meta-ads-mcp-server

An open-source Model Context Protocol server for the Facebook (Meta) Ads Marketing API. It lets Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client read and analyse your advertising data, and change it if you choose to.

You run it. Your token stays on your machine. Nothing is proxied through a third party.

npx -y @getmcpads/meta-ads-mcp-server

Also listed in the MCP Registry as com.getmcpads/meta-ads, so clients that read the registry can install it by name.

Prefer not to run it yourself? getmcpads.com is the hosted version of this server, with Meta Ads alongside Google Ads, TikTok Ads, Pinterest Ads, GA4 and Search Console behind a single endpoint, hosted OAuth, and cross-platform reporting. Same tools, same safety model, no setup.

What you get

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.

How this compares to Meta's own MCP server

Meta ships an official MCP server, hosted at mcp.facebook.com/ads. It is a good product. Here is an honest comparison, because the right choice depends on what you need.

Choose Meta's if you want the fastest possible setup and don't need to see the code. Choose this one if you need your data to stay on your infrastructure, want to audit or extend what the model can do, or want writes that can't fire on the first call. Choose getmcpads.com if you want this server's capabilities without running it, or you need more than one ad platform in the same conversation.

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.

1. Go to Business Settings → Users → System Users
2. Add a system user. Give it the Employee role unless you need more.
3. Assign Assets → select your ad accounts → grant View performance (add Manage campaigns only if you plan to enable writes).
4. Generate New Token → pick your app → select scope ads_read (add ads_management only for writes).
5. Set the expiry to Never.
6. 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?

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/getmcpads-com/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

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.

Tools