Microsoft Advertising API vs Refersion MCP

Microsoft Advertising API 79

A public WSDL for each of the six SOAP services, and REST URLs with JSON templates on every operation page. No public OpenAPI file was found, only a generated openapi_client inside the SDKs (15). learn.microsoft.com/llms.txt returns 404, but every page is returned as Markdown for Accept: text/markdown (10). Reference pages state each element's purpose, limits and required headers, with guides per service (15). Typed data objects and value sets, required elements marked (13). Request and response templates in SOAP and JSON with ValueHere placeholders, code examples in four languages and an operation error code list (11). Version 13 with dated monthly release notes (15).

Refersion MCP 46

The MCP tool definitions can be read only after signing in, which this run didn't do. Refersion says each tool maps to an endpoint of API v2026-08, whose OpenAPI 3.1 file is public at refersion.dev with 36 paths and 44 operations. That counts in part, since it's the API's contract and not the tools' (12 of 25). No llms.txt on refersion.com or refersion.dev (both 404) and no Markdown docs for agents (0 of 10). The OpenAPI descriptions run 240 to 1,221 characters and state behaviour and preconditions (an affiliate with unpaid conversions can't be deleted, topics replaces rather than merges), with little on when not to call, and the MCP descriptions weren't read (8 of 20). 315 required markers, but only 5 enums, and statuses such as PENDING or APPROVED are listed in prose rather than as enums (6 of 15). 615 examples and documented 401, 402, 403, 404, 422 and 429 responses in the API file, none readable for the MCP tools (10 of 15). A dated API version with a no-breaking-change commitment and dated product posts on the blog. The changelog site wasn't read (its robots.txt disallows agents) and the MCP server has no version of its own (10 of 15). Total 46.

Microsoft Advertising API 30

No x402, MPP or L402 (0). No fee for API access was found, and none is stated as waived. Ad spend is set by auction, so no unit price is published (10). The sandbox needs no payment method and takes a shared developer token (20). A person signs up, registers an Entra app and grants consent in a browser (0).

Refersion MCP 12

No machine payment protocol (0 of 40). Plan prices are public without a login, Launch $39 and Growth $199 a month plus 3 or 2 per cent of affiliate-driven sales, but nothing says which plan includes the MCP server, and Scale is through sales (10 of 20). The free Marketplace Listing only publishes an offer, no trial is published, and API access is ticked for Growth only (0 of 20). A merchant signs up in a browser and approves the assistant at consent. Clients can identify themselves by a client ID metadata document with no manual registration, which earns 2 (2 of 20). Total 12.

Microsoft Advertising API 63

Reports take a chosen column list and Get operations take IDs and ReturnAdditionalFields, but entity responses return whole objects (15). PageInfo paging and predicates on Search operations, report filters and scopes, and entity selection on bulk downloads (17). Numeric and symbolic error codes, a TrackingId on every response and PartialErrors per item, though SOAP faults arrive as HTTP 500 and some failures are an unmapped internal error (15). No idempotency key or validate-only mode found. Partial update on most campaign objects is the only retry aid (5). SDKs for .NET, Java, Python and PHP. Each call needs a token and up to three more headers (11).

Refersion MCP 50

Tool count and definition size couldn't be read. Refersion says each tool maps to an endpoint of an API with 44 operations, which points to more than 30 tools, so this takes the more-than-30 reading (5 of 25). The API has page and limit, a cursor on webhook endpoints, sorting and many range filters on affiliates and conversions; whether the tools pass all of them through wasn't seen (15 of 20). Documented 422 validation errors, 402 plan-limit messages such as 'Your plan does not include webhook access.', and a 429 body with retryAfter (14 of 20). Refersion says every tool is marked as reading, changing or deleting, so clients can confirm a delete, but the annotations weren't read and no idempotency keys exist (8 of 20). No API key or SDK is needed for the MCP server, and Refersion's examples are plain requests. Required inputs couldn't be read (8 of 15). Total 50.

Microsoft Advertising API 60

Graded on the public API, read with the hosted lines. Platform health blog at status.ads.microsoft.com with areas for each API and dated posts (20). 40 posts from 20 July to 7 October 2026, 21 tagged Reporting API and all of those for delayed data, from three hours to six days. None reports the Campaign Management, Bulk, Customer Management or Ad Insight APIs down. Scored between minor and major for the frequency (15). Throttling is documented without numbers, and the Bulk and Reporting limits are called internal and subject to change (5). Wait 60 seconds after error 117 and up to 15 minutes after Bulk error 4204, with partial success on writes, but no idempotency key found (10). No SLA found (0). Version 13 is generally available. The MCP server is in open beta and isn't the surface graded (10).

Refersion MCP 72

Read with the hosted lines, for the remote server at api.refersion.com/mcp. status.refersion.com is an Atlassian Statuspage with components for the dashboards, click and conversion tracking, REST API and GraphQL API, though none for the MCP server (20). The last 90 days hold one incident, on 1 September 2026, when the marketing website didn't load for about two hours while tracking and the app stayed up. The one before was a cloud-provider degradation on 20 October 2025 (20 of 30). API v2026-08 publishes 300 reads, 60 writes and 30 webhook-endpoint requests a minute per account. The tools map to that API per Refersion, but no limit is stated for the MCP server itself (12 of 15). 429 responses carry Retry-After with the wait in the body, and a few operations are documented as idempotent, but there are no idempotency keys for writes such as manual credits (10 of 15). No SLA found (0 of 10). The server isn't labelled beta or preview on the product page or the launch post (10). Total 72.