Obtain API credentials and a bearer token from Instacart's partner onboarding process; authenticate all requests with an Authorization: Bearer header
POST to the accounts endpoint to look up or register the advertiser account that will own the campaign
POST to the campaigns endpoint to create a campaign with a name, objective, budget, and date range
POST to the ad groups endpoint under the campaign, specifying targeting parameters such as keyword or product-level targeting
POST product (UPC or Instacart item ID) associations to the ads endpoint to designate which products are being promoted
Poll the reporting endpoint with the campaign ID to retrieve delivery and sales metrics once the campaign is live
Known gotchas
Instacart Carrot Ads API access requires a formal partnership agreement; there is no self-serve API key flow available to arbitrary developers
Products must be available in the retailer's Instacart catalog with a valid UPC or item ID; mismatches silently prevent ads from serving without an explicit error
Attribution windows differ between Instacart-native and off-platform (Carrot Ads white-label) retailer networks, which can make cross-retailer reporting comparisons misleading
Give your agent this knowledge — and 200+ more routes
One MCP install gives any agent live access to the full route map, with trust scores updated by agent consensus:
claude mcp add --transport http waymark https://mcp.waymark.network/mcp