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AdCP 3.2 prerelease program

Use the release candidate in development and staging, not production. New production integrations should remain on AdCP 3.1 until 3.2 reaches general availability. Every prerelease is an immutable checkpoint, but later release candidates may change 3.2 surfaces before GA.
The 3.2 prerelease cycle started with a protocol-first beta checkpoint. RC.0 is the current protocol checkpoint. TypeScript SDK 14.0.0-beta.31 and Python SDK 8.0.0b13 consume the signed RC.0 bundle: Earlier betas remain useful as pinned implementation checkpoints. For SDK-backed testing of the current checkpoint, pair TypeScript SDK beta.31 or Python SDK beta.13 with protocol RC.0. TypeScript SDK beta.29 and Python SDK beta.12 remain historical pairings for beta.11. Do not combine a newer wire pin with an SDK generated from an older bundle unless the SDK maintainer documents forward compatibility.

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Know which version string to use

The artifact version, wire pin, and documentation selector are related but not interchangeable: Only send a prerelease wire pin to a peer that advertises that exact value in get_adcp_capabilities.adcp.supported_versions. Prerelease pins are exact: a buyer pinned to "3.2-rc.0" must not silently negotiate to another prerelease, and a stable "3.2" pin must not silently negotiate to a prerelease.

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Use matched SDK prereleases

The TypeScript SDK has exact RC.0 support. The npm latest tag remains on SDK 13, so opt into the preview explicitly:
SDK 14 includes typed caller and server support for the compact media-buy lifecycle, the RC.0 schemas and compliance assets, version-aware request signing, governance plan-adjustment reporting, and agent notification configuration. It retains 3.0 and 3.1 adaptation for mixed-version testing. See Choose your SDK for the support matrix and install guidance. Python adcp==8.0.0b13 carries RC.0 schemas and generated types. Its higher-level caller/server helpers remain role-dependent, so consult the SDK matrix before treating schema parity as complete L1–L3 coverage.

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Use the RC.0 artifact directly

Download the signed RC.0 protocol bundle rather than copying schemas from main or from the moving /schemas/3.2.0-rc.1/ path:
The extracted adcp-3.2.0-rc.0/ directory contains:
  • manifest.json — release version, bundle contents, skills, and file count;
  • schemas/ — source-shaped and bundled request/response schemas, including schemas/manifest.json for the task and capability inventory;
  • compliance/ — storyboards, test kits, vectors, and runner contracts;
  • skills/ — role guidance for coding agents;
  • openapi/ — published OpenAPI artifacts.
Verify the Sigstore signature before using the bundle as a build input. See Verifying protocol tarballs for the certificate-identity and issuer checks. Useful direct-artifact tests are:
  1. Generate or refresh types from the pinned bundled schemas.
  2. Validate representative requests and responses for the roles you implement.
  3. Compare your advertised tools with schemas/manifest.json.
  4. Exercise raw MCP or A2A calls with adcp_version: "3.2-rc.0" against a staging peer that advertises the same pin.
  5. Run the compliance assets with a source-compatible runner if you maintain one. Do not weaken production authentication to accommodate a prerelease runner.
No 3.2 verification badge is currently issued for RC.0. Treat it as an implementation input, not a certification target.

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SDK support contract

An SDK support claim must name all of the following:
  • exact SDK package version;
  • exact AdCP prerelease bundle used to generate or load schemas;
  • supported roles and transports;
  • known unsupported or raw-only surfaces;
  • install command and one tested validation command.
The SDK compatibility matrix lives in Choose your SDK. The TypeScript and Python rows name exact RC.0 support with different higher-layer coverage. Neither implies support for another checkpoint. Treat generated 3.2 types and validators in every other SDK as unavailable until its row names an exact package and protocol checkpoint. Raw JSON calls may still be possible, but they are not equivalent to SDK support. SDK maintainers should report protocol ambiguities against the AdCP repository. Report SDK implementation bugs in the SDK’s own repository. Accepted protocol fixes receive a changeset and ship in a later prerelease; published prereleases are never rebuilt in place.

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Current RC.0 checkpoint

Protocol beta.1 through beta.11 and RC.0 are published. TypeScript SDK beta.31 and Python SDK beta.13 embed the exact RC.0 bundle. Before treating a test result as RC.0 protocol evidence, confirm that:
  • the test uses the signed RC.0 artifact directly;
  • both peers advertise "3.2-rc.0" before calls use that pin;
  • the integration scenarios below run against RC.0 and retain the exact bundle version;
  • copy/paste installation and validation commands have been executed as published;
  • any unsupported Python helper or Go surface is reported as unavailable or raw-only rather than inferred from schema support.
Later protocol prereleases repeat the same protocol-tag-then-SDK-confirmation flow. The current SDK pairings do not make future prereleases compatible by default.

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Required integration evidence

Retain the exact protocol bundle, SDK package versions, capability responses, redacted requests/responses, task IDs, proposal and MediaBuy revisions, creative IDs, warnings, and delivery readbacks for each run. Evidence claims should name their boundary. Schema validation, a storyboard pass, sandbox interoperability, independent interoperability, a production transaction, and reconciled production delivery are different claims. None implies the next. Participants are not expected to publish spend, pricing, campaigns, clients, or confidential counterparties. A network or interchange that observes AdCP transactions can, with participant consent, attest to the exact version, successful task set, environment, channel, lifecycle stage, and observation window without exposing those commercial details. The production-evidence workstream is piloting that model and an implementation matrix that can accept evidence from multiple independent issuers.

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Buyer and seller lifecycle

  1. Discover the exact prerelease and capability gates.
  2. Use list_products or the advertised proposal flow, preserving the returned targeting and canonical format_options[] contract.
  3. Validate or preview a matching creative when the relevant capability is advertised.
  4. Commit with buy_products or accept_proposal; do not put creative bodies into either compact purchase call.
  5. Traffic and assign the creative through sync_creatives for a library-backed seller, or the seller’s advertised inline compatibility path.
  6. Exercise one revision-checked operational action with control_media_buy.
  7. Reconcile get_media_buys, get_media_buy_delivery, and, when advertised, get_creative_delivery through a non-zero delivery result or a documented no-delivery state.

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Generative creative lifecycle

  1. Discover a build capability and, when applicable, an account-scoped transformer.
  2. Run brief → build_creative → validation → preview_creative, retaining the selected capability and generated manifest lineage.
  3. Run a pre-flight seller validation or dry-run sync, then purchase/accept and sync the materialized creative with its package assignment.
  4. Observe the live campaign readback and fetch MediaBuy delivery plus get_creative_delivery when the seller advertises it. Pass the served creatives[].variants[].manifest back to preview_creative for a post-flight re-render, retaining creative_id, variant_id, and manifest lineage. Do not claim pixel-identical replay unless the renderer explicitly guarantees it.
Run at least one context-rendered or conversational format and one multi-format, locale, or placement-eligibility mismatch. The matching path must preserve its preview-to-delivery identity; the mismatch path must reject before serve and leave auditable evidence rather than silently substituting another format.

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What may still change

The 3.2.0 milestone is the live scope record for work that may still land during the release-candidate cycle. Use these maintained GitHub views instead of a copied issue list: Milestone assignment means candidate for the 3.2 line, not a commitment to the next prerelease or GA. A change is included in a prerelease only when it is merged before that prerelease’s tag. Items may be deferred, split, or moved to a later release as working groups resolve scope and interoperability risk.

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Known prerelease boundaries

  • Targeting-aware behavior may be present in schemas before every reference or training agent implements it. Capability declarations remain authoritative.
  • Experimental surfaces retain their experimental-status contract. A 3.2 prerelease does not graduate them to stable.
  • The 3.2-rc documentation selector moves forward; 3.2-beta remains frozen at beta.11. Pinned semver artifacts and documentation snapshots remain immutable.
  • Stable schema aliases continue to resolve to stable releases during prerelease. Use pinned prerelease URLs when validating prerelease behavior.

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Report useful feedback

Include this information in a prerelease issue:
  • protocol artifact version and wire pin;
  • SDK name/version, or raw wire;
  • buyer, seller, creative, signals, brand, measurement, or governance role;
  • transport and task name;
  • schema path or JSON Pointer involved;
  • expected and actual behavior;
  • minimal redacted payload and validation error;
  • whether the problem blocks RC.0 interoperability.
Never include credentials, signed URLs, bearer tokens, private keys, or live customer payloads.