Apple Ads Platform API

# Fix list: Apple Ads Platform API

From Anchor Terminal's listing at https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/apple-ads, the October 2026 research run, assessed 9 October 2026. Grade D, 53.8 out of 100.

This is everything the published grade says the listing lacks, the biggest possible gain to the total first. It comes from the reason given for each score, the checklist each category was scored against (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist), the provenance checks, the deductions, what we couldn't check and what the review panel asked for. A fix counts at the next check, once it's public.

For a coding agent working on Apple Ads Platform API: work through the items below in the product, its docs and its public pages. Each category gives the reason for its score, with the points each checklist item earned, and the checklist itself, so the gap is the items that earned less than their points. Change the product, not the wording, and keep a note of what you changed and where it's published.

## 1. Reliability, 35 out of 100, up to 13 more on the total

Why it scored 35: Read with the hosted lines, grading the Platform API 1.0. No status page for Apple Ads was linked from the documentation or help pages read (0). With no readable incident history, the record scores the brief's 5 (5). Every response carries `RateLimit-Limit`, `RateLimit-Remaining` and `RateLimit-Reset`, though the docs state no fixed quota and show 100 only as an example (8 of 15). A 429 carries `Retry-After`, and the docs give pacing rules and a sample backoff client. No idempotency key was found (12 of 15). No SLA was found (0). Version 1.0 is described as the current version, released in August 2026 (10). Total 35.

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-reliability):

Hosted APIs, MCP servers, models and platforms.

- 20, a public status page with component history (Statuspage, Instatus, BetterStack or the vendor's own).
- 0 to 30, the incident record for the last 90 days on that page. 30 for a clean record or trivial incidents only, 20 for minor incidents only, 10 for one major outage (an hour or more of a core API down, or errors across the board), 0 for several. 5 when there's no history we could read, and the note says so.
- 15, rate limits documented with numbers.
- 15, documented 429 or overload handling (Retry-After, backoff guidance), and idempotency keys or safe-retry guidance where writes are involved.
- 10, an SLA published for any paid tier.
- 10, the surface agents use is generally available, not beta or preview.

Local packages, SDKs, frameworks and stdio MCP servers.

- 20, installs from an official package with supported runtimes stated.
- 25, a public CI and test suite, passing on the default branch.
- 0 to 25, open crash or regression issues relative to activity (25 for few and handled, 0 for many, old and unanswered).
- 15, semver discipline and breaking changes called out in a changelog.
- 15, version 1.0 or later, or declared stable.

Protocols are read from their reference implementations, the public facilitators or servers, spec stability and test vectors.

## 2. Payments & pricing, 20 out of 100, up to 10 more on the total

Why it scored 20: No x402, MPP or L402 (0). No fee for API access is stated. Ads are priced per tap with a maximum the advertiser sets, and no rates are published (10). Apple advertises a 100 USD credit for eligible new App Store advertisers. No test account was found and whether a payment method is needed first was not established (10). A person must sign in, be given an API role and upload a public key in the Apple Ads interface (0). Total 20.

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-payments):

The published rubric, also on the [x402 page](https://www.anchorterminal.com/x402/).

- 40, a machine payment protocol (x402, MPP or L402) on the tool's own endpoints. 10 to 30 when it covers only some endpoints or only goes through a third party, and the note says which.
- 20, per-call or per-unit pricing published without a login. 10 for public plan-only pricing, 0 for "contact sales" or prices behind a login.
- 20, a free tier or trial that doesn't need a card.
- 20, autonomous onboarding, meaning an agent can get access without a person signing up in a browser (keyless use, x402, a programmatic key API).

Payment platforms and agent wallets rarely charge for their own API over a machine protocol, so the first line has steps for them, and the highest one that applies counts. 40 when x402, MPP or L402 runs on all their own endpoints, 30 when it runs on part of their own API, 25 when their merchants can accept one, 20 for running a facilitator, 15 for paying as a buyer, and 0 when the only protocol is their own. Merchant acceptance sits above a facilitator because the platform's own customers can charge agents through it, while a facilitator settles for sellers who wire up the protocol themselves. The counter-argument (a facilitator does more for the protocol as a whole) has a point. Each note says which step applied.

Open-source software you run yourself is scored on its hosted or paid option if it has one. A free, self-hosted package with nothing to buy gets 20, 20 and 20 for the last three lines, and 0 to 40 for the first only if it ships a payment protocol.

## 3. Security & auth, 68 out of 100, up to 5.6 more on the total

Why it scored 68: OAuth 2 client credentials with a client secret the user signs (ES256, at most 180 days) and one-hour access tokens. The private key never leaves the user, and the public key can be replaced in the interface. One scope, `searchadsorg`, covers everything. The deprecated API's page shows the client secret in the token URL's query string, while the Platform API's example sends it in the body, so no deduction is taken (24 of 30). API Account Read Only and a campaign group API Read Only role exist. No confirmation step for a write or delete was found (14 of 20). Reports return search terms and app metadata written by third parties, and no guidance on untrusted content was found (5 of 15). Change history endpoints return audit summaries and change details. Their reference pages were not read (12 of 15). security.txt is valid to 6 October 2027 and points to Apple's bounty guidelines. No SOC 2 or ISO 27001 statement for Apple Ads was found in the pages read (13 of 20). Total 68.

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-security):

- 0 to 30, the credential model. 30 for OAuth 2.1 with scopes, or scoped and revocable keys with rotation. 20 for plain revocable API keys. 10 for one all-powerful key. 10 off when a secret can travel in a URL query string as a documented option.
- 0 to 20, read-only or least-privilege modes, and confirmation or approval for destructive actions.
- 0 to 15, prompt-injection posture where the tool returns untrusted content (documented mitigations or guidance). A tool that returns no untrusted content gets 10.
- 0 to 15, audit logs or per-call visibility for the operator.
- 0 to 20, a security programme. security.txt or a disclosure policy, a bug bounty, SOC 2 or ISO 27001, advisories handled in public.

Models are read for retention, whether API data trains models (and whether that's off by default), zero-retention options and certifications. Frameworks for telemetry defaults, approval hooks, guardrails and sandboxing.

## 4. Schema & documentation, 69 out of 100, up to 5 more on the total

Why it scored 69: The four client libraries are generated from an OpenAPI document (Apple Ads API Combined Specification 1.0.0) that Apple does not publish. The typed models in the MIT libraries stand in for part of it (10 of 25). Each docs page links a Markdown twin. developer.apple.com/llms.txt answers 404 (10). Workflow guides for App Store and Apple Maps campaigns and an overview page for each entity explain purpose and order of use (14 of 20). Models carry enums and required fields, such as five required fields on campaign creation, while a filter `value` is a scalar or an array (12 of 15). The pages read have JSON requests and responses, a table of six HTTP errors and one detailed error body. No full list of error codes was read (11 of 15). The version is in the path and the changelog is dated by month, with one entry so far (12 of 15). Total 69.

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-schema):

APIs and MCP servers.

- 25, a machine-readable contract (a public OpenAPI file or similar; for MCP, typed JSON Schema inputs on every tool).
- 10, llms.txt or Markdown docs served for agents.
- 0 to 20, descriptions that say what a tool is for, when to use it and when not to, read from the tool definitions in the source or the API reference.
- 0 to 15, typed inputs with enums, constraints and required fields, and no free-form JSON blobs.
- 0 to 15, examples and documented error responses.
- 15, versioning and a public changelog.

Models are read from the API reference, the OpenAPI file, llms.txt, the structured-output and tool-use docs and the model cards. Frameworks from docs a model can follow, typed interfaces, examples and the API reference.

## 5. Agent ergonomics, 69 out of 100, up to 5 more on the total

Why it scored 69: Queries take `pageSize`, `offset` and filters. No field selection was found on the Platform API, though the API it replaces had one (15 of 25). Offset paging, filters with operators, sorting and an optional total count on every `/query` endpoint. The largest page size was not read (18 of 20). Errors carry a code, a message and details naming the field, with six HTTP codes documented (15 of 20). No idempotency key, validate-only mode or test account was found. PUT changes only the fields sent, arrays are replaced whole, and bulk calls match results to inputs by `correlationId` (7 of 20). Official libraries in Swift, Python, Java and Node.js handle tokens, and a call needs two headers (14 of 15). Total 69.

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-ergonomics):

- 0 to 25, context cost. For MCP, the number and size of the tool definitions (25 for ten or fewer compact tools, 15 for 11 to 30, 5 for more than 30, plus up to 10 back for toolsets, dynamic loading or read-only subsets). For APIs, whether responses can be sized (field selection, limits, summaries).
- 20, pagination, filtering and output-size controls.
- 20, actionable, documented error responses, codes and messages an agent can recover from.
- 20, idempotency or safe retries, and for MCP the `readOnlyHint` and `destructiveHint` annotations.
- 15, sensible defaults, few required parameters, and official SDKs in at least two languages.

Models are read for tool use, structured output, prompt caching, context length, batch and SDKs. Frameworks for how much code and how many defaults a tool-calling agent with MCP needs.

## 6. Maintenance & community, 48 out of 100, up to 4.6 more on the total

Why it scored 48: The Platform API changelog dates 1.0 to August 2026, and the client libraries are tagged v1.109.0 on 14 August 2026, 56 days before the check (20). One Platform API release and no entry for the earlier API fall in the last 90 days (0). Closed service with a changelog, a help centre and an email contact for third-party registration. No developer forum or issue replies were read (7 of 15). Current official libraries in four languages (15). The libraries pin CI actions by commit, publish through trusted publishing and ship tests and lock files. Only publish workflows were found in the two repositories cloned (6 of 10). Total 48.

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-maintenance):

- 0 to 30, time since the last release, or the last published model or API change for a closed service. 30 within 30 days, 20 within 90, 10 within 180, 0 older.
- 20, at least three releases or dated changelog entries in the last 90 days.
- 0 to 25, responsiveness. Issues and pull requests answered on GitHub (the open issues and how recent the replies are). For closed services, a public changelog and a support or community channel that answers, 0 to 15.
- 15, presence in the official MCP registry under a verified namespace (MCP servers), or current official SDKs (APIs and models).
- 10, package health, current dependencies and CI.

Models are read for deprecation notice periods and model churn rather than release counts.

## 7. Transparency & trust, 66 out of 100, up to 3 more on the total

Made of editorial 49, provenance 83.

Why it scored 66: Editorial half only. Closed service with terms effective 28 July 2026, and MIT client libraries (16 of 30). The terms let Apple retain account data after use ends and use advertiser and campaign data to develop and train AI models. The Apple Advertising and Privacy notice (11 May 2026) states no retention periods, the Privacy Policy text did not reach our reader, and no data processing agreement was found (12 of 30). Every page of the earlier API names its sunset date, 26 January 2027, about five months after the successor's release, and older versions are marked unsupported. The terms let Apple remove the services at any time (16 of 20). Contracting entities are listed by region. No sub-processor list or data location statement was found (5 of 20). Total 49.

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-transparency):

- 0 to 30, source availability and licence clarity. 30 for open source under an OSI licence, 15 for closed with clear terms, 0 for unclear terms.
- 0 to 30, data handling and retention statements that agree with each other (privacy policy, DPA, retention periods, subprocessors).
- 0 to 20, a deprecation policy or notices with dates.
- 0 to 20, telemetry disclosed with an opt-out (local software), or subprocessors and data locations disclosed (hosted).

The other half of Transparency and trust is the provenance score, computed from checked facts (below). The category score is the mean of the two.

Provenance checks not met in full (half of this category, computed from checked facts):

- Terms of service: read, states 5 of the 7 things a reader expects, and has 1 clause that costs points (6.3 of 10)
- Privacy policy: published, but our reader couldn't read it (7 of 10)
- Status page: not found (0 of 10)

## What we couldn't check

What we couldn't read counted as absent. Publishing it on a page a plain HTTP fetch can read (not only in a browser) lets the next check count it.

- The lead named the Campaign Management API 5. Every page of it carries a deprecation banner with a sunset date of 26 January 2027, so the listing grades its successor, the Apple Ads Platform API 1.0 at api.ads.apple.com/v1
- unchecked: the Apple Privacy Policy at www.apple.com/legal/privacy/, whose text is drawn by script, so retention periods and transfers were not read
- unchecked: Platform API reference pages beyond the six read (campaigns, reports, change history, `UserAcl`, error objects), to keep to about fifteen requests to developer.apple.com. Model facts come from the Python client source
- unchecked: the Swift and Java client repositories, GitHub star counts and registry download counts
- Whether Apple runs a public status page that covers Apple Ads. None was linked from the pages read
- Whether an Apple Ads account needs a payment method before an API client can be created, and whether any test or sandbox account exists
- The rate limit quota, the largest `pageSize` and whether rejected calls count against the quota
- Whether the removal of `budgetAmount` in Campaign Management API 5.6 (June 2026) came with notice. The changelog says lifetime budgets were deprecated and gives no earlier date, so no deduction is taken
- Whether Apple holds SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification covering Apple Ads. No statement was found in the pages read
- `ads.audiences` is left out of the capabilities. The docs describe audience refinement criteria on ad groups, and no audience building endpoint was found
- The terms require Apple's written approval of any press release or announcement that refers to the services. This matters before any probe result is published

## Weaknesses

- The Platform API was first released in August 2026 and its changelog has one entry. The Campaign Management API 5 it replaces is sunset on 26 January 2027
- No status page, incident history or SLA was found in the pages read, and the rate limit quota is given only in response headers
- The OpenAPI document the client libraries are generated from is not published, and developer.apple.com has no llms.txt
- No idempotency key, validate-only mode or test account was found. A PUT that includes an array replaces the whole array
- The terms let Apple use advertiser and campaign data to develop and train AI models, retain account data after use ends, and require written approval of any announcement about the services

## What costs an agent a turn today

The notes we give agents before they call it. Each one is a workaround an agent shouldn't need.

- Send `Authorization: Bearer {access_token}` and `X-AP-Context: adAccountId={adAccountId}` on every ad account call. Get the account id from `GET /v1/acls`
- Request a new access token every 3,600 seconds from `https://appleid.apple.com/auth/oauth2/token` with scope `searchadsorg`. The signed client secret lasts at most 180 days
- Read `RateLimit-Remaining` on each response. On a 429 wait the `Retry-After` seconds, then double the wait up to 16 seconds
- List and filter with POST to a `/query` endpoint, not GET with query parameters. Deleted entities return only when a filter asks for them
- On PUT send only the fields to change, and send the complete desired array for any array field. Create campaigns with `"status": "PAUSED"` before review

## When it's done

Send what changed and where it's published as a dispute (https://www.anchorterminal.com/builders/#disputes, or `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/contact` with `"kind": "dispute"`). Disputes are answered in public, and the listing is checked again by the same checklist. Paying for an audit or a listing claim changes nothing here.