> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.adcontextprotocol.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Video Ads

> Canonical hosted-video and VAST creative contracts for AdCP 3.2.

AdCP separates hosted video bytes (`video_hosted`) from VAST delivery (`video_vast`). Placement position such as pre-roll or mid-roll belongs on the product/placement, while the creative declaration describes the accepted payload.

## Hosted video

```json theme={null}
{
  "format_option_id": "preroll_30s_hosted",
  "format_kind": "video_hosted",
  "params": {
    "width": 1920,
    "height": 1080,
    "duration_ms_exact": 30000,
    "containers": ["mp4"],
    "video_codecs": ["h264"],
    "audio_codecs": ["aac"],
    "max_file_size_kb": 51200,
    "slots": [
      { "asset_group_id": "video_main", "asset_type": "video", "required": true },
      { "asset_group_id": "landing_page_url", "asset_type": "url", "required": false }
    ]
  }
}
```

```json theme={null}
{
  "format_kind": "video_hosted",
  "assets": {
    "video_main": {
      "asset_type": "video",
      "url": "https://cdn.acmeoutdoor.example/trail-pro-30s.mp4",
      "width": 1920,
      "height": 1080,
      "duration_ms": 30000,
      "container_format": "mp4",
      "codec": "h264"
    }
  }
}
```

## VAST

```json theme={null}
{
  "format_kind": "video_vast",
  "params": {
    "duration_ms_range": [15000, 30000],
    "vast_versions": ["3.0", "4.0", "4.1", "4.2"],
    "slots": [{ "asset_group_id": "vast_tag", "asset_type": "vast", "required": true }]
  }
}
```

Use a `vast` asset with either a URL or inline XML according to the selected declaration. The seller validates wrapper depth, media files, duration, macros, and supported VAST features.

### VAST Validation

Format-layer validation of `vast` assets is structural: the manifest must satisfy the format's `requirements` (today, `vast_version`), and [`validate_input`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-beta.0/creative/canonical-formats#validation-flow--validate_input) checks manifest shape only. The VAST document itself is opaque at that level, so a structurally valid manifest can still carry an unplayable tag that fails silently at serve time.

AdCP defines three validation levels for `vast` assets. Sellers declare the level they perform via `creative_specs.vast_validation` in [`get_adcp_capabilities`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-beta.0/protocol/get_adcp_capabilities); absent means `structural`. Validation runs at `sync_creatives` time, including `dry_run`. `validate_input` remains manifest-structure-only at every level.

| Level                  | What the seller checks                                                             |
| ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `structural` (default) | Manifest shape and format `requirements` only. The VAST document is not inspected. |
| `document`             | Everything in `structural`, plus the VAST document itself.                         |
| `wrapper`              | Everything in `document`, plus wrapper-chain resolution.                           |

**Document-level validation.** Sellers declaring `document` or `wrapper`:

* MUST parse the document (inline `content`, or one response fetched from `url`) as XML and reject unparseable documents with `VAST_PARSE_FAILED` (`error.details.reason: "not_xml"`).
* MUST reject documents whose root element is not `<VAST>` with `VAST_PARSE_FAILED` (`error.details.reason: "no_vast_root"`).
* MUST reject documents whose `<VAST version>` attribute is missing or does not match the asset's declared `vast_version`, the format's `vast_version` requirement, or the seller's declared `creative_specs.vast_versions`, with `VAST_VERSION_MISMATCH` (`error.details.supported_versions` lists the accepted versions).
* SHOULD reject documents containing no `<Ad>` element, and `<InLine>` linear creatives carrying no `<MediaFile>`, with `VAST_PARSE_FAILED` (`error.details.reason: "no_ad"` / `"no_media_file"`).
* SHOULD verify that media, tracking, and click URLs use HTTPS.
* MUST treat unresolved ad-server macros in URLs (`[MACRO]`, `${MACRO}`, `{UNIVERSAL_MACRO}`) as opaque tokens, never as validation failures. Macro correctness and substitution verification are out of scope for this contract.

**Wrapper-chain validation.** Sellers declaring `wrapper` additionally:

* MUST resolve `<Wrapper>` redirects via `<VASTAdTagURI>` up to the format's declared `max_wrapper_depth` (when present) and reject deeper chains with `VAST_WRAPPER_DEPTH_EXCEEDED` (`error.details.reason: "depth"`).
* MUST reject chains that revisit a `<VASTAdTagURI>` already seen (a loop) with `VAST_WRAPPER_DEPTH_EXCEEDED` (`error.details.reason: "loop"`).
* SHOULD apply a per-hop timeout, rejecting with `VAST_WRAPPER_DEPTH_EXCEEDED` (`error.details.reason: "timeout"`), and MUST fetch wrapper hops over HTTPS only.
* MUST apply document-level checks to the terminal `<InLine>` document and reject with the corresponding document-level code on failure.

**Preflight, not approval.** A VAST endpoint can return a different document per request (decisioning, rotation, macros). Passing validation at sync time is a preflight of the tag's shape at that moment, not a guarantee about future responses. Sellers MUST NOT treat a passing preflight as approval of all future responses and MAY re-validate during delivery. Sellers fetching `url` assets or wrapper hops SHOULD apply the same server-side request protections (private-address blocking, redirect and size limits) they apply to any other agent-supplied URL fetch.

**Error codes.** In all cases `error.field` identifies the offending asset path in the manifest.

| Code                          | Meaning                                                                                                                            |
| ----------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `VAST_PARSE_FAILED`           | Document is not well-formed XML, has no `<VAST>` root, no `<Ad>`, or an inline linear creative has no `<MediaFile>`                |
| `VAST_VERSION_MISMATCH`       | Document's `<VAST version>` disagrees with the declared `vast_version`, the format requirement, or the seller's supported versions |
| `VAST_WRAPPER_DEPTH_EXCEEDED` | Wrapper chain exceeds `max_wrapper_depth`, loops, or a hop timed out                                                               |

## Vertical and flexible video

Vertical short video is still `video_hosted`; use width/height or aspect-ratio parameters and, for an exact publisher contract, `{publisher_domain, format_option_id}`. Equal canonical kind alone is not proof that a generic video builder satisfies a publisher's duration, codec, slot, or composition constraints.

See [CTV](/dist/docs/3.2.0-beta.0/creative/channels/ctv), [Canonical formats](/dist/docs/3.2.0-beta.0/creative/canonical-formats), and [Creative manifests](/dist/docs/3.2.0-beta.0/creative/creative-manifests).