Desktop app
Check, repair and package HTML5 ad creatives without opening a terminal. Same engine as the CLI, same verdicts, same licence - a window instead of a command line.
See also: CLI guide for the terminal tool · Deep Audit (Pro) for what the real-browser audit checks · CI/CD guide for pipelines
Install
Download the installer from ad-preflight.com/download and run it. Nothing else is required: no Node, no npm, no CLI. The app carries everything it needs.
Windows 10/11, 64-bit. macOS is not published yet.
Windows may warn that the app is "unrecognized" on first run. The installer is signed by a publicly trusted certificate - open More info and you will see the publisher name. Windows SmartScreen builds trust in a publisher over time, so the warning fades as more people install it.
The app updates itself. When a new version is available it downloads in the background and installs on the next restart.
Check a creative
Drop a folder onto the window, or use Browse. Two shapes are understood:
- One creative - a folder containing
index.html - A campaign - a folder of size folders, each with its own
index.html
For a campaign every size is checked separately and reported on its own row, so one bad size does not hide the rest.
The verdict is one of:
| Verdict | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ready for adops | Everything passed, including the Deep Audit if it ran |
| Passed with warnings | Nothing blocking, but there are items worth reviewing |
| Some sizes were skipped | Part of a campaign failed and was not archived |
| Fix before upload | Blocking problems - the archive cannot be written |
Repair
When problems can be fixed safely, Fix automatically does it: injects a clickTag, adds
a missing ad.size meta, rewrites http:// links to https://.
Your files are backed up first. The original is written as <name>_original.zip next
to the creative folder before anything is changed.
Package
Create archive writes the upload-ready ZIP. For a campaign it writes one per size.
Preview
Preview runs the creative in a local page so you can see it render, at its declared size, before sending it on. Nothing is uploaded.
Deep Audit
The standard checks read your markup. The Deep Audit runs the ad in a real browser and reports what only appears when it executes: runtime errors, long tasks, CPU, failed requests, insecure requests, animation and visual problems.
It needs a licence. Once activated, the engine downloads once - about 300 MB, because it includes a real Chromium.
On a Pro or Team licence the audit runs automatically with every check, including Re-validate. There is no button to remember.
On a trial it stays a button. A trial is three audits in total, so spending one is a deliberate act rather than something a dropped folder does for you.
The report
After an audit the full report appears in the window - the same document the CLI produces, not a summary of it.
Download PDF writes it next to the creative folder, beside the archive, and opens it. That file is what goes to adops.
The report is available on failing runs too. A run that failed is usually the one worth sending to someone.
Licence
Open Settings.
Activate
Paste a licence key or a trial token and press Activate. The engine downloads on first activation.
No key? Enter an email and the app requests a 14-day trial: three Deep Audits, one creative per run. One trial per address.
Machines
A Team licence covers several machines, and Settings lists them: name, when each was last used, and which one you are on.
- Rename - click a machine's name. Hostnames are the default and tell you little when five of them look alike.
- Release - frees that seat so another machine can use it. The machine keeps its files; it simply has to activate again.
A released seat is not available to a different machine for 24 hours, and a licence can release five seats per 30 days. The machine that was released can return immediately, so reinstalls and wiped machines are never delayed.
This section is hidden on a single-machine licence, where there is nothing to manage.
Troubleshooting
"This file is not the kind of file its name says" - an asset's contents do not match its extension, usually because it was renamed instead of re-exported. The run stops there: an ad platform would reject the package anyway, so there is nothing further to report until the file is fixed.
The Deep Audit says the licence was refused - the trial is spent, or the key was revoked. Settings shows the licence state and has a Copy diagnostics button; send that text with any support request.
Files changed since the report - the app noticed the folder was edited after the last check. Re-validate before archiving, or the ZIP will not match what was reported.
Same engine everywhere
The desktop app, the CLI and CI run the same checks and produce the same verdict. A licence activated in one works in the others on that machine. Use whichever fits the moment: the window for a creative in front of you, the CLI for a repo, the pipeline for everything else.