Distribution channels - Darwin

Channels distribute controlled projections of the same Supply business and catalog. They do not create a second source of truth.

Channel	Protocol	Current status	Primary requirement
Darwin network	Darwin API	Available	Active seller profile and eligible listings.
ChatGPT	ACP	Preview	Valid feed and checkout behavior, policy review, and provider approval.
Gemini	UCP	Preview	Verified profile, supported capabilities, merchant and payment readiness, and provider approval.
AI clients	MCP	Preview	Production MCP deployment, Darwin OAuth, and scoped tool verification.

Readiness model

Each channel reports a set of technical and business checks. Ready means the known Darwin-side prerequisites pass. Awaiting approval means an external provider decision is still required. Only a verified production connection can report Live.

Source-of-truth rule

Edit business and catalog data in Darwin Supply. Channel adapters should preserve Darwin identifiers, revisions, and provenance so retries remain idempotent and reconciliation can explain every external projection.

ACP and ChatGPT

Understand discovery-feed and agentic-checkout release gates.

UCP and Gemini

Understand profile, capability, merchant, payment, and order readiness.