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Introducing SKU.md v0.8 draft

A practical overview of the publisher-owned product context layer, its document family, and its trust boundaries.

Published July 29, 2026

Original specification version: v0.8

A publisher-owned context layer

Commerce information is spread across storefront pages, structured data, feeds, sitemaps, policies, and live APIs. SKU.md gives a publisher one Markdown entry point that explains where those sources are and what each one is authoritative for.

It does not replace Product JSON-LD, merchant feeds, MCP, UCP, or checkout APIs. It connects those surfaces so an automated consumer can discover them without guessing.

What the v0.8 draft organizes

The draft separates a root catalog_manifest from optional partition indexes and product documents. The smallest manifest-basic profile can publish identity, language, knowledge, and catalog entry points without pretending to offer live commerce capabilities.

Product documents can add sourced product facts and an offer snapshot. Facts that can change at decision time still need live verification.

Publisher facts, consumer decisions

A publisher can state what it knows, where a fact came from, and when it was verified. A consumer still decides whether that evidence is sufficient for its task. SKU.md does not grant permission, guarantee freshness, rank a merchant, or make checkout safe by itself.

Start with the smallest honest document

Begin with manifest-basic, link the catalog surfaces that already exist, and keep volatile claims out of static prose. Add richer documents only when there is real source material and a clear consumer need.