The Deals API is IAB Tech Lab's specification for sending a programmatic deal's agreed terms from the system that created it, usually a supply-side platform (SSP), to the one that delivers it, usually a demand-side platform (DSP). AAMP, IAB Tech Lab's Agentic Advertising Management Protocols, builds on it so buyer and seller agents can quote, book and distribute deals across programmatic guaranteed, preferred deals, private marketplaces, the open marketplace and linear GRPs. The deal type decides what an agent's mandate must say: a guaranteed deal commits budget, an auction only a bid.

TL;DR. According to IAB Tech Lab, AAMP 2.0 added five transaction types to its original OpenDirect framework by adding support for the Deals API. The Deals API carries terms agreed beforehand; IAB Tech Lab states that version 1.0 does not support proposals, revisions or negotiations. In AAMP's open-source reference agents, price is settled in a quote-then-book flow, and the seller agent can then push the booked deal through the Deals API. Bid request checks and commercial terms such as cancellation sit outside the protocol.

What is the Deals API?

The Deals API is an IAB Tech Lab specification, finalised as version 1.0 in February 2026. According to IAB Tech Lab, its goals are to reduce manual entry of deal information, describe what the selling system's deal includes, and show which parties curated and sold the package.

The design is a one-way push. The origin system, typically an SSP, sends the deal to the receiving system, typically a DSP, and can then query its status. The deal's terms object holds dates, countries, a deal floor, currency, a price type (dynamic, first price, second price plus or fixed) and a guaranteed flag. For a guaranteed deal, the specification says the bidder must bid, and impressions and total cost should be provided.

For curated deals, the specification includes fields indicating whether non-publisher data is applied, whether the deal spans several publishers, whether inventory can change after launch, and what type of curation fee applies, though not the amount. Each allows "undisclosed" as a value.

What does the Deals API not do?

IAB Tech Lab is explicit about the limits of version 1.0. The Deals API is separate from OpenRTB and does not determine whether a deal applies to a given impression. It does not support proposals, revisions or negotiations, or deal discovery in a marketplace. Deal criteria are not guaranteed to be reflected in bid requests carrying the deal ID, so the buyer should always apply matching targeting on its own side.

How does AAMP extend the Deals API for agents?

According to IAB Tech Lab, AAMP 2.0 added five new transaction types to the initial AAMP OpenDirect framework: with Deals API support, AAMP covers programmatic guaranteed, preferred deals, PMPs and the open programmatic marketplace, as well as linear GRPs. The AAMP 2.0 release notes say the Buyer Agent SDK, previously limited to direct-sold campaigns, now creates and optimises programmatic deals against schemas from the Deals API, OpenDirect and AdCOM.

The agents fill the step the Deals API leaves out. In AAMP's reference buyer and seller agents, the buyer requests a quote, which the seller-agent documentation describes as non-binding and valid for 24 hours. Booking returns a seller-issued deal ID with OpenRTB activation parameters, and the seller agent can push the deal to buyers through the Deals API or distribute it through an SSP. Both reference agents include configurable approval gates for human review.

What does each deal type mean for an agent's mandate?

Each deal type places a different demand on the mandate a person writes for a buying agent. The figures below are hypothetical.

Programmatic guaranteed (PG). A fixed price for guaranteed impressions; the seller-agent documentation requires an impression count on a PG quote. PG commits budget, so the mandate needs a hard cap. A hypothetical mandate might allow PG up to £25,000 total cost per deal and route anything larger to a named approver.

Preferred deal (PD). A fixed price with no guaranteed volume, where the buyer gets first look. The commitment is to a price, so the mandate sets the highest fixed CPM the agent may accept. A hypothetical mandate might allow preferred deals up to £14 CPM on a named list of domains.

Private marketplace. An invitation-only auction above a floor, coded in the reference agents as a private auction (PA). The agent is competing, so the mandate sets a bid ceiling. Curated deals are where the Deals API's disclosure fields matter: a mandate can tell the agent to escalate any deal that marks non-publisher data, publisher count or curation fee type as undisclosed.

Open marketplace. No pre-agreed deal and no deal ID. The mandate becomes bidding rules: price ceilings, brand safety settings, frequency limits and supply path checks against ads.txt and sellers.json.

Linear GRPs. According to the buyer-agent documentation, linear TV uses the same quote-then-book flow with a required target demographic, optional GRP volume instead of impressions, and cost per point pricing alongside CPM where the seller supports it. A hypothetical mandate might state the demographic, a maximum cost per point, and permitted networks and dayparts.

What stays outside the protocol?

Three things are not settled by the Deals API or AAMP. The first is delivery against terms. IAB Tech Lab warns that Deals API terms should never be used to bid without checking the bid request; if requests keep failing to match, the specification's remedy is a conversation between buyer and seller.

The second is commercial terms. Writing about OpenDirect, the standard behind AAMP's direct-sold work, Shailley Singh, COO and EVP of Product at IAB Tech Lab, notes that viewability standards, brand safety requirements and cancellation policies currently live in PDF attachments or offline agreements, and that a counter-offer is free text. He states the principle behind AgenticDirect, IAB Tech Lab's proposed agent extension to OpenDirect: "natural language is the interface between humans and agents; structured schemas are the interface between agents and systems."

The third is accountability. Who signs off, and at what threshold, is set by each organisation. Buyers assessing agents built on AdCP, the Ad Context Protocol from AgenticAdvertising.org, will want the same answers on deal types and on where agreed terms are recorded.

What should a buyer check before an agent trades through the Deals API?

Which deal types does the agent support, and in which AAMP component version?
Does the agent compare bid requests with the Deals API terms?
How does it treat curation fields marked undisclosed?
Which thresholds trigger an approval gate for each deal type?
Once a deal is booked, what record of the agreed terms does each side hold?

The last question is the one marketplaces exist to answer. Alkimi runs a neutral marketplace that works within IAB Tech Lab's AAMP framework; its agent is listed in the IAB Tech Lab Agent Registry, and the marketplace is being built to be AdCP compatible. Each agreed deal is recorded on a shared DealSheet that buyer and seller both hold, and humans keep approval rights at the deal level.

Frequently asked questions

What is the IAB Tech Lab Deals API?

A specification, finalised as version 1.0 in February 2026, that lets an SSP or other origin system push a deal's high-level terms to the delivering system, usually a DSP.

Does the Deals API support negotiation?

No. IAB Tech Lab states that version 1.0 does not support proposals, revisions or negotiations. AAMP's reference agents settle price in a quote-then-book flow first.

Which deal types does AAMP support?

According to IAB Tech Lab, AAMP's Deals API support covers programmatic guaranteed, preferred deals, PMPs, the open programmatic marketplace and linear GRPs, alongside its original OpenDirect framework for direct-sold campaigns.

Is there an AAMP certification for deal types?

IAB Tech Lab's published AAMP material describes none. It runs the Agent Registry, where companies list the agents they bring to market, so buyers should ask vendors which deal types and component versions they support.

How Does AAMP Handle Deal Types Through the IAB Tech Lab Deals API?