Apple Ads README
The full upstream README, mirrored here for reference. Install config, tool schemas, adoption signals, and an original overview live on the Apple Ads listing page.
Apple Ads MCP
MCP server for the Apple Search Ads API v5.
Connect it to any MCP-compatible AI client and manage your campaigns, keywords, budgets, and reporting through natural language.
Quick Start • Tools • Resources • Prompts • Clients
Ask your AI things like:
"How did my campaigns perform last week?" "Pause the brand campaign and increase the budget on discovery to $500." "What search terms are triggering my ads? Add the best ones as exact-match keywords."
Supports 54 tools, 3 resources, and 6 prompts — campaigns, ad groups, keywords, creatives, budgets, search terms, geo targeting, impression share, and performance reports.
Features at a glance
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Campaign management | Create, update, pause, and delete campaigns and ad groups |
| Keyword optimization | Add/remove targeting and negative keywords, update bids |
| Performance reporting | Campaign, ad group, keyword, ad, and geo reports with date presets |
| Search term analysis | See actual search queries triggering your ads |
| Creative management | Manage ads, creatives, and product pages |
| Budget control | Create and manage budget orders, analyze utilization |
| Impression share | Generate and retrieve impression share reports |
| Multi-org support | Switch between organizations at runtime |
Quick Start
- Get your Apple credentials (~10 min, one-time)
- Generate your key pair (2 commands)
- Add to your MCP client
- Start chatting
Setup
Step 1 — Invite an API user
Done by the account admin at searchads.apple.com.
- Go to Settings → User Management → Invite User
- Enter the email of the person who will use the API
- Set the role:
- API Account Manager — full read/write access
- API Account Read Only — view-only access
- Send the invitation
The API user must be a different Apple ID from the admin. If you're the admin, use a second Apple ID.
Step 2 — Accept and copy your credentials
Done by the invited user.
- Accept the email invitation and sign in to searchads.apple.com
- Go to Settings → API tab
- Copy and save these three values:
- clientId — starts with
SEARCHADS. - teamId — starts with
SEARCHADS. - keyId — a UUID
- clientId — starts with
Step 3 — Generate your key pair
Open Terminal and run:
Then generate the public key:
This creates:
~/apple-ads-key-pkcs8.pem— private key (keep this safe, used in your config)~/apple-ads-key-public.pem— public key (upload to Apple next)
Step 4 — Upload public key to Apple
Print your public key:
Copy the entire output (including the BEGIN / END lines), then:
- Go to Settings → API tab on searchads.apple.com
- Paste into the Public Key field
- Save
Step 5 — Add to your MCP client
Pick your client below and fill in your clientId, teamId, and keyId from Step 2, and the full path to your private key from Step 3.
Multiple orgs? Omit
ASA_ORG_IDand uselist_organizations/switch_organizationat runtime. Or set it inenvto pick a default.
Clients
Claude Desktop
Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:
Restart Claude Desktop after saving.
Claude Code
Cursor
Add to .cursor/mcp.json:
VS Code
Add to your settings.json:
Windsurf
Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:
Other MCP clients
This server uses STDIO transport. Any MCP-compatible client can connect by running:
Set these environment variables:
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
ASA_CLIENT_ID | Your client ID (starts with SEARCHADS.) |
ASA_TEAM_ID | Your team ID (starts with SEARCHADS.) |
ASA_KEY_ID | Your key ID (UUID) |
ASA_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH | Absolute path to your PKCS#8 private key |
ASA_ORG_ID | (optional) Organization ID to use by default |
Inline key (no file)
Replace ASA_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH with ASA_PRIVATE_KEY and paste the PEM content with \n for line breaks:
Tools
| Category | Count | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Organizations | 3 | List and switch between organizations. Get user details. |
| Campaigns | 6 | List, create, update, delete campaigns. Pull performance reports. |
| Ad Groups | 6 | Manage ad groups within campaigns. Get ad group reports. |
| Keywords | 11 | Add/remove targeting and negative keywords. Update bids. Keyword reports. |
| Search Terms | 1 | See the actual queries people searched before tapping your ad. |
| Ads | 7 | List, create, update, delete ads. Get ad reports and rejection reasons. |
| Creatives | 5 | Manage creatives and product pages. |
| Budget Orders | 4 | Create, update, list, and get budget order details. |
| Apps & Geo | 5 | Search for eligible apps, check eligibility, find assets, search geolocations. |
| Geo Performance | 1 | Performance breakdown by country/region. |
| Impression Share | 3 | Create, list, and retrieve custom impression share reports. |
| Optimization | 2 | Campaign snapshots and budget utilization analysis. |
All 54 tools
| Category | Tools |
|---|---|
| Organizations | list_organizations, switch_organization, get_me_details |
| Campaigns | list_campaigns, get_campaign_details, create_campaign, update_campaign, delete_campaign, get_campaign_report |
| Ad Groups | list_ad_groups, get_ad_group, create_ad_group, update_ad_group, delete_ad_group, get_adgroup_report |
| Keywords | get_keyword_report, list_targeting_keywords, get_targeting_keyword, add_targeting_keywords, update_targeting_keywords, delete_targeting_keywords, list_negative_keywords, get_negative_keyword, add_negative_keywords, update_negative_keywords, delete_negative_keywords |
| Search Terms | get_search_term_report |
| Ads | list_ads, get_ad, create_ad, update_ad, delete_ad, get_ad_report, find_ad_rejection_reasons |
| Creatives | list_creatives, get_creative, create_creative, list_product_pages, get_product_page_by_id |
| Budget Orders | list_budget_orders, get_budget_order, create_budget_order, update_budget_order |
| Apps & Geo | search_apps, get_app_details, get_app_eligibility, find_app_assets, search_geolocations |
| Geo Performance | get_geo_performance |
| Impression Share | create_impression_share_report, get_impression_share_report_by_id, list_impression_share_reports |
| Optimization | get_campaign_snapshot, get_budget_analysis |
Resources
The server exposes 3 resources:
| URI | Description |
|---|---|
apple-ads://countries | Supported countries and regions for Apple Search Ads |
apple-ads://device-sizes | App preview device sizes for creative assets |
apple-ads://metrics-glossary | Definitions, formulas, and benchmarks for all reporting metrics (CPA, CPT, TTR, etc.) |
Prompts
6 built-in workflow prompts to guide common tasks:
| Prompt | Description |
|---|---|
campaign_health_check | Comprehensive campaign analysis — reviews spend, conversions, CPA trends, and flags issues |
keyword_optimization | Keyword and search term optimization workflow — finds wasted spend and new opportunities |
new_campaign_setup | Guided new campaign creation — walks through app selection, structure, keywords, and budgets |
budget_reallocation | Cross-campaign budget analysis — identifies over/under-spending and proposes budget shifts |
creative_review | Creative A/B review — compares ad performance, flags rejections, recommends winners |
geo_expansion | Geographic expansion analysis — ranks current markets and identifies new ones to enter |
Troubleshooting
"pkcs8 must be PKCS#8 formatted string" Your key is in the wrong format. Re-run the
openssl pkcs8command from Step 3.
"No organization selected" Use
list_organizationsthenswitch_organization, or addASA_ORG_IDto your config.
"Token request failed (401)" Verify your clientId, teamId, and keyId match Apple's API tab. Check that you uploaded your public key.
"Failed to read private key" Use an absolute path (e.g.
/Users/yourname/...), not~/....
Server disconnects immediately A required credential is missing. You need all four:
ASA_CLIENT_ID,ASA_TEAM_ID,ASA_KEY_ID, andASA_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH.
License
MIT