Expose sync_catalogs through decisioning platform specialism advertisement

[bokelley]

Summary

adcp==5.6.0 includes the sync_catalogs MCP tool definition and SyncCatalogsRequest/response types, but the decisioning platform advertisement path does not currently expose it for any specialism.

In PlatformHandler.advertised_tools_for_instance(), tools are selected from SPECIALISM_TO_ADVERTISED_TOOLS. Current mappings include:

• sales-catalog-driven -> media-buy lifecycle tools, but not sync_catalogs
• no other specialism maps to sync_catalogs

The handler method currently falls back to the base ADCPHandler.sync_catalogs() not-supported implementation, so a platform cannot expose catalog discovery/sync through the normal DecisioningPlatform path the same way it can expose get_signals/activate_signal.

Why this matters

The AdCP docs/spec describe sync_catalogs as the task for catalog sync and discovery mode: omitting catalogs should return existing synced catalogs without modification. Catalog-driven sellers need this to let buyers discover existing account catalog state before sync_creatives / catalog-referenced media buys.

Expected SDK behavior

One of these would work:

1. Add sync_catalogs to an appropriate specialism mapping, likely sales-catalog-driven, and add a PlatformHandler.sync_catalogs decisioning-platform dispatcher analogous to sync_audiences; or
2. Add a dedicated catalog-sync specialism that advertises sync_catalogs and dispatches to DecisioningPlatform.sync_catalogs.

Observed in

• package: adcp==5.6.0
• adcp.server.mcp_tools.ADCP_TOOL_DEFINITIONS contains sync_catalogs
• adcp.decisioning.handler.SPECIALISM_TO_ADVERTISED_TOOLS does not map any specialism to sync_catalogs
• PlatformHandler.sync_catalogs resolves to the base not-supported method

[bokelley]

Correction: I filed this while working on signal catalog discovery, but is not the signals path. Signal catalog discovery is covered by plus the capability block. This issue should not be treated as a blocker for signals support. Closing to avoid mixing the media-buy catalog-sync question into signals work.

[bokelley]

Closing because this was filed from the wrong signals premise; is unrelated to signals catalog discovery.

[bokelley]

Correction to the prior comment: I filed this while working on signal catalog discovery, but sync_catalogs is not the signals path. Signal catalog discovery is covered by get_signals plus the signals.features.catalog_signals capability block. This issue should not be treated as a blocker for signals support.

[bokelley]

Triage outcome: Execute PR — additive non-breaking wire-up, no schema changes required.

Root cause confirmed: sync_catalogs tool and types shipped in adcp==5.6.0 but SPECIALISM_TO_ADVERTISED_TOOLS had no entry for sales-catalog-driven → sync_catalogs, and PlatformHandler had no dispatcher shim. Catalog-driven platforms couldn't surface the tool to buyers regardless of their specialism claim.

Fix landed in draft PR #790:

• Wires sync_catalogs into SPECIALISM_TO_ADVERTISED_TOOLS["sales-catalog-driven"]
• Adds PlatformHandler.sync_catalogs dispatcher (full SyncCatalogsRequest passed through — no arg_projector — so adopters retain access to req.delete_missing, req.dry_run, req.validation_mode)
• Adds sync_catalogs to SalesPlatform Protocol body under the sales-catalog-driven-required section
• Adds _require_platform_method guard → UNSUPPORTED_FEATURE (not INTERNAL_ERROR) when a non-catalog-driven platform receives the call
• Pins the boot-fail contract with a validate_platform test, per-specialism filter tests, and _project_sync_catalogs unit tests

Pre-PR review by code-reviewer and dx-expert completed; all flagged items addressed before PR open. 191 tests pass.

---

Generated by Claude Code

[bokelley]

Reopening for tracking. The original signals premise was wrong, but the later triage established a real catalog-driven specialism gap: sync_catalogs is not advertised/dispatched through the DecisioningPlatform path on current main. PR #790 is the existing candidate, but it is now conflicting and maintainer edits are disabled, so this may need a re-cut from main.