adcp-creative

name	adcp-creative
description	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 get_adcp_capabilities, list_transformers, build_creative, and preview_creative exposed by the connected agent. In AdCP 3.2, list_creative_formats is deprecated and must not drive a new workflow.

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 standardized discovery, build, and preview tasks:

Task	Purpose	Response Time
get_adcp_capabilities	Discover canonical creative capabilities	~1s
list_transformers	Discover selectable production services	~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

1. Discover capabilities: read get_adcp_capabilities.creative.supported_formats[]
2. Build creative: build_creative to generate or transform a manifest
3. Preview: preview_creative to see how it renders
4. Sync: Use sync_creatives (media-buy task) to traffic the creative

---

Canonical formats (AdCP 3.2)

Products and manifests use 12 canonical format_kind values: image, html5, display_tag, image_carousel, video_hosted, video_vast, audio_hosted, audio_daast, sponsored_placement, native_in_feed, responsive_creative, and agent_placement. Use custom only for a shape outside those canonicals, with required format_shape and format_schema.

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 format_option_id: stable product/publisher option identifier when declarations need routing
• 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

Where to declare a format:

Where	When to use
adagents.json top-level formats[] (publisher catalog)	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 accepted set. Reference a publisher declaration with {publisher_domain, format_option_id} when applicable
Placement.format_options[] (format_option_id reference or inline)	Tying a publisher placement to accepted publisher formats
get_adcp_capabilities.creative.supported_formats[]	What a creative agent can build, validate, or preview; every entry has an agent-local capability_id

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).

Publisher catalog resolution: call GET https://agenticadvertising.org/api/registry/publisher?domain=<publisher_domain> for the complete publisher-origin → AgenticAdvertising.org community-catalog → fail-closed resolution order and provenance. Add &include=placements for provenance-labeled placement summaries with resolved canonical format options. The top-level formats[] remains a lossy display summary; fetch the raw URL returned in files.adagents_json.registry_url or hosting.resolved_url / hosting.expected_url for custom-format validation and omitted declaration fields. Do not synthesize publisher authority from a sales or creative agent.

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

get_adcp_capabilities

Discover this creative agent's canonical operations.

Request:

{ "protocols": ["creative"] }

Response contains:

• creative.supported_formats[]: entries with stable, catalog-unique capability_id, canonical format, and operations; preview support is declared by operations containing preview
• capability flags such as supports_generation and supports_transformers

---

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_capability_id": "winter_banner_300x250",
  "idempotency_key": "1db179c8-09c8-4eb3-9b96-ae741acdaf1f",
  "brand": {
    "domain": "mybrand.com"
  }
}

Transformation (resize/reformat):

{
  "message": "Adapt this leaderboard to a 300x250 banner",
  "creative_manifest": {
    "format_kind": "image",
    "assets": {
      "image_main": {
        "asset_type": "image",
        "url": "https://cdn.mybrand.com/leaderboard.png",
        "width": 728,
        "height": 90
      },
      "landing_page_url": {
        "asset_type": "url",
        "url": "https://mybrand.com/spring-sale"
      }
    }
  },
  "target_capability_id": "banner_resize_300x250",
  "idempotency_key": 

Key fields:

• message (string, optional): Natural language instructions for generation/transformation
• creative_manifest (object, optional): Source manifest - minimal for generation, complete for transformation
• target_capability_id (string): One output advertised by this agent; use target_capability_ids[] for multiple outputs

Response contains:

• creative_manifest: Complete manifest ready for preview_creative or sync_creatives

---

preview_creative

Generate visual previews of creative manifests.

Single preview:

{
  "request_type": "single",
  "creative_manifest": {
    "format_kind": "image",
    "assets": {
      "image_main": {
        "asset_type": "image",
        "url": "https://cdn.example.com/banner.png",
        "width": 300,
        "height": 250
      }
    }
  }
}

With device variants:

{
  "request_type": "single",
  "creative_manifest": { /* includes format_kind, assets */ },
  "inputs": [
    { "name": "Desktop", "macros": { "DEVICE_TYPE": "desktop" } },
    { "name": "Mobile", "macros": { "DEVICE_TYPE": "mobile" } }
  ]
}

Batch preview (5-10x faster):

{
  "request_type": "batch",
  "requests": [
    { "creative_manifest": { /* creative 1 */ } },
    { "creative_manifest": { /* creative 2 */ } }
  ]
}

Key fields:

• request_type (string, required): "single" or "batch"
• creative_manifest (object, required): Complete creative manifest
• inputs (array, optional): Generate variants with different macros/contexts
• output_format (string, optional): "url" (default) or "html"

Response contains:

• previews: Array of preview objects with preview_url or preview_html
• expires_at: When preview URLs expire

---

get_creative_delivery

Retrieve variant-level creative delivery data from a creative agent. Returns what was generated, served, and how each variant performed.

Request:

{
  "media_buy_ids": ["mb_abc123"],
  "start_date": "2025-01-01",
  "end_date": "2025-01-31",
  "max_variants": 10
}

Key fields:

• media_buy_ids (array, optional): Filter to specific media buys
• creative_ids (array, optional): Filter to specific creatives
• start_date, end_date (string, optional): Delivery period (YYYY-MM-DD)
• max_variants (integer, optional): Max variants per creative (useful for generative creatives)
• account (object, optional): Account for routing and scoping

At least one scoping filter (media_buy_ids or creative_ids) is required.

Response contains:

• creatives: Array with variant-level delivery data
  • variant_id: Unique variant identifier (use in preview_creative with request_type: "variant")
  • generation_context: What triggered this variant (page topic, device, etc.)
  • delivery_metrics: Impressions, clicks, completions
  • ext: Platform engagement metrics (likes, shares, comments)

---

Key Concepts

Capability IDs and canonical manifests

A creative agent's capability_id is a local operation selector:

{
  "target_capability_id": "winter_banner_300x250"
}

It is never copied into a product or manifest. The resulting manifest is portable and carries the canonical format contract:

Creative Manifests

Manifests pair format specifications with actual assets:

{
  "format_kind": "image",
  "assets": {
    "banner_image": {
      "asset_type": "image",
      "url": "https://cdn.example.com/banner.png",
      "width": 300,
      "height": 250
    },
    "headline": {
      "asset_type": "text",
      "content": "Shop Now"
    },
    "clickthrough_url": {
      "asset_type": "url",
      "url": "https://brand.com/sale"
    }
  }
}

Asset Types

Common asset types:

• image: Static images (JPEG, PNG, WebP)
• video: Video files (MP4, WebM) or VAST tags
• audio: Audio files (MP3, M4A) or DAAST tags
• text: Headlines, descriptions, CTAs
• html: HTML5 creatives or third-party tags
• javascript: JavaScript tags
• url: Tracking pixels, clickthrough URLs

Brand identity

For generative creatives, provide brand context by domain:

{
  "brand": {
    "domain": "acmecorp.com"
  }
}

The agent resolves the domain to retrieve the brand's identity (name, colors, guidelines, etc.) from its brand.json file.

Generative vs Transformation

• Pure Generation: Provide target_capability_id, brand, and a natural language message. The creative agent generates all output assets from scratch.
• Transformation: Complete manifest with existing assets. Creative agent adapts to target format, following message guidance.

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Error Handling

Common error patterns:

• 400 Bad Request: Invalid manifest or capability selector
• 404 Not Found: Capability not supported by this agent
• 422 Validation Error: Manifest doesn't match format requirements

Error responses include:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "FORMAT_NOT_SUPPORTED",
    "message": "target_capability_id is not advertised by this creative agent"
  }
}