{
 "url": "https://activatedigital.ai/knowledge/guides/product-identity-api-endpoint",
 "title": "Product as an API Endpoint: Why Discovery Is Not Permission",
 "description": "Product identity can make a service discoverable. It cannot make the call authorised. See what has to be in place before software may act on a product.",
 "territory": "impl",
 "category": null,
 "direct_answer": "**A product does not literally host an API. The phrase describes the product identity acting as the stable entry point through which software discovers a relevant service, reads the action it exposes, proves the required authority and invokes the correct API.**",
 "last_verified": "2026-09-04",
 "verified_label": "Last verified",
 "datePublished": "2026-09-04",
 "dateModified": "2026-09-04",
 "legislation": [],
 "primary_sources": [
  {
   "url": "https://ref.gs1.org/standards/resolver/",
   "name": "GS1-Conformant Resolver Standard 1.2.1: typed resource discovery from stable GS1 identifiers. Establishes discovery, not execution or entitlement."
  },
  {
   "url": "https://ref.gs1.org/standards/digital-link/uri-syntax/1.7.0/",
   "name": "GS1 Digital Link URI Syntax 1.7.0: Web-addressable product identity that can participate in machine-readable service discovery."
  },
  {
   "url": "https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/blob/main/docs/specification/2026-07-28/server/tools.mdx",
   "name": "Model Context Protocol, Tools, 28 July 2026: the specification carrying the claim that machine-discoverable tool schemas and invocation are a current primitive. One source family with the release note below."
  },
  {
   "url": "https://blog.modelcontextprotocol.io/posts/2026-07-28/",
   "name": "Model Context Protocol, 28 July 2026 release: background for currency and authorisation hardening in the same family, not an independent claim, and not a source for any human-control recommendation."
  },
  {
   "url": "https://developer.ebay.com/api-docs/user-guides/static/trading-user-guide/compatible-parts-api-support.html",
   "name": "eBay Developers, compatible parts API support (Trading): eBay first-party API documentation, interested party. Covers the Trading interface only and does not read across to Browse."
  },
  {
   "url": "https://carconnectivity.org/ccc-digital-key-certifications-surged-in-2025/",
   "name": "CCC Digital Key certifications surged in 2025: industry consortium self-reporting. Source of the 115 certifications figure, which is adoption evidence and not a causal return measure."
  },
  {
   "url": "https://carconnectivity.org/digital-key-use-cases/",
   "name": "CCC Digital Key use cases: industry consortium self-reporting. Bounded architecture for authentication, operation entitlement and secure ranging before access or start."
  }
 ],
 "glossary_terms": [
  "https://activatedigital.ai/knowledge/glossary#digital-product-passport",
  "https://activatedigital.ai/knowledge/glossary#gs1",
  "https://activatedigital.ai/knowledge/glossary#qr-code",
  "https://activatedigital.ai/knowledge/glossary#resolver",
  "https://activatedigital.ai/knowledge/glossary#system-of-record",
  "https://activatedigital.ai/knowledge/glossary#unique-product-identifier"
 ],
 "watch": [],
 "decisions": [],
 "alternates": {
  "html": "https://activatedigital.ai/knowledge/guides/product-identity-api-endpoint",
  "markdown": "https://activatedigital.ai/knowledge/guides/product-identity-api-endpoint.md",
  "json": "https://activatedigital.ai/knowledge/guides/product-identity-api-endpoint.json"
 }
}