Google Ads

The film shows hosted getmcpads with sample data. Its MCP Apps, from creative galleries and alerts to Google Sheets exports and bulk launches, belong to the hosted product. This repository provides the standalone native API tools.

35 read tools · 13 write tools, disabled by default.

Run locally with your own platform credentials and a client that supports stdio MCP, such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code or Cursor. Your requests go directly to the platform. For managed connections, including supported ChatGPT setups, use the hosted option.

What's new

v2.1.1: Zod 4 security update · October 26, 2026

• Update zod to 4.6.7. Every Zod release before 4.6.6 is covered by the high-severity advisory GHSA-mrhx-c7xc-m3w5: validating an oversized constrained collection can exhaust memory, and no Zod 3 release carries the fix. npm audit --omit=dev reports no vulnerability again.
• Keep the Zod 3 validation behaviour. A parameter default is still validated and completed before use, so an omitted object must still supply its required fields.
• Keep each parameter's own description when the parameter is optional or has a default. Zod 4 stores a description on the wrapped schema only, so the shared fallback description could otherwise replace it.
• Tool names, parameters and descriptions published over MCP are unchanged. server-card.json is regenerated with Zod 4's JSON Schema output, which spells some constraints differently.

Earlier releases

Full changelog · All releases

Source synchronization: SOURCE_SYNC.md.

Upgrade notes

Requires Node.js 22.23.4, 24.22.1 or 26.12.1, or a newer release of one of these lines. Older releases lack the October 2026 security fixes, and the server prints a warning on stderr when it starts on one. CI covers Node 22, 24 and 26.

This release makes no breaking change to the configuration. Two changes are announced for 3.0.0:

• GOOGLE_ADS_ACCOUNT_IDS is optional in 2.x. When set, every tool is limited to the listed customers. When unset, the server starts as before and prints one line on stderr recommending it. It becomes required in 3.0.0.
• GOOGLE_ADS_ENABLE_WRITES still accepts 1, yes and on, and prints one deprecation line on stderr. Use true, the only value 3.0.0 will accept.

The server pins Google Ads API v26. Raw queries sent through google_ads_run_gaql and google_ads_run_readonly_rpc follow v26 as well. A query that reads customer.conversion_tracking_setting.enhanced_conversions_for_leads_enabled or a hotel field of ad_group_bid_modifier must use the v26 names listed in Google's v26 release notes. Writes remain optional and require explicit confirmation.

Install this release

This is a GitHub source release. npm and MCP Registry versions are published separately. The commands below select this exact version; unpinned npx examples later in this document select the version currently available on npm.

git clone --branch v2.1.1 --depth 1 https://github.com/get-mcp-ads/google-ads-mcp-server.gitcd google-ads-mcp-servernpm cinpm run build

Configure your MCP client to run node with the absolute path to dist/cli.js and the platform credentials documented below.

Prefer a managed connection? Use Google Ads with hosted getmcpads. Connect your account, select the data your assistant may access and use the hosted MCP connection. See the site for current features and plans.

What you get

You do not need to know GAQL

The Google Ads API is queried with GAQL, its own query language, and most of its surface is only reachable that way. This server carries the metric and dimension catalogues, so the model asks for cost and conversions by name and the server writes the query.

google_ads_validate_query lets it check a combination before spending a call on it, and google_ads_run_gaql is still there when you want to write GAQL yourself.

Keyword Planner is not in GAQL

Keyword ideas, historical volumes and forecasts live in a separate RPC service that GAQL cannot reach at all. Same for Reach Planner, audience insights and benchmarks. This server covers them through google_ads_run_readonly_rpc and dedicated tools.

Getting credentials

This is the heaviest setup of any advertising platform. Four values are needed, and one of them requires a review by Google. Budget an hour the first time.

1. Developer token

From a manager (MCC) account, open Tools → API Center and apply for a token. It starts at Test Account level, which only reaches test accounts. Apply for Basic Access to reach live accounts. Google reviews the application, which can take a few days.

📖 Developer token documentation

2. OAuth client

In a Google Cloud project, enable the Google Ads API, then create an OAuth client under APIs & Services → Credentials. Choose Desktop app for local use. Note the client ID and client secret.

3. Refresh token

Run the OAuth consent flow once, signed in as the Google account that can see your ad accounts, and keep the refresh token it returns. Google's own helper script does this in one command.

📖 OAuth desktop flow

The refresh token does not expire. It is the sensitive value here: anyone holding it can mint access tokens indefinitely. Treat it like a password, and use an OAuth client dedicated to this server so you can revoke it on its own.

4. Login customer ID, if you use a manager account

If the accounts you query sit under an MCC, set GOOGLE_ADS_LOGIN_CUSTOMER_ID to the manager account ID. Dashes are accepted and stripped. Skip it for a standalone account.

You can also leave it unset. Google refuses any request against a managed account unless the call names its manager, with a USER_PERMISSION_DENIED that mentions neither the account nor the manager, so it reads as missing access rather than as a missing header. When the variable is unset and the account you query is not directly accessible, the server asks the managers it can reach which accounts they hold, and announces the one that holds yours. The answer is resolved once and kept for the life of the process.

Setting the variable is still faster: it skips that discovery entirely, and it is the right choice when every account you query sits under the same MCC.

Run google_ads_health_check as your first call. It verifies all four credentials, lists the accounts you can actually reach, and reports what is missing, without printing any secret.

Setup

Claude Desktop

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{  "mcpServers": {    "google-ads": {      "command": "npx",      "args": ["-y", "@getmcpads/google-ads-mcp-server"],      "env": {        "GOOGLE_ADS_DEVELOPER_TOKEN": "your-developer-token",        "GOOGLE_ADS_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",        "GOOGLE_ADS_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-client-secret",        "GOOGLE_ADS_REFRESH_TOKEN": "your-refresh-token",        "GOOGLE_ADS_ACCOUNT_IDS": "123-456-7890"      }    }  }}

Restart Claude Desktop. Ask it: "list my Google Ads accounts".

Claude Code

claude mcp add google-ads --env GOOGLE_ADS_DEVELOPER_TOKEN=... --env GOOGLE_ADS_CLIENT_ID=... --env GOOGLE_ADS_CLIENT_SECRET=... --env GOOGLE_ADS_REFRESH_TOKEN=... -- npx -y @getmcpads/google-ads-mcp-server

Cursor

.cursor/mcp.json in your project, same shape as the Claude Desktop config above.

From source

git clone https://github.com/get-mcp-ads/google-ads-mcp-server.gitcd google-ads-mcp-servernpm install && npm run buildcp .env.example .env   # then fill in your credentialsnpm start

Configuration

Check your setup at any time:

npm run doctor

Writes, and why they preview first

Write tools are disabled by default. Enable them with GOOGLE_ADS_ENABLE_WRITES=true. Google's own Google Ads MCP server is read-only, so this is the part to read carefully.

When enabled, every write tool returns a preview and changes nothing:

// google_ads_update_campaign_budget { customerId: "123-456-7890", budgetId: "555", dailyAmount: 50 }{  "applied": false,  "action": "google_ads_update_campaign_budget",  "change": { "customer": "1234567890", "budget": "555",              "newDailyBudget": 50, "inMicros": 50000000 },  "message": "Preview only, nothing was changed. Repeat the same call with confirm: true to apply this change to the live account."}

Only a second call carrying confirm: true touches the live account.

This is deliberate. An assistant composes these calls, and it can pick the wrong customer, the wrong campaign, or the wrong order of magnitude on a budget. A mandatory preview makes the mistake visible before it costs money, and gives a human the stopping point the protocol does not guarantee on its own.

Two further guardrails:

• google_ads_create_campaign always creates the campaign PAUSED. There is no option to create it active. Someone has to look at it before it spends.
• Amounts are converted to micros for you. Google holds money in millionths, so 12.50 in the account currency is 12500000. The preview shows both, so a factor-of-a-thousand mistake is visible before it applies.

Tools

Every tool is listed below. See server-card.json for complete parameter and output schemas.

Security

This server holds a refresh token that never expires, a client secret and a developer token. Concretely:

• None of the four credentials is ever logged, at any log level, or written to disk.
• The access token is cached in memory until a minute before expiry, rather than re-requested on every call. Reads and writes share it.
• A revoked refresh token is reported once. When Google answers invalid_grant, every later call returns the same message with the steps to authorize again, and the server stops asking Google for a token until it restarts.
• Accounts can be limited. With GOOGLE_ADS_ACCOUNT_IDS set, a call naming another customer is refused before any request, and account discovery lists only the allowed customers.
• Two hosts are contacted, and only two: googleads.googleapis.com and oauth2.googleapis.com. A test fails the build if a third host appears in the source.
• No fetch follows a redirect. Every outbound call sets redirect: "error", so a redirect cannot forward a bearer token or client secret to another host. A test fails the build if any fetch omits this.
• No telemetry. The server makes no network call other than to Google.

Full policy and reporting instructions: SECURITY.md.

Looking for a managed, multi-platform version?

Try hosted Google Ads if you want to use this source without operating a local server. getmcpads also connects advertising, Search Console and GA4 through one MCP URL. Source availability and plan limits are listed on the site; connecting an account is still required.

1. Follow the Google Ads connection guide.
2. Select the account or property your assistant may read.
3. Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Codex.
4. Try a read-only review: “Compare campaign spend and conversions across equal periods. State missing data and do not change anything.”

See the current hosted tool catalogue and pricing before choosing a paid plan. This Apache 2.0 adapter remains independently useful with your own credentials.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md. Please read SECURITY.md before reporting anything security-related.

Licence

Apache License 2.0. See also NOTICE.

Google, Google Ads and the Google Ads API are trademarks of Google LLC. This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google LLC. It is an independent client of a public API.

MCP contracts and desktop bundle

Every tool declares read/write annotations, parameter descriptions and a structured output schema. Successful calls expose the payload as structuredContent.result; errors retain isError: true. The generated server card contains definitions only.

Run npm run bundle -- /path/to/output to build a .mcpb desktop bundle from the current catalog. Credentials are entered locally during installation. Write tools remain disabled unless explicitly enabled.

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Maintained by Emmanuel at getmcpads. Questions: [email protected].