Books, media and digital products: downloads, editions, ISBNs and what an agent can and cannot deliver Free & Pro

Books and media are the easiest products to describe in words and the ones customers most often ask for by an exact identifier. "Get me the paperback of that, the new edition" is a request an agent can carry out at a store running Agent Adapt, if the identifiers are where it looks. Digital products add one wrinkle: the agent can sell them, so to speak, but it cannot hand over the file. This page is for bookshops, record shops and digital stores on WooCommerce, with facts from the plugin as it ships on 13 October 2026.

What customers will ask their assistant

• "Find the hardback of the book I bought as an ebook last year."
• "Order ISBN 978-…"
• "Is the vinyl in stock, and is it the 180 g pressing?"
• "Where’s my download?"

Identifiers

The agent matches search terms against product titles and SKUs. Put the ISBN, the catalogue number or the barcode in the SKU, and the agent finds it exactly. Put the author, format and edition in the title: "The Lighthouse Keepers, Paperback, 2nd edition". Formats (hardback, paperback, ebook, audio) can be variations with the attribute "Format", and stock is read per variation; or separate products, which is better when the ebook needs different handling.

Descriptions carry the blurb, the page count, the publisher, the language and the pressing details for records. The agent reads up to 5,000 characters of description and does not read cover images.

Digital and downloadable products

An agent can put a downloadable product in the cart and hand the customer a checkout link; the customer pays on your checkout and receives the download the way they always have, by email and in My Account → Downloads. The download link is not part of the agent API, and the agent cannot fetch the file. When the customer asks their assistant "where’s my download?", the honest answer the assistant can give is the order’s status and where WooCommerce puts the link.

Reordering a digital product is possible but usually pointless; your download limits and expiry rules are unchanged.

Virtual products and courses

Courses sold through WooCommerce as virtual products work the same way: the agent sells access, the customer pays, and your course plugin grants access as it does now. Agents cannot enrol a customer or see course progress. Membership plugins are the same; see Subscriptions and memberships.

Pre-orders and signed copies

A product that is not purchasable is reported as such. Pre-order plugins are untested through the agent API; say the publication date in the description regardless. Signed copies and personalised dedications that need a text field on the product page are not part of the API; see Print on demand for the same limit.

Returns

Your returns page is sent as plain text. Say that digital products cannot be returned once downloaded, if that is your rule, and what you do about damaged physical copies. With Pro, an agent can send a return request on a completed order within your return window; it adds a note and emails you and refunds nothing until you act.

Stores not on WooCommerce

Many digital stores run Easy Digital Downloads or SureCart on WordPress without WooCommerce. The Agent Adapt plugin needs WooCommerce; see WordPress without WooCommerce for the route that serves a provider’s document on your domain.

What to set up

1. ISBNs, catalogue numbers and barcodes in SKUs.
2. Author, format and edition in titles.
3. Blurbs, specifications and pressing details in descriptions.
4. Format variations named plainly, or separate products per format.
5. A returns page that states the digital-goods rule.

Common questions

Can the agent read a sample chapter?

Only if it is text in the description. Files and images are not part of the API.

Can it send the ebook to my device?

No. The download comes from your store to the customer as it does now.

Does it see my reviews?

It can sort by rating or popularity. Review text is not sent.

Can it buy a gift card?

Gift card products from gift-card plugins are untested through the agent API. A simple gift card product with a fixed price is an ordinary product; one that needs a recipient field on the product page is not supported.