Object Model

The Interchange has two object hierarchies that meet at the AdCP wire. Buyers plan and execute media; storefronts expose inventory. Both sides share one platform and one auth model, but their objects are disjoint — an agent only ever works inside the hierarchy that matches its job. This page is the canonical map. Each side gets an ASCII tree, then a table per object: what it is, its parent, what nests under it, and the guide that covers it.

Media Buys and Packages are not directly creatable. They are spawned by the platform when a Campaign executes — one media buy per sales agent, one package per product per pacing period. You read their status and tune them through the campaign update endpoint, never by POSTing them directly.

Buyer side

A buyer’s world is rooted at the Advertiser and flows down to the Delivery metrics that roll back up. Discovery, creatives, signals, and audiences attach to the Campaign — the focal object.

Advertiser                                  (top-level container, owns a Brand)
  └── Campaign                              (discovery, performance, or directed)
        ├── Discovery Session               (product search; produces Proposals)
        ├── Creative                        (manifest, attached at the campaign)
        └── Media Buy                       (one per sales agent — spawned at execute)
              └── Package                    (one per product per pacing period)
                    └── Delivery             (impressions, spend, clicks)

Object	What it is	Parent	Contains	Guide
Advertiser	Top-level container for a buyer’s media. Owns a brand, default optimization mode, and linked sales-agent accounts.	—	Campaign, Brand	Advertiser
Campaign	A campaign in `discovery`, `performance`, or `directed` mode, with a `management` state: `tracked` (a campaign the platform did not set up, mirrored read-only from a connected seller account) or `managed` (uses the canonical buyer product and media-buy lifecycle). A tracked `mode: directed` campaign projects one storefront-managed media buy.	Advertiser	Discovery Session, Creative, Media Buy, Audience, Frequency Cap	Campaign
Media Buy	One AdCP transaction with one sales agent. Platform-managed campaigns spawn buys at execute; a directed campaign projects exactly one storefront buy. Its legacy `routingType` is derived compatibility metadata, independent of campaign mode, BYOA, protocol connectivity, and settlement.	Campaign	Package	Media Buys
Package	One seller line within a media buy. Platform-managed campaigns usually create one per product per pacing period; directed campaigns mirror the seller’s native package grain.	Media Buy	Delivery	Packages
Delivery	Reported metrics that roll up per package: `impressions`, `spend`, `clicks`. Follows the AdCP `get_media_buy_delivery` shape.	Package	—	Packages
Discovery Session	A product-search conversation against sales agents. Refinable; produces ranked Proposals the campaign selects from.	Campaign	Proposal	Discovery
Creative	A manifest-based asset uploaded under the campaign, auto-synced to media buys by accepted format.	Campaign	—	Creative
Signal	A targeting or optimization input (audience, contextual, outcome) discovered from signal agents via AdCP.	Campaign / Advertiser	—	Signal
Audience	A target or suppress list attached to a campaign.	Campaign	—	Signal
Property List	A named include/exclude set of domains, apps, or deals applied to packages without a full re-execute.	Campaign	—	Campaign
Event Source	A conversion-tracking source (pixel, server event) referenced by event-based optimization goals.	Advertiser	—	Campaign
Brand	The brand identity and manifest behind an advertiser — name, assets, safety, and story.	Advertiser	—	Brand Story

Storefront side

A storefront’s world is rooted at the Storefront and wraps one or more AdCP-compatible Inventory Sources. Buyers register Credentials per source where the source requires them; those credentials gate the buyer accounts that transact through the storefront.

Storefront                                  (the sales-agent surface buyers see)
  ├── Business Profile                       (identity, terms, positioning)
  ├── Operating Instructions                 (versioned; exactly one active)
  └── Inventory Source(s)                    (AdCP agent — discovery + execution)
        ├── Component Cache                   (raw products/components, when supported)
        └── Buyer Credentials                 (per source, where required)
              └── Buyer accounts              (the accounts that transact)

Object	What it is	Parent	Contains	Guide
Storefront	The sales-agent surface a buyer connects to. Wraps inventory sources, a business profile, and operating instructions.	—	Inventory Source, Business Profile, Operating Instructions	Storefront
Inventory Source	A source that provides supply to the storefront. It may be an external AdCP sales agent, an ad-server-backed source, a linked source, or a modular source.	Storefront	Component Cache, Buyer Credentials	Storefront
Component Cache	Cached raw products/components exposed by a source, when the source supports them. Used for merchandising and wholesale reads; passthrough source calls can still be live.	Inventory Source	—	Inventory sources
Buyer Credentials	A buyer’s registered account for one inventory source, where the source requires per-buyer credentials.	Inventory Source	Buyer accounts	Storefront
Buyer accounts	The buyer-side accounts linked through credentials that actually transact against the source.	Buyer Credentials	—	Storefront
Operating Instructions	Versioned guidance that steers how the storefront responds to demand. Exactly one version is active at a time.	Storefront	—	Storefront
Business Profile	The storefront’s identity and positioning — name, terms, and how it presents to buyers.	Storefront	—	Storefront
Proposal	An offer a storefront returns in response to discovery — products, pricing, and terms a buyer can select.	Inventory Source	—	Discovery
Creative Review	A storefront’s approval or rejection of a buyer’s creative, with reviewer attribution.	Storefront	—	Creative
Media-Buy Approval	A storefront’s sign-off on an incoming media buy before it goes live.	Storefront	—	Storefront

The two hierarchies meet at the AdCP wire: a buyer’s Media Buy is the same transaction a storefront approves through Media-Buy Approval, and a buyer’s Discovery Session is answered by a storefront’s Proposals. Read the Philosophy primer for why the surfaces are split.

Where to go next

Philosophy

Why v2 splits buyer and storefront, uses SESOFI, and defaults to AdCP.

Glossary

Every term in the docs, alphabetized with links to the deep guides.

Campaign

The focal buyer object — how a plan becomes media buys and packages.

Storefront

Wrap inventory sources, manage credentials, and connect buyer accounts.

Welcome

Core Concepts

Connect

Cross-Cutting Reference

Release Notes

Buyer side

Storefront side

Where to go next

Philosophy

Glossary

Campaign

Storefront

​Buyer side

​Storefront side

​Where to go next

Philosophy

Glossary

Campaign

Storefront

Buyer side

Storefront side

Where to go next