How do I install Meta Ads?

Copy the stdio config for Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or VS Code on this page. It uses the publisher's install, not a PlugMCP proxy.

Does Meta Ads need an API key?

The publisher lists these environment variables: META_ACCESS_TOKEN, META_ENABLE_WRITES, META_API_VERSION.

What transport does Meta Ads use?

Meta Ads runs locally over stdio.

When was Meta Ads last checked?

Last checked 2026-11-08. Meta Ads MCP server: 42 read tools, 24 opt-in preview-first writes.

Meta Ads MCP server

Ask better questions about your Meta campaigns.

Compare campaign performance, inspect delivery and prepare changes from your MCP client.

Watch the film · What's new · Install · Tool reference · Try hosted getmcpads

Play the 45-second film

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.

41 read tools · 23 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

v2.0.1: Native tools and security update · September 20, 2026

Use account-scoped creative reads compatible with Graph v26, including bounded historical fallback and ownership verification.
Add exact entity configuration and uploaded-video readiness reads.
Update campaign creation, budget ownership, schedule validation and post-write verification.
Require Node.js 22.12 or newer and check Node 22/24 in CI.
Update vulnerable dependencies and regenerate the MCP catalog.

Full changelog · Source synchronization details · All releases

Upgrade notes

Requires Node.js 22.12 or newer. CI covers Node 22 and 24. Version 2.0.1 drops Node 18 and 20 support. Read the current tool schemas before reusing saved arguments. Writes remain optional and require explicit confirmation. Hosted creative integrations and MCP Apps UI are outside this release.

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 v2.0.1 --depth 1 https://github.com/get-mcp-ads/meta-ads-mcp-server.git
cd meta-ads-mcp-server
npm ci
npm 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 Meta 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


41 read tools	Campaigns, ad sets, ads, creatives, audiences, pixels, catalogs, Pages, Instagram, activity logs, A/B tests and lift studies
23 write tools	Off by default. Status, budgets, schedules, renames, campaign creation. Each one previews before it applies
190 metrics	Including derived ones computed client-side (ROAS, CPA, frequency, hook rate, attribution-window views)
56 breakdowns · 90 dimensions	With a compatibility matrix that catches invalid combinations before they hit the API
7 resources	Live catalogues the model can read: metrics, breakdowns, compatibility rules, 11 workflow recipes
Forward-compatible reads	`meta_get_node_fields`, `meta_list_edge_raw`, `meta_get_insights_raw` reach Graph fields this server doesn't model yet

The query planner

Meta rejects many metric/breakdown combinations, and the error messages rarely say why. This server encodes the compatibility matrix, so it splits an impossible request into several valid API calls and merges the results instead of failing.

meta_validate_query lets the model check a combination before spending a call on it. That is the difference between an assistant that reports "the API returned error 100" and one that returns your numbers.

Getting a token

This is the one step that takes real effort, and it's worth doing properly.

You need a Meta access token with ads_read. There are three ways to get one; the second is the one we recommend.

Recommended: System User token (does not expire)

A System User belongs to your Business, not to a person. Its token survives password changes and staff departures, and needs no App Review to access ad accounts your Business already owns.

Go to Business Settings → Users → System Users
Add a system user. Give it the Employee role unless you need more.
Assign Assets → select your ad accounts → grant View performance (add Manage campaigns only if you plan to enable writes).
Generate New Token → pick your app → select scope ads_read (add ads_management only for writes).
Set the expiry to Never.
Copy the token. Meta shows it once.

📖 Meta's System User documentation

Quick test: Graph API Explorer (expires in ~1 hour)

Fine for trying the server out, useless for daily work. Graph API Explorer → select your app → add ads_read → Generate Access Token.

Long-lived user token (~60 days)

Exchange a short-lived token for a 60-day one. You will have to redo this every two months. 📖 Long-lived tokens

Which permissions?

Permission	When you need it
`ads_read`	Always. Campaigns, insights, everything read-only
`ads_management`	Only if you set `META_ENABLE_WRITES=1`
`business_management`	Optional. Business Manager asset discovery
`pages_show_list`, `pages_read_engagement`	Optional. Page posts and organic enrichment
`instagram_basic`	Optional. Linked Instagram accounts
`catalog_management`	Optional. Product catalog reads

Run meta_health_check as your first call: it reports which scopes you actually have and which ones are missing for the tools you tried to use, without printing your token.

Setup

Claude Desktop

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "meta-ads": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@getmcpads/meta-ads-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "META_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. Ask it: "list my Meta ad accounts".

Claude Code

claude mcp add meta-ads --env META_ACCESS_TOKEN=your-token-here -- npx -y @getmcpads/meta-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/meta-ads-mcp-server.git
cd meta-ads-mcp-server
npm install && npm run build
cp .env.example .env   # then fill in META_ACCESS_TOKEN
npm start

Configuration

Variable	Default	Meaning
`META_ACCESS_TOKEN`	none	Required. Your Meta access token
`META_ENABLE_WRITES`	unset	Set to `1` to register the 23 write tools
`META_API_VERSION`	`v26.0`	Graph API version. Override to pin another
`LOG_LEVEL`	`info`	`debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error`

Check your setup at any time:

npm run doctor

Writes, and why they preview first

Write tools are disabled by default. Enable them with META_ENABLE_WRITES=1.

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

// meta_update_adset_budget { adSetId: "123", currency: "EUR", dailyBudget: 50 }
{
  "applied": false,
  "action": "meta_update_adset_budget",
  "change": { "adSet": "123", "field": "daily_budget", "amount": 50,
              "currency": "EUR", "inMinorUnits": 5000 },
  "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 account, 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:

meta_create_campaign always creates the campaign PAUSED. There is no option to create it active.
Budgets are converted to minor units per currency. The yen, the won and the CFA franc have no subunit, so sending 1250 for ¥12.50 would multiply the spend by a hundred. The server knows the zero-decimal currencies.

Tool	What it changes
`meta_update_campaign_status` / `_adset_status` / `_ad_status`	Pause or reactivate
`meta_update_campaign_budget` / `_adset_budget`	Daily or lifetime budget
`meta_update_adset_schedule`	Start and end time
`meta_rename_campaign` / `_adset` / `_ad`	Name only
`meta_create_campaign`	Creates a campaign, always `PAUSED`

Tools

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

Tool	Purpose
`meta_health_check`	Agent-ready read-only health check: validates token metadata, lists accessible ad accounts, and warns about missing read scopes without exposing the access token.
`meta_get_business_assets`	Discover accessible Meta Business assets read-only: businesses, pages, Instagram accounts, pixels, and datasets when permissions allow.
`meta_get_pages`	List accessible Facebook Pages with id, name, category, tasks, picture, and linked Instagram account references when available.
`meta_get_instagram_accounts`	List Instagram accounts linked to accessible Pages, Business Manager assets, or an ad account when permissions allow.
`meta_get_pixels`	List pixels and datasets from an ad account or Business Manager when accessible, returning actionable warnings for permission-limited edges.
`meta_get_ad_activity`	Read ad account activity logs from /{ad_account_id}/activities with object, event, actor, timestamp, and extra_data fields.
`meta_get_delivery_diagnostics`	Aggregate read-only delivery diagnostics across campaigns, ad sets, and ads using status/effective_status/issues_info where available plus simple delivery insights.
`meta_get_creative_assets`	Return ad-linked creative media with actual ad names, collection covers, all carousel/flexible components, resolved image hashes and video URLs.
`meta_get_audience_details`	Read detailed custom, saved, and lookalike audiences with pagination and rich fields where permissions allow.
`meta_get_catalog_products`	Read Product Catalogs and Product Items when catalog access is available.
`meta_join_product_insights`	Query product-breakdown insights and enrich rows with Product Catalog metadata when catalog access is available.
`meta_get_brand_safety_controls`	Read brand safety, suitability, placement, and context-control signals from ad account/ad set targeting and optional block-list edges.
`meta_interpret_experiment_results`	Read and interpret A/B test or conversion lift study results with confidence guardrails, cells, objectives, and optional cell entities.

Disabled by default. Calls preview unless explicitly confirmed. Check the configuration and exact schema before use.

Tool	Purpose
`meta_create_campaign`	Create a PAUSED Meta campaign with either ad set budgets (omit campaign budget), a daily campaign budget, or a lifetime campaign budget.
`meta_update_adset_budget`	Change an ad set daily or lifetime budget after checking its parent budget and existing schedule.
`meta_update_adset_schedule`	Change start and/or end time using ISO 8601 with an explicit offset.
`meta_update_campaign_budget`	Change an existing campaign-owned budget after verifying currency and ownership.
`meta_create_adset`	Create a PAUSED Meta ad set with explicit targeting, optimization, placements, attribution, bidding and schedule.
`meta_update_adset_configuration`	Update targeting, optimization, placements, attribution, bidding, budget or schedule.
`meta_duplicate_adset`	Duplicate a known-good ad set within the selected account, preserving complex native configuration.
`meta_create_adcreative`	Create an ad creative from an existing post or an explicit object_story_spec and optional asset_feed_spec.
`meta_create_ad`	Create a PAUSED ad using an existing ad set and creative from the selected account.
`meta_update_ad_creative`	Replace an ad’s creative with another existing creative from the same account.
`meta_upload_ad_image`	Upload an image into the selected ad account using base64 bytes (up to 5 MiB decoded).
`meta_upload_ad_video`	Import a video from a publicly reachable HTTPS URL or base64 MP4 bytes (up to 5 MiB decoded).
`meta_create_custom_audience`	Create a website, engagement, customer-list container or lookalike audience.
`meta_update_custom_audience`	Update an existing custom audience name, description, retention or complete rule.
`meta_create_product_set`	Create a filtered product set in a catalog owned by the same Business as the selected ad account.

URI	Contents
`meta://manifest`	What this server exposes, and which tool to run first
`meta://metrics`	All 190 metrics with categories and formats
`meta://breakdowns`	All 56 breakdowns and where they are valid
`meta://compatibility`	The compatibility matrix, 90 dimensions
`meta://recipes`	11 step-by-step workflows
`meta://p2-readonly`	Read-only scope guidance
`meta://app-review`	Scope positioning for a Meta App Review submission

Security

The server holds a credential that can read live ad accounts, and modify them when writes are enabled. Concretely:

The token is never logged, at any log level, and never written to disk.
Requests go only to graph.facebook.com on the pinned version. Any other host is refused rather than called. Covered by tests.
Redirects are refused once a token is attached, so a redirect cannot forward your credential elsewhere. Covered by tests.
No telemetry. The server makes no network call other than to the Graph API. There is no analytics, no phone-home, and no usage reporting. You can verify this by grepping the source for fetch.

Full policy and reporting instructions: SECURITY.md.

Looking for a managed, multi-platform version?

Try hosted Meta 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.

Follow the Meta Ads connection guide.
Select the account or property your assistant may read.
Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Codex.
Try a read-only review: “Compare campaign results and investigate frequency alongside CTR. 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.

Facebook, Meta, Instagram and the Meta Marketing API are trademarks of Meta Platforms, Inc. This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Meta Platforms, Inc. 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.

More from getmcpads

Google Ads · Google Analytics 4 · Google Search Console · TikTok Ads · Pinterest Ads · X Ads

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

Meta Ads

Add this server

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Server facts

Tools

Questions

How do I install Meta Ads?

Does Meta Ads need an API key?

What transport does Meta Ads use?

When was Meta Ads last checked?

Documentation