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.

Overview

The Creative Protocol provides 3 standardized tasks for building and previewing advertising creatives:

Typical Workflow

1. •Discover formats: list_creative_formats to see available format specs
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

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
• •max_width, max_height (integer, optional): Dimension constraints
• •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"
  },
  "creative_manifest": {
    "format_id": {
      "agent_url": "https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org",
      "id": "display_300x250_generative"
    },
    "assets": {
      "promoted_offerings": {
        "brand_manifest": {
          "url": "https://mybrand.com",
          "name": "My Brand",
          "colors": { "primary": "#FF5733" }
        },
        "inline_offerings": [
          {
            "name": "Winter Sale Collection",
            "description": "50% off all winter items"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

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

preview_creative

Generate visual previews of creative manifests.

Single preview:

{
  "request_type": "single",
  "format_id": {
    "agent_url": "https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org",
    "id": "display_300x250"
  },
  "creative_manifest": {
    "format_id": {
      "agent_url": "https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org",
      "id": "display_300x250"
    },
    "assets": {
      "banner_image": {
        "asset_type": "image",
        "url": "https://cdn.example.com/banner.png",
        "width": 300,
        "height": 250
      }
    }
  }
}

With device variants:

{
  "request_type": "single",
  "format_id": { "agent_url": "...", "id": "native_responsive" },
  "creative_manifest": { /* ... */ },
  "inputs": [
    { "name": "Desktop", "macros": { "DEVICE_TYPE": "desktop" } },
    { "name": "Mobile", "macros": { "DEVICE_TYPE": "mobile" } }
  ]
}

Batch preview (5-10x faster):

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

Key fields:

• •request_type (string, required): "single" or "batch"
• •format_id (object, required for single): Format identifier
• •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

Key Concepts

Format IDs

All format references use structured objects:

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

The agent_url specifies the creative agent authoritative for this format.

Creative Manifests

Manifests pair format specifications with actual assets:

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

For generative creatives, provide brand context:

{
  "brand_manifest": {
    "url": "https://brand.com",
    "name": "Brand Name",
    "colors": { "primary": "#FF0000", "secondary": "#0000FF" }
  }
}

Generative vs Transformation

• •Pure Generation: Minimal manifest with promoted_offerings in assets. Creative agent generates all output assets from scratch.
• •Transformation: Complete manifest with existing assets. Creative agent adapts to target format, following message guidance.

Error Handling

Common error patterns:

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

Error responses include:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "INVALID_FORMAT_ID",
    "message": "format_id must be a structured object with 'agent_url' and 'id' fields"
  }
}