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Before you can effectively buy advertising through AdCP, you need to understand two fundamental capabilities: what creative formats are supported and which properties sales agents are authorized to represent. This section covers the tools and concepts that form the foundation of AdCP’s advertising ecosystem.

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What You’ll Learn

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Implementing Standard Format Support 🎨

Learn how sales agents can support standard creative formats through the reference creative agent. Learn how to:
  • Reference standard IAB formats without replicating them
  • Implement custom formats for unique inventory
  • Use format ID namespacing to prevent conflicts
  • Combine standard and custom format support
  • Validate format compatibility with advertising products
  • Leverage the Standard Creative Agent for standard formats
  • Work with publisher-specific creative agents for custom formats

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Understanding Authorization 🔐

Learn how AdCP prevents unauthorized resale and ensures sales agents are legitimate. Understand:
  • The problem of unauthorized resale in digital advertising
  • How publishers authorize sales agents via adagents.json
  • How to validate sales agent authorization before purchasing
  • Property tags and large-scale authorization management
Cross-Protocol Foundation: The adagents.json authorization system applies across ALL AdCP protocols (Media Buy, Signals, and future Curation). See the adagents.json specification for complete implementation details.

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Foundation Tasks

These capability discovery tasks provide the reference data needed for effective AdCP workflows:

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get_adcp_capabilities

The primary capability discovery task. Returns protocol versions, supported features, portfolio information, and governance capabilities in a single call. Use this as your first interaction with any AdCP agent.

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list_creative_formats

Discover all supported creative formats with detailed specifications including dimensions, file types, duration limits, and technical requirements.

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Integration Pattern

Capability discovery typically happens early in your AdCP workflow:
  1. Discover Capabilities: Call get_adcp_capabilities to learn what the agent supports
  2. Understand Formats: Call list_creative_formats to learn supported creative types
  3. Validate Authorization: Check the media_buy.portfolio from capabilities, then verify via publisher adagents.json
  4. Discover Products: Search for advertising inventory with get_products
  5. Plan Creatives: Match discovered products to available formats for production planning
  6. Execute Campaigns: Create media buys with confidence in format compatibility and authorization

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Why This Matters

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Creative Formats

  • Production Planning: Know requirements before creating assets
  • Creative Agents: Leverage AI-powered agents to build and validate creatives
  • Platform Compatibility: Ensure creatives work across advertising platforms
  • Cost Efficiency: Avoid recreating assets due to specification mismatches
  • Quality Assurance: Meet technical standards for optimal performance
  • Preview Capabilities: Test creative rendering before campaign launch

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Authorized Properties

  • Fraud Prevention: Avoid unauthorized sellers and inventory fraud
  • Brand Safety: Ensure you’re buying from legitimate property owners
  • Legal Compliance: Maintain clear audit trails of authorized transactions
  • Trust Building: Create confidence in the advertising supply chain
Together, these capabilities provide the foundation for safe, efficient, and effective advertising through AdCP.