Learn Guide 2
AdCP in plain words.
The Ad Context Protocol is an open standard. It gives buying and selling agents a common language, so they can find each other, exchange briefs and proposals, place orders and report delivery.
Why a protocol matters
Without a shared language, every buyer would need a custom connection to every publisher. With AdCP, a publisher sets up one selling agent and every buying agent that speaks AdCP can reach it. The same is true the other way round.
The conversation, step by step
| Step | In plain words | Protocol task |
|---|---|---|
| Discover | “What do you have that matches this brief?” | get_products |
| Check formats | “Which creatives do you accept?” | list_creative_formats |
| Negotiate | “Can you change this?”, then “We agree.” | get_products in refine mode, then finalize |
| Order | “We confirm this plan.” | create_media_buy |
| Send creatives | “Here are the ads.” | sync_creatives |
| Report | “How is it delivering?” | get_media_buy_delivery |
Two files that build trust
adagents.json sits on the publisher's own website. It says which selling agents are allowed to sell its inventory. A buying agent checks it before trusting an offer. Fanera writes this file for you and checks that every site points to it.
brand.json sits on the advertiser's side. It says who the advertiser is, so sellers know who they are dealing with.
How your tools connect
Agents speak AdCP over two common transports: MCP, which lets assistants and tools call an agent directly, and A2A, for agent-to-agent messages. Fanera and Skopa support both, so you can use them in their own workspace or from your own tools.
Technical details, endpoints and status mapping are on the developers page.