Adapters are plug-and-play connectors that translate between MCIP's unified protocol and any e-commerce platform's API. Build one in 30 minutes, use it forever.
Remember those universal translator devices from sci-fi movies? The ones that let you talk to any alien species instantly? That's exactly what MCIP adapters do for e-commerce platforms.
Here's the challenge we all face: Every e-commerce platform speaks a different language. Shopify speaks REST with its own particular dialect. WooCommerce has its WordPress-flavored API. Vendure uses GraphQL with custom schemas. Your proprietary platform? It probably invented its own unique way of doing everything. Without adapters, AI agents would need to learn every single one of these languages – an impossible task that would never scale.
Here's where adapters save the day: They act as intelligent translators that listen to MCIP's universal protocol on one side and speak the platform's native language on the other. You write an adapter once, and suddenly every AI agent in the world can interact with that platform forever. No more custom integrations. No more breaking changes. No more maintenance nightmares.
Imagine you're traveling the world with your laptop. In the UK, you need one type of power adapter. In Japan, another. In Italy, yet another. But here's the beautiful thing – your laptop never changes. It always uses the same plug. You just switch adapters based on where you are.
That's exactly how MCIP adapters work. Your AI agent (the laptop) always speaks the same language – the MCIP protocol. The adapter handles all the messy translation work to connect with each platform's unique "outlet." You don't rewrite your AI agent for each store – you just plug in the right adapter.
The traditional approach to e-commerce integration is exhausting. Every AI developer writes custom code for every platform. When Shopify updates their API, thousands of integrations break. When a new platform emerges, everyone starts from scratch. It's a massive waste of human potential.
Adapters flip this equation completely. Instead of every AI agent learning every platform's API, they all speak MCIP. The adapter handles the translation. This seemingly simple change has profound implications:
Here's where MCIP fundamentally differs from marketplaces or aggregators. We don't store any products. We don't sync databases. We don't cache inventories. Every request translates in real-time directly to the source platform.
Why does this matter? Because reality changes constantly. Prices fluctuate. Inventory sells out. New products arrive. Flash sales happen. When you search through MCIP, you're getting the absolute latest information directly from the source – not yesterday's cached data, not last hour's sync, but right-now reality.
Think about it: Would you want an AI agent to tell a customer a product is in stock when it sold out an hour ago? Would you want to show last week's prices during a Black Friday sale? Real-time translation ensures every response reflects current truth.
Not all platforms are created equal, and that's perfectly fine! Some stores support complex filtering. Others offer basic search. Some provide rich product data. Others keep it simple. Instead of forcing every platform into the same restrictive box, adapters communicate their actual capabilities to MCIP.
If a platform doesn't support filtering by color, the adapter simply says so. MCIP then handles filtering on its side if needed. If search is limited to 100 results, the adapter communicates that limit. MCIP works intelligently with what's available, never crashing, never failing, always delivering the best possible results given the platform's capabilities.
Let's follow a real request through the system to see adapters in action:
Step 1: AI Agent Makes a Request
An AI agent asks MCIP: "Find gaming laptops under $1500 with good reviews." This request uses the standard MCIP protocol – the same format whether searching Shopify, WooCommerce, or a custom platform.
Step 2: MCIP Checks Capabilities
MCIP asks the adapter: "Hey, can you search with price filters? How about review ratings?" The adapter responds with its capabilities: "I can filter by price, but this platform doesn't have review data."
Step 3: Adapter Translates the Request
The adapter converts MCIP's universal request into whatever format the platform expects. Maybe it becomes a REST API call with query parameters. Maybe it's a GraphQL query with nested selections. Maybe it's a SOAP request (yes, those still exist). The adapter knows exactly how to speak the platform's language.
Step 4: Platform Processes and Responds
The e-commerce platform does its thing and returns products in its unique format. Every platform structures data differently – different field names, different organization, different everything.
Step 5: Adapter Normalizes the Response
Here's where the magic happens. The adapter takes the platform's response and transforms it into MCIP's standard format. Product titles become name. Prices become price. Availability becomes inStock. Every platform's unique structure becomes one consistent format.
Step 6: MCIP Delivers Results
The AI agent receives clean, normalized results it can understand, regardless of which platform provided them. Total time? Under 500ms. That's faster than you can blink!
Every adapter, regardless of the platform it connects to, promises to implement the same core interface. It's like a job contract – "I promise to handle these specific tasks, though I might do them in my own unique way."
// Every adapter promises these methods
searchProducts(query, filters) // Find products
getProduct(id) // Get specific product
capability_descriptor() // Declare abilitiesThat's it. Three methods. But these three methods unlock access to any e-commerce platform in the world.
The workhorses of e-commerce integration. Most platforms still use REST APIs, and our base REST adapter handles all the common patterns: authentication headers, rate limiting, retry logic, error handling. You just focus on the unique parts of each platform.
Platforms using REST adapters include WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, PrestaShop, and countless custom solutions. Each has its quirks, but the REST adapter pattern handles them all gracefully.
The modern approach. GraphQL APIs let you request exactly the data you need, nothing more, nothing less. Our GraphQL base adapter handles query construction, type safety, and response parsing. You define the queries, we handle the complexity.
Shopify's Storefront API, Vendure, and many modern platforms embrace GraphQL. These adapters often perform better because they can request precisely the fields needed for each operation.
The real world is messy. Legacy systems exist. Proprietary protocols persist. Some platforms use SOAP (we don't judge). Others connect directly to databases. Some require complex authentication dances.
Custom adapters handle anything that doesn't fit the REST or GraphQL patterns. They have complete freedom in implementation while still providing the standard MCIP interface. If you can connect to it with code, you can write an adapter for it.
The giants of e-commerce – Amazon, eBay, Etsy – require special handling. These adapters manage complex authentication flows, handle seller accounts, navigate marketplace rules, and deal with additional complexity like fulfillment options and seller ratings.
These adapters are coming soon, bringing millions of marketplace products into the MCIP ecosystem while respecting each marketplace's unique requirements and terms of service.
Adapters don't just connect – they communicate. Each adapter tells MCIP exactly what its platform can do. Can it filter by price? Search by category? Sort by relevance? Handle pagination? Support inventory tracking?
This capability reporting enables intelligent request routing and response handling. If a platform doesn't support something, MCIP knows immediately and can work around it. No guessing, no failures, just intelligent adaptation to each platform's abilities.
Adapters can provide performance hints to MCIP. A platform that typically responds in 200ms gets different timeout handling than one that needs 2 seconds. This intelligence enables MCIP to maximize parallel execution while minimizing wait times.
Some adapters implement caching for slowly-changing data like category lists. Others batch requests when the platform supports it. These optimizations happen transparently – AI agents get fast responses without knowing the complexity underneath.
Real-world APIs fail in creative ways. Networks hiccup at the worst moments. Rate limits appear without warning. Databases go down for maintenance. Good adapters handle it all with grace.
When temporary failures occur, adapters retry intelligently with exponential backoff. When platforms return partial results, adapters mark the incomplete data. When errors happen, adapters provide clear, actionable information about what went wrong and how to fix it.
Here's the beautiful truth: You can make any e-commerce platform AI-ready in about 30 minutes. Not days. Not weeks. Thirty minutes from start to finish.
First 5 minutes: Choose your base adapter class. REST? GraphQL? Custom? Pick the one that matches your API style. The base class provides 80% of what you need.
Next 15 minutes: Map your data structure. Show the adapter how your platform's product format corresponds to MCIP's schema. Title becomes name. Price stays price. SKU becomes id. It's mostly straightforward field mapping.
Next 5 minutes: Define your platform's capabilities. Can you filter? Paginate? Sort? Tell MCIP what you can do, and it handles the rest intelligently.
Final 5 minutes: Test your adapter. Run the included test suite. Verify responses look correct. Deploy.
That's it. Your platform is now accessible to every AI agent using MCIP. You've just joined the AI commerce revolution with less effort than setting up a new email account.
Do I need to modify my existing platform?
Not at all! Adapters work with your existing APIs exactly as they are. No changes needed on your end. If your platform has an API, we can adapt to it.
What if my API changes?
Just update your adapter. All AI agents using MCIP continue working without any changes on their end. Your adapter shields them from platform changes.
Can I restrict what data AI agents can access?
Absolutely. Your adapter controls exactly what data flows through. Want to hide certain products? Limit price ranges? Restrict categories? Your adapter, your rules.
How do adapters handle authentication?
Each adapter manages authentication its own way. API keys, OAuth, JWT tokens, whatever your platform requires. The adapter handles the complexity, MCIP just works.
What about rate limiting?
Built into the base adapters. Automatic retry with backoff. Request queuing. Circuit breakers. We've learned from years of API integration pain.
Ready to connect your platform to the AI revolution? You're closer than you think. That 30-minute setup time isn't marketing fluff – it's what our users actually experience.
Start with our guide on Building Your First Adapter. We'll walk through a complete example, from empty file to working adapter. You'll see how simple field mapping can be and how the base classes handle the complex parts.
Or explore our Adapter Showcase to see real adapters in action. Learn from patterns that work. Avoid pitfalls others have found. Stand on the shoulders of the community.
The future of commerce is AI-driven, and adapters are your platform's ticket to that future. Every day you wait is a day your competitors might gain AI capabilities first. But in just 30 minutes, you can change that equation entirely.
Your platform. AI-enabled. Today.