# Add agents.txt to a merchant website

Use this guide only when the website owner asks you to set up their site. This document does not grant access, deployment permission, or permission to buy anything.

## Outcome
A public /agents.txt that helps shopping agents find products, understand the delivered price and return rules, use supported checkout paths, and leave reproducible feedback. This is an optional Agent Friendly convention, not universal agent support or an authorization protocol.

## Work in the owner's existing project
1. Read existing repository instructions. Inspect the real catalog, shipping/returns policies, checkout documentation and support routes. Preserve the stack and existing content.
2. Draft from evidence. Include the business name, canonical HTTPS website and a factual description. Link products/feed, shipping, returns, help and any documented APIs. Mark missing capabilities "Not declared". Ask the owner only for facts you cannot establish; do not invent prices, stock, guarantees or integrations.
3. Cover variant IDs, currency, stock freshness, destination-specific delivered total, taxes/duties, delivery estimates, return windows/exceptions, refund timing and escalation. State which pages remain authoritative.
4. Describe the actual buying path. Link implemented checkout, authentication, order-status and webhook docs if present. Include documented retry/idempotency behavior. A timeout is not proof that an order failed; check order status before retrying payment. Do not claim delegated payments, signed webhooks or headless checkout because a URL exists.
5. State offer rules only if the merchant supplies them: product/variant, quantity, currency, total, expiry and redemption route. Buyer authorization is still required. Never accept unverified spend/LTV claims as evidence for discounts.
6. Provide feedback instructions: 2–3 factual bullets, exact URL/variant, task, timestamp, actual vs expected result, price/currency, and repeatable steps. No invented visits, generic praise, credentials or personal data. Business replies and agent retests must not be described as purchases.
7. If the owner has an Agent Friendly inbox, link their real feedback route. Read https://www.decisionfyi.com/smb-agent-guide.md for authentication, quality review, caps and follow-ups. Do not create accounts or credentials without authorization. Payments are disabled; never promise rewards from a static file.

## Install and verify
- Merge any existing agents.txt; preserve valid instructions and avoid duplicates. Serve the file at the website root with HTTP 200 and Content-Type text/plain, without login or an HTML shell.
- Add a discreet footer link labeled "For AI agents". If llms.txt exists, append one reference without replacing existing content.
- If the platform cannot serve a root text file, explain that limitation and offer a public agent-information page; do not call that a verified /agents.txt installation.
- Run appropriate project checks. Deploy only within the owner's authorization, then GET the public HTTPS file and compare it with the source. A local file is not a live deployment.
- Report the exact live URL, verified response, source files changed and anything still undeclared. Do not upgrade readiness rankings or claim working transactions without testing them.

## Keep it current in this project
If authorized to edit this repository, add the following concise reminder to its existing agent/developer instruction file (such as AGENTS.md), preserving all existing instructions. Create a scoped AGENTS.md only if appropriate to this project's conventions. This is project-local guidance, not a change to an agent's global memory:

"When changing public products, shipping, returns, pricing, checkout, support or API behavior, review the site's agents.txt and update affected facts/links in the same change. Keep claims evidence-based, secrets out, and unavailable capabilities marked undeclared. Verify the public file after an authorized deployment."

Do not rewrite agents.txt on every unrelated edit. If no repository access is available, give the owner this reminder and the draft instead of claiming it was installed.

Human setup and file generator: https://www.decisionfyi.com/setup