> ## 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.

# sync_plans

> sync_plans pushes campaign plans with budget limits, channels, flight dates, and compliance policies to an AdCP governance agent.

# sync\_plans

<Note>
  **Experimental.** Campaign governance (`sync_plans`, [`check_governance`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/campaign/tasks/check_governance), [`report_plan_outcome`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/campaign/tasks/report_plan_outcome), [`get_plan_audit_logs`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/campaign/tasks/get_plan_audit_logs)) is part of AdCP 3.0 as an experimental surface — it may change between 3.x releases with at least 6 weeks' notice. Sellers implementing it MUST declare `governance.campaign` in `experimental_features`. See [experimental status](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/reference/experimental-status) for the full contract.
</Note>

Push campaign plans to the governance agent. A plan defines the authorized parameters for a campaign -- budget limits, channels, flight dates, authorized markets, and compliance policies -- and serves as the source of truth for all validation.

## Request

```json theme={null}
{
  "tool": "sync_plans",
  "arguments": {
    "plans": [
      {
        "plan_id": "plan_q1_2026_launch",
        "brand": {
          "domain": "acmecorp.com"
        },
        "objectives": "Drive awareness for spring product launch among 25-54 adults in the US, focusing on premium video and high-impact display.",
        "budget": {
          "total": 500000,
          "currency": "USD",
          "reallocation_threshold": 25000,
          "per_seller_max_pct": 40,
          "allocations": {
            "media_buy": { "amount": 400000 },
            "rights_license": { "amount": 75000 },
            "signal_activation": { "amount": 25000 }
          }
        },
        "channels": {
          "required": ["olv"],
          "allowed": ["olv", "display", "ctv", "audio"],
          "mix_targets": {
            "olv": { "min_pct": 40, "max_pct": 70 },
            "display": { "min_pct": 10, "max_pct": 30 },
            "ctv": { "min_pct": 0, "max_pct": 20 },
            "audio": { "min_pct": 0, "max_pct": 10 }
          }
        },
        "flight": {
          "start": "2026-03-15T00:00:00Z",
          "end": "2026-06-15T00:00:00Z"
        },
        "countries": ["US"],
        "policy_categories": ["age_restricted"],
        "audience": {
          "include": [
            { "type": "description", "description": "Adults 25-54 interested in home improvement" }
          ],
          "exclude": [
            { "type": "description", "description": "Children under 13" }
          ]
        },
        "restricted_attributes": ["health_data"],
        "min_audience_size": 1000,
        "policy_ids": ["us_coppa", "alcohol_advertising"],
        "custom_policies": [
          {
            "policy_id": "no_competitor_adjacency",
            "enforcement": "must",
            "policy": "No advertising adjacent to competitor content."
          }
        ],
        "approved_sellers": null,
        "ext": {}
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

## Response

```json theme={null}
{
  "plans": [
    {
      "plan_id": "plan_q1_2026_launch",
      "status": "active",
      "version": 1,
      "categories": [
        { "category_id": "budget_authority", "status": "active" },
        { "category_id": "strategic_alignment", "status": "active" },
        { "category_id": "bias_fairness", "status": "active" },
        { "category_id": "regulatory_compliance", "status": "active" },
        { "category_id": "seller_verification", "status": "active" },
        { "category_id": "brand_policy", "status": "active" }
      ],
      "resolved_policies": [
        { "policy_id": "us_coppa", "source": "explicit", "enforcement": "must", "reason": "Referenced in plan policy_ids" },
        { "policy_id": "alcohol_advertising", "source": "explicit", "enforcement": "should", "reason": "Referenced in plan policy_ids" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

## How it works

Plans originate in external systems -- an agency's planning tool, a brand's budget system, an insertion order. `sync_plans` pushes them to the governance agent so it knows what to validate against.

Syncing a plan that already exists (same `plan_id`) updates it. The governance agent increments the version and re-evaluates any active campaigns against the updated rules. This handles mid-flight amendments like budget increases or channel additions. Content-standards configurations are separate resources, and their wire contract does not define how running media buys adopt later updates; see [updating content-standards policies](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/content-standards/index#updating-policies).

Multiple campaigns (identified by `governance_context` in [`check_governance`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/campaign/tasks/check_governance) and [`report_plan_outcome`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/campaign/tasks/report_plan_outcome)) can reference the same plan. The governance agent tracks budget across all campaigns tied to a plan.

The plan specifies campaign context -- budget, channels, flight dates, and authorized markets. The governance agent resolves applicable policies from the brand's compliance configuration, but plans can also reference registry policies directly via `policy_ids` and include campaign-specific rules via `custom_policies`. This supports both centralized policy management (brand-level) and campaign-specific overrides when the buying team needs additional requirements for a particular campaign.

`countries` and `regions` serve two purposes:

1. **Geo enforcement** -- The governance agent rejects governed actions targeting outside the plan's markets. A plan with `regions: ["US-MA"]` blocks actions that don't explicitly target Massachusetts.
2. **Policy resolution** -- The agent finds all policies whose jurisdictions overlap with the plan's markets. A plan with `countries: ["US"]` is subject to all US federal and state-level policies. A plan with only `regions: ["US-MA"]` is subject to Massachusetts-specific and federal policies.

These fields use the same ISO codes and semantics as `product-filters`, `offerings`, and [`create_media_buy`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/media-buy/task-reference/create_media_buy) -- ensuring consistent geo vocabulary across the protocol. A pharma campaign running nationally uses `countries: ["US"]`; a cannabis campaign limited to legal states uses `regions: ["US-CO", "US-CA", "US-MA"]`.

## Plan-hash preimage

Each plan item a buyer supplies here is the preimage the governance agent hashes to produce the `plan_hash` audit-layer claim carried in every [signed `governance_context`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/building/by-layer/L1/security#signed-governance-context). Canonicalization rules, the closed bookkeeping exclusion list, retention obligations, and the full set of reference test vectors are specified in [Plan binding and audit](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/campaign/specification#plan-binding-and-audit). Governance-agent implementers SHOULD run their hashing code against the eleven vectors under [`static/compliance/source/test-vectors/plan-hash/`](https://github.com/adcontextprotocol/adcp/tree/main/static/compliance/source/test-vectors/plan-hash) before shipping.

## Fields

### Request

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
| - | - | - | - |
| `plans` | array | Yes | One or more campaign plans to sync. |
| `plans[].plan_id` | string | Yes | Unique identifier for this plan. |
| `plans[].brand` | BrandRef | Yes | Brand being governed. The governance agent resolves the brand's compliance configuration to determine applicable policies. |
| `plans[].objectives` | string | Yes | Natural language campaign objectives. Used for strategic alignment validation. |
| `plans[].budget` | object | Yes | Budget parameters. |
| `plans[].budget.total` | number | Yes | Total authorized budget. |
| `plans[].budget.currency` | string | Yes | ISO 4217 currency code. |
| `plans[].budget.accounting_mode` | enum | No | `gross_commitment` (default) restores reusable headroom only for verified decommitments. `verified_net_cost` also restores it for verified refunds and credits. Both preserve original gross commitments for anti-fragmentation history. |
| `plans[].budget.reallocation_threshold` | number | Yes | Amount the agent may reallocate without escalation. `0` requires human approval for every reallocation; a value at or above `budget.total` is effectively unlimited. See [specification](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/campaign/specification#budget-reallocation). |
| `plans[].budget.per_seller_max_pct` | number | No | Maximum percentage of budget that can go to a single seller. |
| `plans[].budget.allocations` | object | No | Optional per-purchase-type budget partitions. Keys are purchase types (`media_buy`, `rights_license`, `signal_activation`, `creative_services`), values are objects with `amount`. When present, the governance agent validates spend against both the per-type allocation and the overall total. When absent, all spend counts against the single total regardless of purchase type. Allocations are guardrails, not hard partitions -- the sum of allocations MAY differ from the total. |
| `plans[].channels` | object | No | Channel constraints. If omitted, all channels are allowed. |
| `plans[].flight` | object | Yes | Authorized flight dates. Governed actions with dates outside this window are rejected. |
| `plans[].countries` | array | No | ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes for authorized markets. The governance agent rejects governed actions targeting outside these countries and resolves applicable policies by matching against policy jurisdictions. |
| `plans[].regions` | array | No | ISO 3166-2 subdivision codes for authorized sub-national markets (e.g., `US-MA`). When present, restricts buys to these regions rather than the full country. |
| `plans[].policy_categories` | array | No | Regulatory categories that apply to this campaign (e.g., `children_directed`, `fair_housing`). Determines which policy regimes the governance agent enforces. When omitted, governance agents MAY infer from the brand's industries and campaign objectives. |
| `plans[].audience` | object | No | Audience targeting constraints. Defines who the campaign should reach (include) and must not reach (exclude). See [audience constraints](#audience-constraints). |
| `plans[].restricted_attributes` | array | No | Personal data categories that must not be used for targeting (e.g., `health_data`, `racial_ethnic_origin`). GDPR Article 9 special categories. The governance agent flags any audience targeting referencing these attributes. |
| `plans[].restricted_attributes_custom` | array | No | Additional restricted attributes not covered by the enum. Freeform strings for jurisdiction-specific restrictions (e.g., `financial_status`). |
| `plans[].min_audience_size` | integer | No | Minimum audience segment size for k-anonymity. Applies to the estimated intersection audience when multiple criteria are used. |
| `plans[].policy_ids` | array | No | Registry policy IDs to enforce for this plan. Intersected with the plan's countries/regions to activate only geographically relevant policies. |
| `plans[].custom_policies` | array | No | Campaign-specific policies using the `PolicyEntry` shape (`policy_id`, `enforcement`, `policy` text required). Additive only — cannot relax or override registry-sourced policies. See [policy resolution](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/campaign/specification#policy-resolution). |
| `plans[].approved_sellers` | array/null | No | List of approved seller agent URLs. `null` means any seller. |
| `plans[].delegations` | array | No | Agents authorized to execute against this plan. See [specification](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/campaign/specification#delegations). |
| `plans[].delegations[].agent_url` | string | Yes | URL of the delegated agent. |
| `plans[].delegations[].authority` | enum | Yes | `full`, `execute_only`, or `propose_only`. |
| `plans[].delegations[].budget_limit` | object | No | Maximum budget this agent can commit. |
| `plans[].delegations[].markets` | array | No | ISO country/region codes this agent is authorized for. |
| `plans[].delegations[].expires_at` | string | No | ISO 8601 delegation expiration. |
| `plans[].portfolio` | object | No | Portfolio-level governance constraints. See [specification](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/campaign/specification#portfolio-governance). |
| `plans[].portfolio.member_plan_ids` | array | Yes | Plan IDs governed by this portfolio plan. |
| `plans[].portfolio.total_budget_cap` | object | No | Maximum aggregate budget across member plans. |
| `plans[].portfolio.shared_policy_ids` | array | No | Registry policy IDs enforced across all member plans. |
| `plans[].portfolio.shared_exclusions` | array | No | Bespoke exclusion policies applied to all member plans, using the `PolicyEntry` shape (`policy_id`, `enforcement`, `policy` text required). |
| `plans[].ext` | object | No | Extension data. |

### Response

| Field | Type | Description |
| - | - | - |
| `plans` | array | Status for each synced plan. |
| `plans[].plan_id` | string | Plan identifier. |
| `plans[].status` | enum | `active` (sync succeeded) or `error` (sync failed). This is the sync result status, not the plan lifecycle status. |
| `plans[].version` | number | Plan version (increments on each sync). |
| `plans[].categories` | array | Validation categories the governance agent reports as active for this plan. Category labels come from the agent's internal policy model, not [`get_adcp_capabilities`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/protocol/get_adcp_capabilities). |
| `plans[].categories[].category_id` | string | Opaque agent-internal validation label for display and audit. Common vocabulary includes `budget_authority`, `strategic_alignment`, `bias_fairness`, `regulatory_compliance`, `seller_verification`, and `brand_policy`. An agent that actually evaluated accessibility may use the documented label `accessibility_compliance`, but clients MUST NOT treat it as a protocol enum, policy activation, or typed format guarantee. |
| `plans[].categories[].status` | enum | `active` or `inactive`. |
| `plans[].resolved_policies` | array | Policies the governance agent will enforce for this plan. Includes explicitly referenced and auto-applied policies. |
| `plans[].resolved_policies[].policy_id` | string | Registry policy ID. |
| `plans[].resolved_policies[].source` | enum | `explicit` (referenced in config or plan) or `auto_applied` (matched by jurisdiction/policy category). |
| `plans[].resolved_policies[].enforcement` | enum | `must`, `should`, or `may`. |
| `plans[].resolved_policies[].reason` | string | Why this policy was included. |

## Audience constraints

Plans can declare audience targeting constraints using the `audience` field. Each constraint is an **audience selector** — either a reference to a specific signal or a natural language description.

**Signal reference** — points to a specific signal in a data provider's published signal definitions:

```json theme={null}
{
  "type": "signal",
  "signal_ref": {
    "scope": "data_provider",
    "data_provider_domain": "signals.dataprovider.com",
    "signal_id": "likely_ev_buyers"
  },
  "value_type": "binary",
  "value": true
}
```

**Description** — natural language for constraints that don't map to a specific signal:

```json theme={null}
{
  "type": "description",
  "description": "Adults aged 25-54 in urban areas",
  "category": "demographic"
}
```

The governance agent evaluates seller targeting against these constraints during [`check_governance`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/campaign/tasks/check_governance). Signal references enable structural matching; descriptions require semantic comparison.

### Restricted attributes

The `restricted_attributes` field declares personal data categories that must not be used for targeting. Values are GDPR Article 9 special categories: `racial_ethnic_origin`, `political_opinions`, `religious_beliefs`, `trade_union_membership`, `health_data`, `sex_life_sexual_orientation`, `genetic_data`, `biometric_data`.

The governance agent matches these against signal definitions that declare their own `restricted_attributes`. Signals with matching attributes are blocked from targeting. For signals without declared attributes, the governance agent falls back to semantic inference from the signal name and description.

### Policy categories

The `policy_categories` field declares which regulatory regimes apply. Categories are defined in the [policy registry](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/policy-registry) and group related regulations — for example, `children_directed` covers COPPA, UK AADC, and GDPR Article 8.

Policy categories are distinct from `brand.industries`. Industries describe what a company does; policy categories describe what regulatory regimes apply to a specific campaign. A pharmaceutical company (`industries: ["pharmaceuticals"]`) running a general awareness campaign might not need `pharmaceutical_advertising` as a policy category if the campaign doesn't promote specific drugs.

## Error codes

| Code | Recovery | Description |
| - | - | - |
| [`INVALID_REQUEST`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/building/verification/compliance-catalog#error-code-invalid-request) | correctable | Plan is missing required fields or has invalid values. `error.field` identifies the offending plan field. |
| [`REFERENCE_NOT_FOUND`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/building/verification/compliance-catalog#error-code-reference-not-found) | correctable | Brand domain could not be resolved via the Brand Protocol. The governance agent cannot determine applicable compliance policies without a valid brand reference. `error.field` MUST identify the brand field that failed to resolve. |
| [`VALIDATION_ERROR`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/building/verification/compliance-catalog#error-code-validation-error) | correctable | Cannot reduce budget below the amount already committed (on plan update). `error.field` identifies the budget field. |

## Related tasks

* [`check_governance`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/campaign/tasks/check_governance) -- Validate actions against this plan
* [`report_plan_outcome`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/campaign/tasks/report_plan_outcome) -- Report outcomes back to update plan state
* [`get_plan_audit_logs`](/dist/docs/3.2.0-rc.7/governance/campaign/tasks/get_plan_audit_logs) -- View plan state and audit trail