v3 readiness checklist

The 8 minimum requirements for seller agents to pass AdCP v3 integration testing. Comply testing will fail without these.

v3 readiness checklist

AdCP comply testing requires v3 protocol support. Agents that only support v2 will fail. This page covers the minimum changes to unblock integration testing with v3 buyers — not the full migration. For the complete list, see the migration guide.

Comply testing will hard-fail any agent that does not declare v3 support. Complete these 8 items first, then work through the full migration checklist.

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1. Implement get_adcp_capabilities

v3 buyers call this task first to discover what your agent supports. Without it, buyers cannot determine your protocol version, supported channels, pricing models, or features.

This is the single most important change — it’s how buyers (and comply testing) distinguish v3 agents from v2.

Return at minimum: major_versions: [3], supported_protocols, and your features object.

get_adcp_capabilities reference

Task specification and response schema.

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2. Update channel taxonomy

v3 replaces v2’s 9 channels with 20 planning-oriented channels. Buyers send v3 channel values — your agent must recognize them.

Common v2 value	v3 replacement
video	olv, linear_tv, or cinema
audio	radio or streaming_audio
native	Removed — native inventory is now part of display
retail	retail_media

display, social, ctv, podcast, and dooh are unchanged.

Channel migration

Complete mapping table and examples.

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3. Rename pricing fields

Two field renames — same semantics, different names:

v2 field	v3 field
fixed_rate	fixed_price
price_guidance.floor	floor_price (top-level)

Buyers validate against v3 schemas. The old field names cause schema validation failures.

Pricing migration

Before/after examples and price guidance restructuring.

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4. Support creative_assignments

creative_ids (string array) is replaced by creative_assignments (object array) with delivery weighting and placement targeting.

// v2
{ "creative_ids": ["cr_001", "cr_002"] }

// v3
{ "creative_assignments": [
    { "creative_id": "cr_001", "weight": 70 },
    { "creative_id": "cr_002", "weight": 30 }
  ]
}

Creatives migration

Weighted assignments, placement targeting, and asset discovery.

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5. Accept brand ref instead of brand_manifest

Buyers pass brand identity as a reference ({ domain, brand_id }) instead of an inline manifest. Your agent resolves brand data from brand.json or the registry at execution time.

// v2
{ "brand_manifest": { "name": "Acme", "logo": "..." } }

// v3
{ "brand": { "domain": "acme.example.com", "brand_id": "acme_main" } }

Brand identity migration

BrandRef schema, resolution flow, and migration steps.

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6. Handle buying_mode on get_products

buying_mode is now required on every get_products request. Your agent must accept and handle it. The three modes are browse, brief, and refine.

get_products reference

Full request schema including buying_mode.

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7. Remove buyer_ref — use idempotency_key

v3 removes buyer_ref, buyer_campaign_ref, and campaign_ref from all requests and responses. Seller-assigned media_buy_id and package_id are now the only canonical identifiers.

If your agent relied on buyer_ref for deduplication, use the new idempotency_key field instead. Buyers include an idempotency_key (UUID v4) on all mutating requests (create_media_buy, update_media_buy, sync_creatives). Your agent must use it for at-most-once execution.

If your agent used buyer_ref for internal tracking or correlation (e.g. mapping to campaign IDs, session traces, or UI state), use the context field instead. context is an opaque object echoed unchanged in every response and webhook — agents must never parse or act on it.

v2 field	v3 replacement
buyer_ref	Removed — use media_buy_id (seller-assigned)
buyer_campaign_ref	Removed
campaign_ref	Removed
buyer_ref as implicit dedup	Explicit idempotency_key on mutating requests
buyer_ref as correlation / tracking	context (opaque, echoed unchanged)

// v2 — buyer provides their own ref
{ "buyer_ref": "camp-2024-q3", "start_time": "..." }

// v3 — seller-assigned ID, explicit idempotency, context for tracking
{
  "idempotency_key": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "context": { "campaign": "camp-2024-q3", "trace_id": "abc-123" },
  "start_time": "..."
}

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8. Implement sync_accounts

v3 buyers establish billing relationships before placing buys. Your agent must accept sync_accounts calls and return an account reference that buyers include on subsequent requests.

Accounts Protocol

Account provisioning, lifecycle, and the sync_accounts task.

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After these 8 items

Once these are in place, run comply testing against your agent. The existing tracks (products, media buy, creative) validate v3 schemas in detail and will surface any remaining field-level issues.

For the complete migration — including geo targeting, optimization goals, signals, audiences, and attribution — see the full migration guide.