15 digital goods you can already buy through an MCP
An AI agent connected to cartapi's MCP endpoint can buy these fifteen categories of instant-delivery digital goods today. All go through consent-first checkout (agent returns a URL, user clicks). Coming next: VPNs, travel insurance, game keys, streaming subscriptions. Off-limits: shipped physical goods, regulated categories, subscriptions with mid-cycle side effects.
Every time someone asks me "what can AI agents actually buy in 2026?" I end up recreating this list. Bookmarking it here.
Live today — the fifteen
Connectivity (2)
- Travel eSIM plans — 200+ destinations via Airalo and Nomad, normalized in cartapi's catalog. Prompt: "cheapest 5GB Thailand eSIM for 10 days".
- Regional eSIM bundles — Europe-wide, Asia-wide, and global eSIMs for multi-country trips. Prompt: "Europe regional eSIM for 3 weeks with 20GB".
Airtime and data (2)
- Mobile phone airtime top-up — 140+ countries via Reloadly. Auto-detects the actual serving carrier (portable numbers). Prompt: "top up +8618xxxxxxxx with ¥50".
- Mobile data bundles — India (Airtel/Jio/Vi day packs), Bangladesh, Nigeria, and others where carriers sell time-boxed data as SKUs. Prompt: "Jio 1.5GB/day 84-day plan for +9198xxxxxxxx".
Gaming (5)
- Xbox Game Pass / Xbox Live — via Reloadly gift cards. Regional lock applies.
- PlayStation Store credit — PSN cards by region.
- Steam Wallet — mostly region-flexible.
- Nintendo eShop — by region.
- Riot cards — Valorant, League of Legends, Wild Rift.
Consumer gift cards (6)
- Roblox — gift-card codes for Robux.
- Amazon gift cards — region-locked.
- Apple / iTunes gift cards — by region.
- Google Play gift cards — by region.
- Uber / DoorDash gift cards — service credit.
- Retail brand gift cards — Sephora, Nike, Target, Airbnb, Nordstrom, and a long tail. Ask
list_gift_card_brandsfor the live list in your country.
Coming next
| Category | Status | Blocker |
|---|---|---|
| VPN subscriptions | Adapter in progress | Working through VPNResellers/reseller-tier integration. |
| Travel insurance | Roadmap | Needs a quote-API partner (World Nomads / SafetyWing / Faye shape). Insurance is priced per-quote, not per-SKU. |
| Game keys (CD keys) | Roadmap | Trust and refund policy on grey-market keys is messier; not rushing it. |
| Streaming subscriptions | Under evaluation | Most streaming services block third-party subscription resale by ToS. Direct partner deals only. |
| Domain name registrations | Under evaluation | Registrar API integration + WHOIS/ICANN compliance surface. |
| Cloud credits (AWS, GCP, Azure) | Under evaluation | Cloud providers sell direct; margin for a reseller is zero. Interesting only as user-friction reduction. |
What's off-limits (and probably always will be)
- Shipped physical goods — needs address validation, delivery SLA, return logistics. Solvable but not by cartapi; better handled by a Shopify-MCP-style storefront pattern.
- Regulated categories — alcohol, tobacco, prescriptions, firearms, adult content. Age gates and identity checks aren't in the MCP vocabulary and cartapi isn't the entity that should be.
- Financial instruments — stocks, crypto, forex. Different regulatory regime entirely.
- Subscriptions with mid-cycle side effects — anything where cancellation triggers a service disruption the buyer needs to understand. Cartapi's one-shot purchase model doesn't fit.
- Anything where fulfillment isn't near-instant — if the buyer has to wait days for a code, the AI-agent-mediated UX loses to the vendor's own signup flow.
The pattern that unifies them
Every category above works the same way:
- Agent calls a
search_*tool to find SKUs. - Agent calls
get_checkout_linkto convert a chosen SKU to a Stripe URL. - User clicks. Stripe charges. Cartapi (as MoR) records the sale.
- Cartapi triggers fulfillment with the underlying vendor (Reloadly, Airalo, Nomad, etc.).
- User receives the code / QR / activation via email.
- Agent can poll
get_order_statusif it wants to confirm delivery.
Six steps, one repeatable shape. When a new category ships, it slots into the same six steps — that's why the coming-next list moves fast.
Try any of them
claude mcp add --transport http cartapi https://mcp.cartapi.io/mcpPick a category, run a prompt:
using cartapi, cheapest 10GB Thailand eSIM for 10 days
using cartapi, top up +2348012345678 with $5 of MTN airtime
using cartapi, $50 Steam Wallet code for US, email to [email protected]
using cartapi, $25 Amazon gift card for UK, email to [email protected]
using cartapi, what mobile top-up countries do you cover in Africa?
Each of those goes through the same six-step loop. Each returns a Stripe URL. Each takes under a minute.
Frequently asked questions
What can an AI agent buy through cartapi today?
15 categories of instant-delivery digital goods: travel eSIMs, regional eSIM bundles, mobile top-ups, mobile data bundles, Xbox Game Pass, PSN, Steam, Nintendo eShop, Riot cards, Roblox, Amazon, Apple, Google Play, Uber/DoorDash, and a long tail of retail brand gift cards.
What's coming next?
VPN subscriptions (adapter in progress), travel insurance (needs quote-API partner), game keys (roadmap), streaming subscriptions (evaluation), domain registrations (evaluation).
What can't an AI agent buy?
Shipped physical goods, regulated categories (alcohol, tobacco, prescriptions), financial instruments, subscriptions with mid-cycle side effects, anything with non-instant fulfillment.
How does the buying pattern work?
Agent calls search → get_checkout_link → returns Stripe URL → user clicks → Stripe charges → cartapi records → fulfillment triggers → user receives the code/QR by email. Six steps, one repeatable shape across every category.
How do I add cartapi to my agent?
One command for Claude Desktop or Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http cartapi https://mcp.cartapi.io/mcp. REST also available at api.cartapi.io/v1.