PEAC Protocol

Programmable Economic Access & Consent Standard

What is PEAC Protocol?

PEAC is a minimal, file-based protocol for programmable web access, consent, attribution, and agentic payments. Any website or API can specify and enforce rules for automated access using pricing.txt or .well-known/peac.json.

Why PEAC?

As automation and AI reshape the web, PEAC solves the missing economic and consent layers for bots and data agents. It enables transparent, enforceable, and programmable access, supporting both commercial and non-commercial uses without default lock-in or forced payment.

PEAC is like robots.txt, but verifiable, programmable, and designed for the modern web.

pricing.txt — Open by Default
# Example pricing.txt — Open by Default

[default]
access = allow
attribution = encouraged
pricing = 0

[agent:ai_crawler]
access = allow
attribution = required
pricing = 0.01 USD / 1000 requests
This file is placed at your web root. By default, all agents are allowed and attribution is encouraged. For AI crawlers, attribution is required and a minimal fee is set for high-volume use. Extend or modify these rules as needed. See spec for all options.

Who Benefits

  • Publishers and Creators: Set consent and attribution terms. Monetize or open content on your own terms.
  • Platforms and CDNs: Serve, validate, or enforce economic terms at scale.
  • AI/Data Agents: Access content ethically with cryptographic proof and programmable negotiation.
  • Developers: Build or extend with open SDKs, CLI, and simple integration.
  • Regulators: Audit automated access and map obligations directly to policy requirements.

How It Works

PEAC uses a simple file at your web root, defining programmable access and consent rules in YAML, INI, or JSON.

  1. File-based: Serve pricing.txt at your root. Optionally use .well-known/peac.json.
  2. Programmable Terms: Specify pricing, attribution, allowed and disallowed agents, and consent.
  3. Payments Optional: HTTP 402 is supported, but payments are not required for non-commercial or open access.
  4. Cryptographic Proof: Agents sign access, ensuring auditability and compliance.

Getting Started

Add a pricing.txt file to your web root. Validate it with the PEAC CLI, or use our Node.js and Python SDKs for integration. 

# Install SDKs (Node.js or Python)
npm install @peac/protocol
pip install peac-protocol

# Validate your file with the CLI
npx peac validate pricing.txt

Open Source and Contribute

All code, SDKs, and documentation are public on GitHub. Contributions, issues, and integrations are welcome.

View on GitHub