--- title: "POST /campaigns: Start a campaign | distribution.tech" description: "From a goal to a priced plan in one call: goal (launch, funding, feature or program), product, moment (what goes live and when), window_start, window_end." canonical: https://distribution.tech/docs/api/post-campaigns generator: md-live-route generated: 2026-10-21T10:13:00.678Z --- # POST /campaigns: Start a campaign | distribution.tech - [Getting started](https://distribution.tech/docs) - [API reference](https://distribution.tech/docs/api) - [MCP and agents](https://distribution.tech/docs/agents) - [Changelog](https://distribution.tech/docs/changelog) Search the docs Docs - Using the API › - [API reference](https://distribution.tech/docs/api) - [Authentication](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/authentication) - [Scopes](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/scopes) - [Errors](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/errors) - Inventory and audience › - [GET /audience](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/get-audience) - [GET /inventory](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/get-inventory) - Creators › - [GET /creators](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/get-creators) - [GET /creators/{id}](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/get-creators-id) - [POST /creators/{id}/price-request](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/post-creators-id-price-request) - Campaigns › - [GET /campaigns](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/get-campaigns) - [POST /campaigns](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/post-campaigns) - [GET /campaigns/{id}](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/get-campaigns-id) - [PATCH /campaigns/{id}](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/patch-campaigns-id) - [DELETE /campaigns/{id}](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/delete-campaigns-id) - [POST /campaigns/{id}/archive](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/post-campaigns-id-archive) - [POST /campaigns/{id}/creator-guidelines](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/post-campaigns-id-creator-guidelines) - Plans › - [POST /plans/{id}/approve](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/post-plans-id-approve) - [POST /plans/{id}/dates](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/post-plans-id-dates) - [POST /plans/{id}/lines](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/post-plans-id-lines) - [GET /plans/{id}/quote](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/get-plans-id-quote) - [DELETE /plans/{id}/lines/{line\_id}](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/delete-plans-id-lines-line-id) - [POST /plans/{id}/lines/{line\_id}/swap](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/post-plans-id-lines-line-id-swap) - Proof and results › - [GET /evidence](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/get-evidence) - [GET /results](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/get-results) - Company context › - [GET /brain](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/get-brain) - Feedback › - [GET /feedback](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/get-feedback) - [POST /feedback](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/post-feedback) 1. [distribution](https://distribution.tech/) 2. / [Docs](https://distribution.tech/docs) 3. / [API reference](https://distribution.tech/docs#api) 4. / Campaigns API reference, Campaigns # Start a campaign POST /campaigns From a goal to a priced plan in one call: goal (launch, funding, feature or program), product, moment (what goes live and when), window\_start, window\_end. Copy page as markdown [View .md](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/post-campaigns.md) ## Overview From a goal to a priced plan in one call: goal (launch, funding, feature or program), product, moment (what goes live and when), window\_start, window\_end and budget\_usd; optionally audience and company (left out, they come from your company context), geography (worldwide), desired\_outcome (the goal's usual outcome), constraints and budget\_min\_usd. The answer's defaults lists every field it filled. The budget is held to this key's mandate: the plan is built within the smaller of budget\_usd, the mandate's maximum plan total and what is left of its monthly cap, and a budget\_min\_usd above either limit is refused (mandate\_refused, over\_max\_plan\_total or over\_monthly\_cap, with the numbers); with no budget\_min\_usd the campaign is held to the mandate instead. The campaign is started for the brand exactly as from the workspace and the planner builds the plan from creators on sale now. Returns campaign\_id and the plan as plan\_quote returns it, or plan\_note when nothing on sale fits yet. Needs an idempotency\_key; a retry with the same key never starts a second campaign. A brand starts at most 3 campaigns in any 24 hours (rate\_limited, details.reason daily\_campaign\_limit, details.resets\_at when it reopens). Scope: campaigns:write. MCP tool: create\_campaign. Endpoint `POST https://app.distribution.tech/api/v1/campaigns` Scope `campaigns:write` Changes data Yes, send an Idempotency-Key header MCP tool [create\_campaign](https://distribution.tech/docs/mcp/tools/create-campaign) ## Parameters | Name | In | Type | Required | Description | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `Idempotency-Key` | header | string | Yes | 8 to 128 letters, digits or . \_ : -. Retry with the same key and the same request to get the same answer; it never runs twice. | ## Request body | Name | Type | Required | Description | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `goal` | one of "launch", "funding", "feature", "program" | Yes | | | `product` | string | Yes | | | `moment` | string | Yes | What goes live and when. | | `window_start` | string (date) | Yes | | | `window_end` | string (date) | Yes | | | `budget_usd` | integer | Yes | The most to spend, in US dollars. The plan is held to this key's mandate: never above its maximum plan total or what is left of its monthly cap. | | `audience` | string | No | | | `geography` | string | No | | | `budget_min_usd` | integer | No | The least to spend. Above the mandate's maximum plan total, or what is left of its monthly cap, the campaign is refused (mandate\_refused). Left out, the budget is held to the mandate instead of refused. | | `desired_outcome` | string | No | | | `company` | string | No | | | `constraints` | string | No | | JSON body, every field ``` { "goal": "launch", "product": "", "moment": "", "audience": "", "geography": "", "window_start": "", "window_end": "", "budget_usd": 10, "budget_min_usd": 1, "desired_outcome": "", "company": "", "constraints": "" } ``` ## Request with curl Set `DISTRIBUTION_API_KEY` to a key from Developers with the `campaigns:write` scope, and each path variable to an id from an earlier answer. The body carries the required fields. curl ``` curl -X POST "https://app.distribution.tech/api/v1/campaigns" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $DISTRIBUTION_API_KEY" \ -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "goal": "launch", "product": "", "moment": "", "window_start": "", "window_end": "", "budget_usd": 10 }' ``` ## Response `201` OK. The body has these fields: | Name | Type | Required | Description | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `campaign_id` | string (uuid) | Yes | | | `status` | one of "plan\_ready", "no\_plan" | Yes | | | `plan` | null or object | Yes | | | `plan_note` | string or null | Yes | | | `defaults` | array of one of "company", "audience", "geography", "desired\_outcome" | No | The fields filled because the request left them out. | | `budget` | object | No | The budget the campaign was stored with. held is true when budget\_usd alone was held lower, to what the mandate allows. | 201 response body, every field with its type ``` { "campaign_id": "", "status": "plan_ready", "plan": { "plan_id": "", "campaign_id": "", "version": 0, "status": "awaiting_approval", "currency": "", "launch_window_start": "", "launch_window_end": "", "terms_fingerprint": "", "total_cents": 0, "totals": {}, "lines": [ { "id": "", "creator": { "id": "", "name": "", "handle": "", "profile_url": "", "avatar_url": "", "followers": 0 }, "creator_id": "", "unit_id": "", "stage_id": "planned", "stage": "", "channel": "", "channel_label": "", "format": "", "deliverable": "", "scheduled_date": "", "price_cents": 0, "vetting": "", "reason": "", "expected_views_low": 0, "expected_views_high": 0, "on_sale": false } ], "payment_options": [ { "rail": "checkout", "label": "", "clears": "" } ], "agent_payment": "checkout", "brand_terms": { "current_version": "", "current_number": 0, "url": "", "accepted_for_this_key": "", "accepted_number_for_this_key": 0 }, "mandate": { "key_id": "", "version": 0, "max_plan_cents": 0, "monthly_cap_cents": 0, "channels": [ "" ], "may_approve": false, "may_exceed_budget": false, "expires_at": "", "updated_at": "", "spent_this_month_cents": 0, "terms_version": "", "terms_accepted_at": "", "terms_accepted_email": "" }, "policy": { "allowed": false, "refusal": {} }, "blocked_lines": [ "" ], "over_budget": { "budget_cents": 0, "total_cents": 0, "over_by_cents": 0 }, "order": {}, "valid_while": "terms_fingerprint_unchanged" }, "plan_note": "", "defaults": [ "company" ], "budget": { "min_usd": 0, "max_usd": 0, "held": false } } ``` ## Errors | Status | When | | --- | --- | | `400` | A parameter is not valid: details.problems names each field and what it accepts. | | `401` | No API key, an unknown one, or a revoked one. | | `403` | The key lacks the scope, or the mandate refuses (mandate\_refused, with the limit and how much over). | | `404` | No plan, line or creator of yours has that id. | | `409` | conflict (with a reason), idempotency\_conflict, or in\_progress (Retry-After). | | `422` | unprocessable: the body is readable but a value cannot be used (a blank or too long name, a campaign that cannot be planned yet); details.problems names each field when there are several. | | `429` | Too many requests for this key in the current minute (60); Retry-After and RateLimit-Reset say when to try again. On POST /campaigns and on POST /plans/current/lines when it starts a plan: the brand's 3 new campaigns in 24 hours are used (details.reason daily\_campaign\_limit); details.resets\_at and Retry-After say when the limit reopens, a rolling 24 hours from the first of them, not a calendar day; archiving or deleting a campaign does not give its slot back. On GET /creators and GET /creators/{id}: a creator read limit is used (details.reason per\_minute, daily\_lists, daily\_reveals, daily\_seen or locked). daily\_seen is your workspace's one pool of 300 creator views a day (300 different creators shown or opened since midnight UTC), shared by the app and every API key of the brand: details.scope workspace and details.limit 300; a creator already seen today, in the app or through any key, still opens and costs nothing. The other reasons are this key's own limit (details.scope key) or the brand's ceiling over all its keys (details.scope api). | | `500` | internal: the request failed on our side. Retry it with the same Idempotency-Key. | | `503` | unavailable: writes are not available right now (for an approval: payments are not open yet). | ## Related endpoints - [`GET /campaigns`](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/get-campaigns): Your campaigns and where each stands - [`GET /campaigns/{id}`](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/get-campaigns-id): Where one campaign stands - [`PATCH /campaigns/{id}`](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/patch-campaigns-id): Rename a campaign - [`DELETE /campaigns/{id}`](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/delete-campaigns-id): Delete a draft campaign - [`POST /campaigns/{id}/archive`](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/post-campaigns-id-archive): Archive a campaign - [`POST /campaigns/{id}/creator-guidelines`](https://distribution.tech/docs/api/post-campaigns-id-creator-guidelines): Set the creator guidelines ## Get access Keys are created in Developers once your brand is approved. 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