AdCP — Creative Lifecycle

Creative management is central to successful media buying campaigns. AdCP manages the complete creative lifecycle from initial format discovery through ongoing optimization, providing comprehensive tools for managing creative assets throughout their entire lifecycle.

Overview

AdCP’s creative management system handles:

Format specifications for all supported creative types
Asset lifecycle management from creation to optimization
Cross-platform synchronization of creative libraries
Standard format support for consistent delivery

Key Creative Tasks

Creative Synchronization

Use sync_creatives to upload and manage creative assets in the creative library hosted by your seller or creative platform. This ensures your creatives are available for assignment across platforms and campaigns. For sellers that advertise inline_creative_management: true without creative.has_creative_library: true, creatives are supplied as package-scoped packages[].creatives on create_media_buy or update_media_buy instead of through a reusable library.

Creative Library Management

Use list_creatives to view and manage your creative asset library, including status tracking and performance metadata.

The Three Main Phases

AdCP manages creatives through three main phases:

Phase 1: Format Discovery

Before producing assets, determine both the inventory contract and the creative operation that can satisfy it. AdCP 3.2 uses three explicit sources:

Publisher acceptance: adagents.json.formats[]
Seller deliverability: each get_products result’s closed format_options[] set
Creative-agent operations: get_adcp_capabilities.creative.supported_formats[]

list_creative_formats and recursive creative_agents[] discovery are deprecated. To find a producer for a publisher format, query the AgenticAdvertising.org registry by {publisher_domain, format_option_id} or by a compatible canonical format_kind, then confirm the selected agent directly with get_adcp_capabilities.

Inventory-first

“What products match my campaign, and what creative contracts do they accept?”

const products = await get_products({
  idempotency_key: "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655442049",
  buying_mode: "brief",
  brand: { domain: "acmeoutdoor.example" },
  brief: "Acme Outdoor product launch campaign"
});

const acceptedOptions = products.products.flatMap(product => product.format_options);
// Each option is already a complete canonical declaration: format_kind,
// params, slots, and optionally publisher_domain + format_option_id.

Creative-first

“Which creative agents can build this exact publisher contract?”

const { agents } = await fetch(
  "/api/registry/agents?publisher_domain=shorts.streamhaus.example" +
  "&format_option_id=vertical_video&creative_operation=build"
).then(response => response.json());

const creativeAgent = connectAdcpAgent(agents[0].url);
const capabilities = await creativeAgent.get_adcp_capabilities({ protocols: ["creative"] });
const capability = capabilities.creative.supported_formats.find(entry =>
  entry.format.publisher_domain === "shorts.streamhaus.example" &&
  entry.format.format_option_id === "vertical_video" &&
  entry.operations.includes("build")
);

const result = await creativeAgent.build_creative({
  target_capability_id: capability.capability_id,
  message: "Produce a concise vertical launch video",
  brand: { domain: "acmeoutdoor.example" }
});

Phase 2: Creative Production

Once you understand format requirements, create the actual creative assets according to the specifications discovered in Phase 1.

Phase 3: Creative Library Management

AdCP uses creative libraries hosted by creative-capable agents, where assets are uploaded once and assigned to multiple campaigns. This approach enables:

Upload creatives to account-level library
Assign creatives to specific campaigns/packages
Reuse creatives across multiple media buys
Track performance across all assignments

Asset management is handled through brand identity, which provides brand-level assets with tags for discovery.

Platform Considerations

Different platforms have varying creative requirements:

Google Ad Manager

Supports standard IAB formats
Requires policy compliance review
Creative approval typically within 24 hours

Kevel

Supports custom template-based creatives
Real-time creative decisioning
Flexible format support

Triton Digital

Audio-specific platform
Supports standard audio formats
Station-level creative targeting

Response Times

Creative operations have varying response times:

Format listings: ~1 second (database lookup)
Creative sync: Minutes to days (asset processing and approval)
Library queries: ~1 second (database lookup)

Best Practices

Format Planning: Review supported formats before creative production
Early Upload: Submit creatives well before campaign launch
Adaptation Acceptance: Consider publisher suggestions for better performance
Asset Organization: Use clear naming conventions for creative IDs
Performance Monitoring: Track creative effectiveness and iterate
Quality Control: Follow format specifications exactly
File Optimization: Optimize file sizes for fast loading
Testing: Test assets across different devices and platforms

sync_creatives - Bulk creative management with upsert semantics
list_creatives - Advanced creative library querying and filtering
Canonical formats - Publisher, product, and creative-agent format authority
Brand identity - Brand identity and asset management
Creative Formats - Understanding format specifications and discovery
Creative Channel Guides - Format examples across video, display, audio, DOOH, and carousels
Asset Types - Understanding asset roles and specifications

Getting Started

Building with AdCP

Protocol

Using AAO

FAQ

Trust & Security

Reference

Certification

Creative Lifecycle

Overview

Key Creative Tasks

Creative Synchronization

Creative Library Management

The Three Main Phases

Phase 1: Format Discovery

Inventory-first

Creative-first

Phase 2: Creative Production

Phase 3: Creative Library Management

Platform Considerations

Google Ad Manager

Kevel

Triton Digital

Response Times

Best Practices

​Overview

​Key Creative Tasks

​Creative Synchronization

​Creative Library Management

​The Three Main Phases

​Phase 1: Format Discovery

​Inventory-first

​Creative-first

​Phase 2: Creative Production

​Phase 3: Creative Library Management

​Platform Considerations

​Google Ad Manager

​Kevel

​Triton Digital

​Response Times

​Best Practices

​Related Documentation

Overview

Key Creative Tasks

Creative Synchronization

Creative Library Management

The Three Main Phases

Phase 1: Format Discovery

Inventory-first

Creative-first

Phase 2: Creative Production

Phase 3: Creative Library Management

Platform Considerations

Google Ad Manager

Kevel

Triton Digital

Response Times

Best Practices

Related Documentation