Walmart sets out agent shopping profiles and a gateway with spending controls

Walmart announced Agent Profiles, the Walmart Agent Gateway and rules for shopping agents on October 21, setting out how outside assistants could buy from Walmart and Sam’s Club with customer permission. Agent Profiles are planned to launch within the next month. The gateway is beginning as an early beta for companies and developers, giving the retailer a dedicated route for automated shopping alongside its website and apps.

Each authorized agent would have a profile inside the customer’s account, separating its purchases from the customer’s other orders. Shoppers could require approval for every purchase or set a spending allowance, with the option to switch access off. Walmart says purchase approval will be the default and that it may request additional approval even when an order falls within an agent’s allowance.

The surrounding account rules also define responsibilities. Walmart’s published terms require agents to identify their automated activity and comply with technical restrictions, including rate limits. A customer must expressly authorize an agent, while Walmart can limit the goods or services available to it. The terms allow customers to revoke access through account settings, invalidating the associated credentials. They also distinguish a third-party agent’s provider from Walmart itself.

The gateway’s product page describes direct access to current product and fulfillment information through Sparky, Walmart’s own shopping assistant. This replaces some of the work an agent would otherwise perform by navigating pages and extracting website content. Walmart says a more direct connection can reduce unnecessary requests, latency and token consumption. The page also describes verified identities, controlled permissions and observable actions, connecting the shopping interface with the retailer’s access controls.

Availability remains constrained by the beta program. Access is by invitation, can be suspended, and may differ between participants as features change. The page identifies category restrictions and compliance guardrails alongside the technical controls. Its consumer-facing description includes setting shopping rules and viewing an agent’s activity, while the program disclaimer makes clear that the advertised experience is still being developed rather than offered uniformly to all shoppers.

Walmart already uses Sparky in its app to help customers find and compare products, create lists and receive recommendations informed by reviews and product information. Its broader technology strategy describes agents serving customers, associates, business partners and developers. The gateway connects that existing retail infrastructure with outside assistants, while preserving Walmart’s own systems for account access, product information and fulfillment. It therefore builds on work already spread across the company’s shopping and operational tools.

The retailer’s platform partnerships also predate this announcement. In October 2025, Walmart and OpenAI announced plans to bring Walmart and Sam’s Club shopping into ChatGPT using Instant Checkout. That agreement concerned a particular conversational platform. The new profiles and gateway describe a framework for the different agents customers may choose, with permissions attached to each agent’s relationship with a Walmart account.

Walmart says agents will not receive payment-card details or be able to add or change payment methods. Its announced approach also lets the retailer help an agent locate a customer’s usual items without handing over the broader purchase history. Prices, applicable offers and fees would be shown before purchase, under the company’s stated commitment to offer agents the same product prices people see on Walmart.com.