Execute AdCP Creative Protocol operations with creative agents - build creatives from briefs or existing assets, preview renderings, and discover format specifications. Use when users want to generate or transform ad creatives, preview how ads will look, or understand creative format requirements.
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Execute AdCP Creative Protocol operations with creative agents - build creatives from briefs or existing assets, preview renderings, and discover format specifications. Use when users want to generate or transform ad creatives, preview how ads will look, or understand creative format requirements.
AdCP Creative Protocol
This skill enables you to execute the AdCP Creative Protocol with creative agents. Use the standard MCP tools (list_creative_formats, build_creative, preview_creative) exposed by the connected agent.
Buyer-side basics — idempotency replay, oneOf variants, async status:'submitted' polling, error recovery from adcp_error.issues[] — live in skills/call-adcp-agent/SKILL.md. This skill covers per-task semantics only.
Overview
The Creative Protocol provides 4 standardized tasks for building and previewing advertising creatives:
Task
Purpose
Response Time
list_creative_formats
View format specifications
~1s
build_creative
Generate or transform creatives
~30s-5m
preview_creative
Get visual previews
~5s
get_creative_delivery
Variant-level delivery data
~5-30s
Typical Workflow
Discover formats: list_creative_formats to see available format specs
: to generate or transform a manifest
Build creative
build_creative
Preview: preview_creative to see how it renders
Sync: Use sync_creatives (media-buy task) to traffic the creative
Canonical formats (AdCP 3.1+)
Products and manifests use the canonical-formats vocabulary — 11 canonical format_kind values that name the underlying creative shape (image / html5 / display_tag / video_hosted / video_vast / audio_hosted / audio_daast / image_carousel / responsive_creative / sponsored_placement / agent_placement / custom).
A ProductFormatDeclaration carries:
format_kind: the canonical (discriminator)
params: per-canonical parameters narrowing the format (dimensions, durations, codecs, char limits, CTA enums, sizes[], etc.)
Optional capability_id: stable identifier for routing when a product carries multiple declarations of the same kind
Optional v1_format_ref: [{agent_url, id}]: always an array — links this v2 declaration to one or more v1 named formats. Multi-size declarations should carry one ref per size in sizes[].
Optional seller_preference: "preferred" | "accepted" | "discouraged": soft routing hint when a product carries multiple format_options
Format shared across many sellers of the same publisher inventory; declares the publisher-authoritative shape once
Product.format_options[] (inline on a product)
Seller-specific narrowing, custom format, or one-off pricing variant. Reference a publisher catalog entry by capability_id when applicable
Placement.format_options[] (capability_id reference OR inline)
Tying a publisher placement to one or more accepted formats
Size flexibility (image / html5 / display_tag): exactly one of three modes — width+height (fixed), sizes: [{w,h}] (multi-size, mirrors OpenRTB banner.format[]), or min_width/max_width/min_height/max_height (responsive).
Community mirror for unadopted platforms: the AAO publishes adagents.json files for unadopted platforms (Meta, TikTok, etc.) at https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org/translated/<platform>/adagents.json. When the request asks "what formats does meta.com support?" the SDK fetches the platform's hosted file first, falls back to the AAO mirror, and surfaces which tier produced the result via the response's source field.
Conversion tracking is NOT a creative-format concern. Pixel-firing, conversion events, and attribution belong on sync_event_sources / event_log (campaign-scoped). Don't stuff pixel_id into platform_extensions on a format declaration.
See docs/creative/canonical-formats.mdx for the full vocabulary, narrowing rules, error-code surface, and worked examples (Meta Reels, IAB display, host-read podcast, generative DSP).
Task Reference
list_creative_formats
Discover creative formats and their specifications.
Request:
{"type":"video","asset_types":["image","text"]}
Key fields:
format_ids (array, optional): Request specific format IDs
type (string, optional): Filter by type: video, display, audio, dooh
asset_types (array, optional): Filter by accepted asset types
is_responsive (boolean, optional): Filter for responsive formats
name_search (string, optional): Search formats by name
Response contains:
formats: Array of format definitions with format_id, name, type, assets_required, renders
creative_agents: Optional array of other creative agents providing additional formats
build_creative
Generate a creative from scratch or transform an existing creative to a different format.
Pure Generation (from brief):
{"message":"Create a banner promoting our winter sale with a warm, inviting feel","target_format_id":{"agent_url":"https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org","id":"display_300x250_generative"},"brand":{"domain":"mybrand.com"}}
Transformation (resize/reformat):
{"message":"Adapt this leaderboard to a 300x250 banner","creative_manifest":{"format_id":{"agent_url":"https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org","id":"display_728x90"},"assets":{"banner_image":{"asset_type":"image","url":"https://cdn.mybrand.com/leaderboard.png","width":728,"height":90},"headline":{"asset_type":"text","content":"Spring Sale - 30% Off"}}},"target_format_id":{"agent_url":"https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org","id":"display_300x250"}}
Key fields:
message (string, optional): Natural language instructions for generation/transformation
creative_manifest (object, optional): Source manifest - minimal for generation, complete for transformation
target_format_id (object, required): Format to generate - { agent_url, id }
Response contains:
creative_manifest: Complete manifest ready for preview_creative or sync_creatives
{"request_type":"single","creative_manifest":{/* includes format_id, assets */},"inputs":[{"name":"Desktop","macros":{"DEVICE_TYPE":"desktop"}},{"name":"Mobile","macros":{"DEVICE_TYPE":"mobile"}}]}
