◎ Discry Score
xero.com
payments · API
C
0 / 100
DISCOVERY0
COMPREHENSION0
Category leader: 94 (A)
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PAYMENTS · RANK #18 OF 25

Xero is Needs Work to agents.

Discry independently scored how well an AI agent can discover and understand the Xero API from what’s public — not whether it’s usable. Below: every signal we checked, what’s costing the score, and what to change.

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SCORED UNDER RUBRIC 1.2 · A full re-launch under Discry Score 2.5 — a new behavioral instrument, not comparable to these scores — is in progress.

Discovery

45% of score · 48/100
OpenAPI specA machine-readable OpenAPI/Swagger spec agents can parse.Pass
llms.txtAn llms.txt index that points agents to the docs that matter.Fail
llms.txt qualityThe llms.txt is focused, current, and well under the size budget.Fail
llms-full.txtA full-text bundle agents can load in one request.Fail
AGENTS.mdAn AGENTS.md that tells coding agents how to build on the API.Fail
.well-known/mcp.jsonA discoverable MCP manifest at a well-known path.Fail
MCP registryThe API is listed in a public MCP registry.Pass
robots.txt AI directivesrobots.txt allows (or explicitly guides) AI crawlers.Pass
SitemapA sitemap so agents can enumerate the docs surface.Partial

Comprehension

55% of score · 72/100
Task-oriented descriptionsEndpoints described by what they accomplish, not just their shape.Pass
Realistic examplesRunnable, real-world request/response examples.Partial
Multi-step workflowsDocs that chain calls into complete jobs an agent can follow.Partial
Error-recovery guidanceDocumented failure modes and how to recover from them.Partial
Answer-first formatThe answer leads; preamble does not bury it.Pass
Capability boundariesClear limits — what the API can and cannot do.Pass
Naming consistencyConsistent, predictable naming across endpoints.Pass
Heading hierarchyClean heading structure agents can navigate.Pass
Markdown docsDocs available as clean markdown, not JS-rendered HTML only.Partial
Token efficiencyDocs are concise enough to fit an agent context window.Partial

What we found

  • Xero maintains a well-organized OpenAPI spec at github.com/XeroAPI/Xero-OpenAPI covering accounting, payroll, and other APIs
  • An official XeroAPI MCP server exists on both Glama and PulseMCP for contact management, invoice creation, and chart of accounts
  • Documentation is task-oriented with clear endpoint descriptions for accounting operations
  • The developer portal has no llms.txt or AI-specific discovery signals despite strong API documentation quality
  • Multiple community MCP servers exist across all three major registries (Glama, PulseMCP, Smithery)

What to change

Prioritized by impact on discoverability. You (or your docs platform) deploy these — Discry never touches your API.

  1. 01Add llms.txt covering core accounting API workflows (invoicing, payments, contacts)
  2. 02Create llms-full.txt with comprehensive API documentation in markdown format
  3. 03Add AGENTS.md to XeroAPI GitHub org with guidance for AI coding agents
  4. 04Add .well-known/mcp.json pointing to the official Xero MCP server
  5. 05Improve code examples with realistic values and multiple language support

Execution coverage · INFORMATIONAL, UNSCORED

Whether an agent can actually complete a call and recover from errors is the deeper Audit layer — documented here, but not part of the Discry Score.

OAuth2✓ Error format documented✓ Rate limits documented✓ Pagination documented✕ Idempotency documented

Xero uses OAuth 2.0 exclusively. JSON error responses documented. API limits documented with rate limiting details. Pagination supported. No idempotency keys documented.

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