---
name: adcp-creative
description: Execute AdCP Creative Protocol operations with creative agents - build creatives from briefs or existing assets, preview renderings, and discover format specifications. Use when users want to generate or transform ad creatives, preview how ads will look, or understand creative format requirements.
---

# AdCP Creative Protocol

This skill enables you to execute the AdCP Creative Protocol with creative agents. Use the standard MCP tools (`list_creative_formats`, `build_creative`, `preview_creative`) exposed by the connected agent.

## Overview

The Creative Protocol provides 3 standardized tasks for building and previewing advertising creatives:

| Task | Purpose | Response Time |
|------|---------|---------------|
| `list_creative_formats` | View format specifications | ~1s |
| `build_creative` | Generate or transform creatives | ~30s-5m |
| `preview_creative` | Get visual previews | ~5s |

## Typical Workflow

1. **Discover formats**: `list_creative_formats` to see available format specs
2. **Build creative**: `build_creative` to generate or transform a manifest
3. **Preview**: `preview_creative` to see how it renders
4. **Sync**: Use `sync_creatives` (media-buy task) to traffic the creative

---

## Task Reference

### list_creative_formats

Discover creative formats and their specifications.

**Request:**
```json
{
  "type": "video",
  "asset_types": ["image", "text"]
}
```

**Key fields:**
- `format_ids` (array, optional): Request specific format IDs
- `type` (string, optional): Filter by type: `video`, `display`, `audio`, `dooh`
- `asset_types` (array, optional): Filter by accepted asset types
- `max_width`, `max_height` (integer, optional): Dimension constraints
- `is_responsive` (boolean, optional): Filter for responsive formats
- `name_search` (string, optional): Search formats by name

**Response contains:**
- `formats`: Array of format definitions with `format_id`, `name`, `type`, `assets_required`, `renders`
- `creative_agents`: Optional array of other creative agents providing additional formats

---

### build_creative

Generate a creative from scratch or transform an existing creative to a different format.

**Pure Generation (from brief):**
```json
{
  "message": "Create a banner promoting our winter sale with a warm, inviting feel",
  "target_format_id": {
    "agent_url": "https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org",
    "id": "display_300x250_generative"
  },
  "brand": {
    "domain": "mybrand.com"
  }
}
```

**Transformation (resize/reformat):**
```json
{
  "message": "Adapt this leaderboard to a 300x250 banner",
  "creative_manifest": {
    "format_id": {
      "agent_url": "https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org",
      "id": "display_728x90"
    },
    "assets": {
      "banner_image": {
        "asset_type": "image",
        "url": "https://cdn.mybrand.com/leaderboard.png",
        "width": 728,
        "height": 90
      },
      "headline": {
        "asset_type": "text",
        "content": "Spring Sale - 30% Off"
      }
    }
  },
  "target_format_id": {
    "agent_url": "https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org",
    "id": "display_300x250"
  }
}
```

**Key fields:**
- `message` (string, optional): Natural language instructions for generation/transformation
- `creative_manifest` (object, optional): Source manifest - minimal for generation, complete for transformation
- `target_format_id` (object, required): Format to generate - `{ agent_url, id }`

**Response contains:**
- `creative_manifest`: Complete manifest ready for `preview_creative` or `sync_creatives`

---

### preview_creative

Generate visual previews of creative manifests.

**Single preview:**
```json
{
  "request_type": "single",
  "creative_manifest": {
    "format_id": {
      "agent_url": "https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org",
      "id": "display_300x250"
    },
    "assets": {
      "banner_image": {
        "asset_type": "image",
        "url": "https://cdn.example.com/banner.png",
        "width": 300,
        "height": 250
      }
    }
  }
}
```

**With device variants:**
```json
{
  "request_type": "single",
  "creative_manifest": { /* includes format_id, assets */ },
  "inputs": [
    { "name": "Desktop", "macros": { "DEVICE_TYPE": "desktop" } },
    { "name": "Mobile", "macros": { "DEVICE_TYPE": "mobile" } }
  ]
}
```

**Batch preview (5-10x faster):**
```json
{
  "request_type": "batch",
  "requests": [
    { "creative_manifest": { /* creative 1 */ } },
    { "creative_manifest": { /* creative 2 */ } }
  ]
}
```

**Key fields:**
- `request_type` (string, required): `"single"` or `"batch"`
- `format_id` (object, optional): Format identifier. Defaults to `creative_manifest.format_id` if omitted.
- `creative_manifest` (object, required): Complete creative manifest
- `inputs` (array, optional): Generate variants with different macros/contexts
- `output_format` (string, optional): `"url"` (default) or `"html"`

**Response contains:**
- `previews`: Array of preview objects with `preview_url` or `preview_html`
- `expires_at`: When preview URLs expire

---

## Key Concepts

### Format IDs

All format references use structured objects:
```json
{
  "format_id": {
    "agent_url": "https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org",
    "id": "display_300x250"
  }
}
```

The `agent_url` specifies the creative agent authoritative for this format.

### Creative Manifests

Manifests pair format specifications with actual assets:
```json
{
  "format_id": {
    "agent_url": "https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org",
    "id": "display_300x250"
  },
  "assets": {
    "banner_image": {
      "asset_type": "image",
      "url": "https://cdn.example.com/banner.png",
      "width": 300,
      "height": 250
    },
    "headline": {
      "asset_type": "text",
      "content": "Shop Now"
    },
    "clickthrough_url": {
      "asset_type": "url",
      "url": "https://brand.com/sale"
    }
  }
}
```

### Asset Types

Common asset types:
- `image`: Static images (JPEG, PNG, WebP)
- `video`: Video files (MP4, WebM) or VAST tags
- `audio`: Audio files (MP3, M4A) or DAAST tags
- `text`: Headlines, descriptions, CTAs
- `html`: HTML5 creatives or third-party tags
- `javascript`: JavaScript tags
- `url`: Tracking pixels, clickthrough URLs

### Brand identity

For generative creatives, provide brand context by domain:
```json
{
  "brand": {
    "domain": "acmecorp.com"
  }
}
```

The agent resolves the domain to retrieve the brand's identity (name, colors, guidelines, etc.) from its `brand.json` file.

### Generative vs Transformation

- **Pure Generation**: Provide `target_format_id`, `brand`, and a natural language `message`. Creative agent generates all output assets from scratch.
- **Transformation**: Complete manifest with existing assets. Creative agent adapts to target format, following `message` guidance.

---

## Error Handling

Common error patterns:

- **400 Bad Request**: Invalid manifest or format_id
- **404 Not Found**: Format not supported by this agent
- **422 Validation Error**: Manifest doesn't match format requirements

Error responses include:
```json
{
  "error": {
    "code": "INVALID_FORMAT_ID",
    "message": "format_id must be a structured object with 'agent_url' and 'id' fields"
  }
}
```