Task Reference

AdCP media buy task reference — all tasks for product discovery, campaign creation, delivery reporting, creatives, audiences, and conversion tracking with schemas and examples.

Complete reference for all AdCP Media Buy tasks. Each task is designed for AI agents to automate specific parts of the advertising workflow.

All Tasks Overview

Task	Purpose	Response Time	Phase
get_products	Discover inventory and refine products	~60s	Discovery
create_media_buy	Create campaigns from selected products	Minutes-Days	Media Buys
update_media_buy	Modify campaign settings and budgets	Minutes-Days	Media Buys
list_creative_formats	View supported creative specifications	~1s	Capability
sync_catalogs	Sync catalog feeds (products, stores, inventory)	Minutes-Days	Catalogs
sync_creatives	Upload and manage creative assets	Minutes-Days	Creatives
list_creatives	Query creative library with filtering	~1s	Creatives
get_media_buys	Retrieve media buy status, creative approvals, and delivery snapshots	~1s	Monitoring
get_media_buy_delivery	Retrieve performance and delivery data	~60s	Reporting
provide_performance_feedback	Submit performance signals for optimization	~1s	Optimization
sync_event_sources	Configure event sources for conversion tracking	~1s	Conversion Tracking
log_event	Send marketing events for attribution	~1s	Conversion Tracking
sync_audiences	Upload and manage first-party CRM audiences	Minutes-Days	Audiences

Response Time Categories

AdCP tasks fall into four response time categories:

🟢 Instant (~1 second)

Simple lookups and event ingestion

• list_creative_formats - Format specifications
• list_creatives - Creative library queries
• get_media_buys - Media buy status and creative approvals
• provide_performance_feedback - Performance signal submission
• sync_event_sources - Event source configuration
• log_event - Event ingestion

🟡 Processing (~60 seconds)

AI/LLM inference with backend systems

• get_products - Natural language product discovery and refinement
• get_media_buy_delivery - Performance data aggregation

🟠 Asynchronous (Minutes to Days)

Complex operations with potential human approval

• create_media_buy - Campaign creation and validation
• update_media_buy - Campaign modifications
• sync_catalogs - Catalog feed processing and review
• sync_creatives - Creative asset processing
• sync_audiences - Audience matching and processing

Task Categories by Workflow

Account Management

Before placing media buys, establish a commercial relationship with the seller. These tasks are shared across all vendor protocols and live in the Commerce Protocol section:

• sync_accounts - Declare brand/operator pairs and billing; seller provisions accounts
• list_accounts - Check account status and retrieve active account_id values

Discovery & Planning

Start here to understand what’s available and plan your campaign.

• get_adcp_capabilities - Discover agent capabilities, portfolio, and supported features (protocol-level task)
• get_products - The core discovery task using natural language briefs
• list_creative_formats - Understand creative requirements

Media Buy Management

Create and manage your advertising campaigns.

• create_media_buy - Create campaigns from discovered products
• update_media_buy - Modify budgets, targeting, and settings

Catalog Management

Sync product feeds, inventory, and store data to seller accounts.

• sync_catalogs - Push catalog feeds with platform review and approval

Creative Management

Handle creative assets throughout their lifecycle.

• sync_creatives - Upload assets to an agent-hosted creative library
• list_creatives - Search and manage your creative library (creative protocol)

Performance & Optimization

Monitor and optimize campaign performance.

• get_media_buys - Check campaign status, creative approvals, and near-real-time delivery snapshots
• get_media_buy_delivery - Track delivery and performance metrics for reporting
• provide_performance_feedback - Submit performance signals for publisher optimization

Conversion Tracking

Configure event sources and send marketing events for attribution.

• sync_event_sources - Configure event sources on seller accounts
• log_event - Send marketing events for attribution

Audience Management

Upload and manage first-party CRM audiences for targeting.

• sync_audiences - Upload hashed customer lists and check matching status

Schema Reference

All tasks include JSON schema definitions for requests and responses:

• Request Schemas: /schemas/v3/media-buy/[task-name]-request.json
• Response Schemas: /schemas/v3/media-buy/[task-name]-response.json

Task Management: For tracking async operations across all AdCP domains, see Task Lifecycle.

Schemas are accessible at runtime via the documentation server for validation and tooling.

Common Patterns

Task Naming Conventions

Task names use snake_case and follow verb-first semantics consistently across Media Buy:

• get_*: Retrieve current state or scoped datasets (for example get_products, get_media_buys, get_media_buy_delivery)
• list_*: Enumerate collections with optional filtering (for example list_creative_formats, list_creatives)
• create_*: Create new resources (create_media_buy)
• update_*: Apply partial updates to existing resources (update_media_buy)
• sync_*: Reconcile external state into seller systems with upsert-like behavior (sync_catalogs, sync_creatives, sync_event_sources)
• log_*: Ingest append-only event records (log_event)
• provide_*: Submit optimization or feedback signals (provide_performance_feedback)

Error Handling

All tasks follow consistent error patterns with:

• HTTP status codes for different error types
• Structured error messages with context
• Retry guidance for transient failures

Authentication

Tasks require proper authentication via:

• API keys for service-to-service calls
• Principal context for multi-tenant operations
• Permission validation for resource access

Asynchronous Operations

Long-running tasks provide:

• Immediate response with operation ID
• Status polling endpoints for progress
• Webhook notifications for completion

Getting Started

1. Discover Capabilities: Use get_adcp_capabilities to understand what the agent supports
2. Find Inventory: Use get_products to find relevant inventory
3. Refine Products: Re-call get_products with buying_mode: "refine" to iterate on budgets, pricing, and targeting
4. Understand Formats: Check list_creative_formats for requirements
5. Sync Catalogs: Use sync_catalogs to push product feeds to the account
6. Upload Creatives: Use sync_creatives for asset management
7. Create Campaign: Use create_media_buy with selected products
8. Check Operational State: Use get_media_buys for status, approvals, and missing formats
9. Monitor Performance: Track reporting metrics with get_media_buy_delivery

For reporting and reconciliation, treat get_media_buy_delivery as the authoritative, billing-grade source. Use get_media_buys snapshots for operational monitoring only.

Related Documentation

• Product Discovery - Natural language inventory discovery
• Media Buys - Campaign lifecycle management
• Creatives - Creative asset management
• Advanced Topics - Targeting, security, and architecture