api · developers · 2026-07-12
What an API-first DSP actually means
Most ad platforms bolt an API onto a UI. Building the other way around changes what's possible — for integrations, white-label products, and teams that want agents later.
"We have an API" usually means a partial, lagging shadow of the UI: the endpoints the platform needed internally, documented after the fact, versioned never. API-first means the opposite dependency — the console is a client of the same API everyone else gets.
The Waveband contract
Every request and response is defined as a typed schema first; the OpenAPI 3.1 document is generated from those schemas, not written by hand, so the docs cannot drift from the behavior. API keys carry scopes; rate limits are published per plan tier; webhooks push entity changes so integrations don't poll.
POST endpoints accept an Idempotency-Key header, which matters more in advertising than most domains: a retried request that creates a duplicate campaign spends real money.
Why it compounds
An API-complete platform is what makes everything else on Waveband possible: white-label builders can replace the entire UI without losing a capability, partner apps integrate with OAuth instead of shared passwords, and an optional MCP server is a thin layer over the same services — for teams that want agents, not a requirement for everyone else.