AdCP Media Buy Protocol

This skill enables you to execute the AdCP Media Buy Protocol with sales agents. Use the standard MCP tools (get_products, create_media_buy, sync_creatives, etc.) exposed by the connected agent.

Overview

The Media Buy Protocol provides 8 standardized tasks for managing advertising campaigns:

Typical Workflow

1. Discover products: get_products with a natural language brief
2. Review formats: list_creative_formats to understand creative requirements
3. Create campaign: create_media_buy with selected products and budget
4. Upload creatives: sync_creatives to add creative assets
5. Monitor delivery: get_media_buy_delivery to track performance

Task Reference

get_products

Discover advertising products using natural language briefs.

Request:

{
  "brief": "Looking for premium video inventory for a tech brand targeting developers",
  "brand_manifest": {
    "url": "https://example.com"
  },
  "filters": {
    "channels": ["video", "ctv"],
    "budget_range": { "min": 5000, "max": 50000 }
  }
}

Key fields: - brief (string): Natural language description of campaign requirements - brand_manifest (object): Brand context - can be { "url": "https://..." } or inline manifest - filters (object, optional): Filter by channels, budget, delivery_type, format_types

Response contains: - products: Array of matching products with product_id, name, description, pricing_options - Each product includes format_ids (supported creative formats) and targeting (available targeting)

list_authorized_properties

Get the list of publisher properties this agent can sell.

Request:

{}

No parameters required.

Response contains: - publisher_domains: Array of domain strings the agent is authorized to sell

list_creative_formats

View supported creative specifications.

Request:

{
  "format_types": ["video", "display"]
}

Key fields: - format_types (array, optional): Filter to specific format categories

Response contains: - formats: Array of format specifications with dimensions, requirements, and asset schemas

create_media_buy

Create an advertising campaign from selected products.

Request:

{
  "buyer_ref": "campaign-2024-q1-001",
  "brand_manifest": {
    "url": "https://acme.com",
    "name": "Acme Corporation"
  },
  "packages": [
    {
      "buyer_ref": "pkg-video-001",
      "product_id": "premium_video_30s",
      "pricing_option_id": "cpm-standard",
      "budget": 10000
    }
  ],
  "start_time": {
    "type": "asap"
  },
  "end_time": "2024-03-31T23:59:59Z"
}

Key fields: - buyer_ref (string, required): Your unique identifier for this campaign - brand_manifest (object, required): Brand identity - URL or inline manifest - packages (array, required): Products to purchase, each with: - buyer_ref: Your identifier for this package - product_id: From get_products response - pricing_option_id: From product's pricing_options - budget: Amount in dollars - bid_price: Required for auction pricing - targeting_overlay: Additional targeting constraints - creative_ids or creatives: Creative assignments - start_time (object, required): { "type": "asap" } or { "type": "scheduled", "datetime": "..." } - end_time (string, required): ISO 8601 datetime

Response contains: - media_buy_id: The created campaign identifier - status: Current state (often pending for async approval) - packages: Created packages with their IDs

update_media_buy

Modify an existing campaign.

Request:

{
  "media_buy_id": "mb_abc123",
  "updates": {
    "budget_change": 5000,
    "end_time": "2024-04-30T23:59:59Z",
    "status": "paused"
  }
}

Key fields: - media_buy_id (string, required): The campaign to update - updates (object): Changes to apply - budget_change, end_time, status, targeting, etc.

sync_creatives

Upload and manage creative assets.

Request:

{
  "creatives": [
    {
      "creative_id": "hero_video_30s",
      "name": "Brand Hero Video",
      "format_id": {
        "agent_url": "https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org",
        "id": "video_standard_30s"
      },
      "assets": {
        "video": {
          "url": "https://cdn.example.com/hero.mp4",
          "width": 1920,
          "height": 1080,
          "duration_ms": 30000
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "assignments": {
    "hero_video_30s": ["pkg_001", "pkg_002"]
  }
}

Key fields: - creatives (array, required): Creative assets to sync - creative_id: Your unique identifier - format_id: Object with agent_url and id from format specifications - assets: Asset content (video, image, html, etc.) - assignments (object, optional): Map creative_id to package IDs - dry_run (boolean): Preview changes without applying - delete_missing (boolean): Archive creatives not in this sync

list_creatives

Query the creative library with filtering.

Request:

{
  "filters": {
    "status": ["active"],
    "format_types": ["video"]
  },
  "limit": 20
}

get_media_buy_delivery

Retrieve performance metrics for a campaign.

Request:

{
  "media_buy_id": "mb_abc123",
  "granularity": "daily",
  "date_range": {
    "start": "2024-01-01",
    "end": "2024-01-31"
  }
}

Response contains: - delivery: Aggregated metrics (impressions, spend, clicks, etc.) - by_package: Breakdown by package - timeseries: Data points over time if granularity specified

Key Concepts

Brand Manifest

Brand context can be provided in two ways:

1. URL reference (recommended):

{
  "brand_manifest": {
    "url": "https://brand.com"
  }
}

2. Inline manifest:

{
  "brand_manifest": {
    "name": "Brand Name",
    "url": "https://brand.com",
    "tagline": "Brand tagline",
    "colors": { "primary": "#FF0000" }
  }
}

Format IDs

Creative format identifiers are structured objects:

{
  "format_id": {
    "agent_url": "https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org",
    "id": "display_300x250"
  }
}

The agent_url specifies which creative agent defines the format. Use https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org for standard IAB formats.

Pricing Options

Products include pricing_options array. Each option has: - pricing_option_id: Use this in create_media_buy - pricing_model: "cpm", "cpm-auction", "flat-fee", etc. - price: Base price (for fixed pricing) - floor: Minimum bid (for auction)

For auction pricing, include bid_price in your package.

Asynchronous Operations

Operations like create_media_buy and sync_creatives may require human approval. The response includes: - status: "pending" - Operation awaiting approval - task_id - For tracking async progress

Poll or use webhooks to check completion status.

Error Handling

Common error patterns:

• 400 Bad Request: Invalid parameters - check required fields
• 401 Unauthorized: Invalid or missing authentication token
• 404 Not Found: Invalid product_id, media_buy_id, or creative_id
• 422 Validation Error: Schema validation failure - check field types

Error responses include:

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "VALIDATION_ERROR",
      "message": "budget must be greater than 0",
      "field": "packages[0].budget"
    }
  ]
}

Testing Mode

For testing without real transactions, agents may support: - X-Dry-Run: true header - Preview without side effects - Test products with test: true flag - Sandbox environments

Ask the agent about testing capabilities before creating real campaigns.