Walmart Connect Ads
Connect Walmart Connect Ads to run Sponsored Products, Brands, Videos and Display campaigns, tune keywords and bids, and pull performance reports.
You paste the Consumer ID, auth token and RSA private key that Walmart's Partner Onboarding Hub issues to an approved Walmart Connect API partner, then pick an advertiser that granted your partner account access in Ad Center.
Partner application before this connector works
Walmart offers the Walmart Connect Ads APIs only to Walmart Connect Partner Network (WCPN) partners. You apply through the Partner Onboarding Hub, and Walmart reviews your application, a sandbox demo and a recorded production demo before it issues production credentials. Each advertiser then has to grant your partner account access in Ad Center.
- Typical wait
- Not published. Walmart's developer docs give no timeframe for any stage: the onboarding form, the sandbox demo review or the production demo review. Each stage can come back by email with a request to fix and resubmit, so plan for several rounds rather than a fixed date.
- Cost
- Walmart's developer docs state no fee for joining the Partner Network or for API access. Technology Enabled Agencies provide billing information and W8 or W9 forms as part of onboarding.
- Blocked until approved
- Everything. Without WCPN API partner status there is no Consumer ID or auth token, so no request can be signed. After approval, PopMCP still reaches only the advertisers that granted your partner account access under Admin > API partner access, and a Reporting Only partner can read and request snapshot reports but cannot create or edit campaigns.
- Works meanwhile
- Read the public API reference and Walmart's Postman collection, and generate your RSA key pairs. Once the hub issues sandbox credentials, connect PopMCP with Environment set to sandbox to work against Walmart's test advertisers while the demos are reviewed.
Where to apply: Sign in to the Partner Onboarding Hub (advertising.walmart.com/onboard/agencypartner) with a Walmart.com, Supplier or Seller login, choose your partner type (Technology provider or Technology Enabled Agency for API access), submit the onboarding form, accept the legal agreement, add integration and security contacts, upload your sandbox public key, build the sandbox demo and mark it Ready for Review. After sandbox approval, upload your production public key and submit the production demo video. New API partners can also contact Walmart Connect through walmartconnect.com/contact.
- Enter the exact company name, tax ID and entity type: Walmart says a mismatch gets the application rejected or sent back for resubmission.
- The sandbox demo step asks for 3 to 5 production advertiser IDs with a box confirming each advertiser authorized you. Leaving them out slows onboarding.
- The production demo needs a 5 to 10 minute video walking through your integration, following Walmart's API Integration Checklist.
- Partner access comes as Full-Service or Reporting Only. Reporting Only partners get GET operations and snapshot reports, and anything else fails with "You do not have access to this advertiser".
- Sandbox and production each have their own Consumer ID, auth token and key, and mixing values from the two makes every request fail.
- PopMCP needs the private key as an unencrypted PEM file; a passphrase-protected key is refused at connect.
- Rate limits are counted in operations per hour per partner, every changed row counting, and Walmart sets the exact limit per integration.
- Setup time
- 20 min
- Auth
- API credentials
- API base URL
- https://developer.api.walmart.com (Sponsored Search), https://developer.api.us.walmart.com (Display)
- Rate limits
- Counted as operations per hour per partner: each change in a request is one operation, so 5 keyword bid changes, a new ad group, an added item and a snapshot request make 8. Over the limit Walmart answers 429; retry after about 10 minutes. Walmart sets the exact limit per integration.
Before you begin
- Walmart Connect Partner Network (WCPN) API partner status. Walmart offers the Ads APIs only to WCPN partners, and new partners apply through the Partner Onboarding Hub, which takes Walmart's review.
- Full-Service API partner access if the AI should create or edit campaigns. Reporting Only partners can run reads and snapshot reports only.
- OpenSSL, or another tool that makes an RSA key pair, and the private key kept as an unencrypted PEM file.
- At least one advertiser whose Ad Center admin has granted your partner account access under Admin > API partner access.
- Credentials from one environment at a time: sandbox and production each have their own Consumer ID, auth token and key.
Get your credentials
Join the Walmart Connect Partner Network
Sign in to the Partner Onboarding Hub with a Walmart.com account, or your Supplier or Seller login. Choose the partner type that fits (Technology provider or Technology Enabled Agency for API access), fill in the onboarding form with your exact company name, tax ID and entity type, accept the legal agreement, and add your integration and security contacts. Existing API partners skip this step.
Onboarding tasks
Track each step of joining the Walmart Connect Partner Network.
Technology Enabled Agencies also provide billing information and W8 or W9 forms.
Generate an RSA key pair
On your own machine run openssl genrsa -out private_key.pem 2048, then openssl rsa -in private_key.pem -pubout -out public_key.pem. Upload only public_key.pem to Walmart. Keep private_key.pem safe and without a passphrase: PopMCP signs every request with it and cannot use a password-protected key.
Upload the sandbox public key and build the sandbox demo
In the hub's technical integration step, upload your public key for sandbox. Walmart issues sandbox credentials: a Consumer ID, an auth token and a key version. Build the sandbox demo, add 3 to 5 production advertiser IDs where the hub asks (with the box confirming each advertiser authorized you), and mark it Ready for Review.
Technical integration
Build sandbox demo
- Consumer ID
- 8e4c****-****-****-****-****b21f
- Auth token
- 1a77****-****-****-****-****0c9d
- Key version
- 1
Walmart verifies your sandbox calls before it issues production credentials.
Get production credentials
Once Walmart approves the sandbox demo, upload your production public key to receive production credentials. Then build the production demo and upload the link to a 5 to 10 minute video walking through it, following Walmart's API Integration Checklist.
Have each advertiser grant your partner account access
An advertiser's Ad Center admin adds your company under Admin > API partner access. Only advertisers that have done this appear in PopMCP's advertiser list.
Paste the credentials into PopMCP and choose an advertiser
Paste Consumer ID, Auth token and Private key (the whole private_key.pem, including the -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY----- line). Leave Environment as production, or type sandbox for sandbox credentials. Under More options, Key version is almost always 1, and Advertiser IDs is only for when the advertiser list does not load. Then pick the advertiser to connect.
Connect in PopMCP
Open your workspace, choose Walmart Connect Ads in the marketplace, and fill in the connect dialog:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Auth typepreset | Walmart Connect's APIs are open to Walmart Connect Partner Network API partners. You receive a Consumer ID and auth token in the Partner Onboarding Hub (advertising.walmart.com/onboard) after uploading your RSA public key, and each advertiser grants your partner account access in Ad Center under Admin > API partner access. |
| Consumer IDtext | Issued with your API credentials in the Partner Onboarding Hub. Sandbox and production each have their own Consumer ID, auth token and key, so use all of them from the same environment. |
| Auth tokensecret | The token Walmart issued with your Consumer ID (it looks like a UUID). With or without the word Bearer in front.Encrypted with AES-256-GCM on save and never shown again. |
| Private keytextarea | The private half of the RSA key pair whose public key you uploaded to Walmart (the private_key.pem file). Paste the whole file. It is stored encrypted and used only to sign your requests. |
| Environmenttext | Leave as "production". Enter "sandbox" only for sandbox credentials, which reach Walmart's test advertisers. |
| Key versiontext | Shown with your Consumer ID in the Partner Onboarding Hub. Almost always 1. |
| Advertiser IDstext | Leave blank to pick from every advertiser that granted your partner account access. Fill this in only if that list does not load; in Ad Center the Advertiser ID is the number in the page address under Reports > Advertiser. |
PopMCP verifies the credential against Walmart Connect Ads immediately. On success the connection flips to Verified and its MCP tools are provisioned.
Verify it worked
PopMCP lists the advertisers that granted your partner account access. After you pick one, the connection shows that advertiser as Connected, and walmart_ads_list_campaigns returns its Sponsored Search campaigns.
Troubleshooting
"Walmart rejected these partner credentials in Production"
Why: The Consumer ID, auth token, private key and key version do not all come from the same environment, or the private key is not the pair of the public key you uploaded.
Fix: Use one environment's full set of values, set **Environment** to match, and paste the private key that belongs to the uploaded public key.
"That is the PUBLIC key" or "That private key is password-protected"
Why: The public half was pasted, or the private key is encrypted with a passphrase.
Fix: Paste the whole `private_key.pem`. For an encrypted key, export an unencrypted copy with `openssl pkcs8 -topk8 -inform PEM -in your_key -outform PEM -nocrypt -out private_key.pem` and paste that.
"No advertiser has granted your partner account API access yet"
Why: No advertiser has added your company under Admin > API partner access in Ad Center.
Fix: Ask the advertiser's Ad Center admin to grant access, or enter the Advertiser ID under **More options** and connect again.
"Walmart Connect is still preparing the list of advertisers your partner account can reach"
Why: Walmart builds the advertiser list as an asynchronous report, and the first one can take a minute.
Fix: Press Connect again shortly, or type the Advertiser ID under **More options**. In Ad Center it is the number in the page address under Reports > Advertiser.
"Walmart has not enabled the Sponsored Search or Display API for this Consumer ID yet"
Why: Walmart's gateway answers that the Consumer ID is not subscribed to the service, usually because the technical integration steps are not finished.
Fix: Finish the technical integration steps in the Partner Onboarding Hub, or contact your Walmart Connect partner manager.
Writes fail with "You do not have access to this advertiser"
Why: Your partner account has Reporting Only API access, which allows reads and snapshot reports but no campaign management.
Fix: Keep the connection to reporting, or ask Walmart Connect about Full-Service API partner access.
429 Too Many Requests
Why: The partner used up its hourly operation limit. Every change in a request counts as an operation.
Fix: Wait about 10 minutes before retrying, and batch bid and keyword changes into fewer, larger requests.