Commit-time authorization semantics in agent-initiated payments (scope clarification) #8
Description
This issue raises a general scoping question relevant to agent-initiated payment authorization, independent of any specific implementation.
Context
In agent-driven commerce flows, payment authorization necessarily crosses a boundary where an abstract operation (“initiate payment”) becomes an irreversible economic commitment.
Across the ecosystem, different systems implicitly or explicitly derive commit-time semantics from a mix of:
- agent-issued operations,
- observed UI or page state,
- interpreted intent,
- or backend reconciliation logic.
Architectural question
At that commit boundary, there appears to be an open semantic question:
What exactly is the object being authorized for payment, and how tightly is authorization bound to a single, immutable economic state at the moment of commitment?
This question is orthogonal to agent authentication, replay protection, and transport security, but directly affects determinism, auditability, and liability attribution in agent-initiated checkout.
Relevance to TAP
As TAP defines cryptographic mechanisms for trusted agent operations, it may be useful to clarify how commit-time authorization semantics are intended to be scoped:
- whether authorization is defined at the level of an operation,
- a derived economic state,
- or another explicitly defined object.
This issue is intended purely as a scoping and clarification question, not as a proposal or critique.
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