you check
- Capabilities – Define what your store can do for agents.
- Payment handlers – Specify how agents pay.
- Transports – Indicate how agents connect.
- Product discovery flow – Ensure the shopping flow works end‑to‑end.
Make sure your listing on the UCP Registry is accurate once you’re verified; that’s how agents find you in the first place.
Get started
- Check your store now → UCPChecker.com/check
- Build your own agent – developer quickstart
- Understand the protocol stack – MCP vs. UCP vs. AP2
- Monthly ecosystem data – State of Agentic Commerce