google-ads

name	google-ads
description	Agent-callable Google Ads tools — search campaigns, ad groups, and ads via GAQL, build performance reports, manage campaign status and budgets, and set up conversion tracking. Use when the user mentions Google Ads or wants to read or manage advertising campaigns, budgets, or reporting — even if they don't name Google Ads explicitly.
license	Elastic-2.0
compatibility	Run `npm install` in this directory, then `node cli.js`. The TypeScript source needs Node.js 22.18+; on older Node, run `cli.js` for prebuilt / alternative-runtime options.
metadata	{"title":"Google Ads","source":"https://github.com/zapier/connectors/blob/main/apps/google-ads/SKILL.md","api-docs":"https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/rest/overview","zapier-app-key":"GoogleAdsCLIAPI"}

Google Ads

Independent, unofficial connector for Google Ads. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google Ads. "Google Ads" is a trademark of its owner, used only to identify the service this connector works with.

Tools for working with a Google Ads account against the Google Ads API (https://googleads.googleapis.com/v23/). Reads are expressed in GAQL (Google Ads Query Language) against the search endpoint; writes go through the per-resource mutate endpoints. 13 tools across account navigation, reads and reporting, and campaign / budget / conversion-tracking management. Google Ads organizes accounts as a hierarchy: a manager (MCC) account can operate client accounts beneath it. Most tools take the operating account's customerId, plus an optional loginCustomerId (the manager account) when the operating account is reached through a manager.

When to use this

• Resolve which account to act on — list the accounts the connection can access, then (when access is through a manager) the client accounts beneath it.
• Read campaigns, ad groups, and ads — list them with status and budget, or run an arbitrary GAQL query for anything the structured reads don't cover.
• Build performance reports — pick a resource, the metrics to measure, and a date range.
• Manage campaigns and budgets — pause, enable, or remove a campaign; create or adjust a daily budget.
• Set up conversion tracking — list or create conversion actions (including the offline-conversion UPLOAD_CLICKS action).

Setup

This is an agentskills.io skill.

If this connector is already exposed to you as callable tools (e.g. mcp__google-ads__<tool>), that's a valid path — call them directly. Everything below is only for standalone terminal use when no such tools are loaded.

If the connector has not been installed as a skill yet, install it first with npx skills zapier/connectors --skill google-ads (or your harness's own skill-install mechanism), then continue here.

The connector runs on Node.js 22.18+ and needs a one-time npm install in this directory. cli.js is the entry point — list every script with node cli.js --help, then learn a script's inputs and connections with node cli.js run <script> --help. On older Node, run node cli.js --help anyway: it detects your runtime and prints how to run without upgrading (the prebuilt npm package, or another runtime) — don't skip the connector just because Node is old.

cli.js self-checks readiness before running: if dependencies aren't installed it exits non-zero with the exact install command (it disambiguates a read-only directory from a sandbox-blocked package cache). Run that, then re-run your command.

Scripts

All scripts use the single connection google-ads. Customer-scoped scripts take the operating account's customerId (digits only) and an optional loginCustomerId (the manager account, when access is through a manager).

Script	Script name	Connections	Description
scripts/listAccessibleCustomers.ts	listAccessibleCustomers	google-ads	List the accounts the connection can directly access (the account-resolution entry point).
scripts/listCustomerClients.ts	listCustomerClients	google-ads	List the client (operating) accounts beneath a manager account.
scripts/search.ts	search	google-ads	Run an arbitrary GAQL query — the full read surface.
scripts/listSearchableFields.ts	listSearchableFields	google-ads	List the selectable / filterable / sortable fields for a resource (compose a search query).
scripts/listCampaigns.ts	listCampaigns	google-ads	List campaigns with status, channel type, budget, and dates.
scripts/listAdGroups.ts	listAdGroups	google-ads	List ad groups, optionally scoped to one campaign.
scripts/listAds.ts	listAds	google-ads	List ads, optionally scoped to one ad group.
scripts/listConversionActions.ts	listConversionActions	google-ads	List the conversion actions configured on the account.
scripts/getReport.ts	getReport	google-ads	Build a performance report: resource + metrics + segments over a date range.
scripts/setCampaignStatus.ts	setCampaignStatus	google-ads	Pause, enable, or remove a campaign.
scripts/createCampaignBudget.ts	createCampaignBudget	google-ads	Create a daily campaign budget (amount in micros).
scripts/updateCampaignBudget.ts	updateCampaignBudget	google-ads	Update an existing budget's amount, name, or delivery method.
scripts/createConversionAction.ts	createConversionAction	google-ads	Create a conversion action (e.g. UPLOAD_CLICKS for offline tracking).

Learn a script's input contract before calling it — never guess field names, casing, or types. Run --help on a script (./scripts/<name>.ts --help or node cli.js run <name> --help); it renders the inputSchema as JSON Schema and lists the connection flag and resolvers. Guessing the payload just produces a ZodError and wastes a round-trip.

Disambiguation & refusals

• Money is in micros. Budgets, bids, and report cost metrics (*_micros) are 1,000,000 × the currency amount (e.g. $50.00 → 50000000). The one exception is a conversion action's default value, which is plain currency. Don't report a cost_micros of 5,000,000 as "$5,000,000".
• Act on ids, not names. Writes (setCampaignStatus, updateCampaignBudget) take ids. Resolve a name to an id first with listCampaigns / search; if two campaigns share a name, list them with a distinguishing field (id, status, channel type) and confirm which one before acting — never silently pick.
• Unsupported — decline, don't substitute. This connector does not upload offline conversions or add members to a Customer Match audience (Google routes new API integrations to the separate Data Manager API for those), and does not create full campaigns or manage keywords / targeting / ad creatives. If asked, say it's unsupported rather than substituting another tool and reporting success. createConversionAction sets up the conversion action; it does not upload conversions.

Auth

Pass auth as one connection string with --connection [<resolver>:]<value>. The value is a selector, not the secret; the <resolver>: prefix is optional (a bare value goes to the first resolver that claims it). Each script declares the connections it needs and the resolvers each accepts — always run node cli.js run <script> --help to see them rather than relying on this file.

Google Ads uses Google OAuth 2.0 (the adwords scope) and additionally requires an app-level developer token on every request. The single google-ads connection covers both auth modes:

• With Zapier (recommended) — zapier:<connection-id>. Zapier-managed auth supplies and refreshes the OAuth token and injects the developer token for you. Conventionally stored in GOOGLE_ADS_ZAPIER_CONNECTION_ID.
• Direct token — env:GOOGLE_ADS. Reads two env vars: GOOGLE_ADS_ACCESS_TOKEN (a current OAuth access token for the adwords scope) and GOOGLE_ADS_DEVELOPER_TOKEN (your Google Ads API developer token). The access token is used as-is and is not refreshed — supply a fresh one.

The per-request loginCustomerId input (the manager account, when operating through a manager) is request context, not a credential — pass it on the tool call, not the connection.

Running scripts

After npm install, run a script by name with node cli.js run <script>, or execute its file directly — both take the same arguments and both accept --help. Always run a script's --help first to learn its exact input schema and connections, then invoke it:

# default — via the entry point; self-checks readiness and prints friendly diagnostics
node cli.js run <script> '<input-json>' --connection [<resolver>:]<value>
# shorthand — runs the script file directly (same args, same Node 22.18+ need, no readiness check)
./scripts/<script>.ts '<input-json>' --connection [<resolver>:]<value>

When a harness can't execute scripts directly, fall back to MCP — node cli.js mcp serves every script as a tool over stdio. Register it as a local MCP server in your client: the stanza is harness-specific (an mcpServers entry in Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code, …) with command: "node", args: ["cli.js", "mcp"], run from this directory. Run node cli.js mcp --help for auth options. Add the stanza yourself if you can edit the client's MCP config; otherwise guide the user. If a local server isn't possible, guide the user to use Zapier's remote MCP servers at https://mcp.zapier.com instead.

Output format

Every script returns a { data, meta } envelope:

• data — the script's result (the shape its outputSchema declares; run the script's --help to see that exact schema).
• meta.outputDataValidation — what validating data did:
  • { skipped: false, droppedPaths: null } — validated, nothing removed.
  • { skipped: false, droppedPaths: [...], instruction } — validated, but those paths were stripped from data: fields the script returned from the API that the outputSchema doesn't declare. If you need them, re-run with output validation skipped.
  • { skipped: true } — validation was bypassed; data is the raw, unchecked script output.

Reading dropped fields / skipOutputDataValidation. To receive the raw, unvalidated result, append --skipOutputDataValidation to the script invocation. Input validation is never skipped.

Trimming the result / filterOutputData. To shrink a large result down to the fields you need, append --filterOutputData '<jq>' — a jq expression that post-processes data. The jq runs against data only, NOT the { data, meta } envelope, so write it rooted at data (run the script's --help to see its output schema). The transformed value replaces data, meta is preserved, and the result is NOT re-validated against the output schema.

References

Load the matching reference file before working in that area:

Reference	Covers	Load it when
references/google-ads-api-gotchas.md	Auth headers, account hierarchy, GAQL, micros, mutate semantics, errors, rate limits, conversion tracking, versioning.	Before composing a GAQL query, working with money fields (micros), setting campaign status, or interpreting a Google Ads API error.