| 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 --omit=dev` in this directory, then `node cli.js`. The TypeScript source needs Node.js 22.18+; on older Node, run `cli.js` for build-it-yourself / 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
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.
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.
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 the connector has not been installed as a skill yet, install it first with npx skills add zapier/connectors --skill google-ads (or your harness's own skill-install mechanism), then continue here. Installing the skill copies these files, not dependencies. Before running the CLI, a local MCP server, or zapier-sdk auth commands, run npm install --omit=dev here once. Importing the published package as a dependency in your own project instead? That npm install already resolves everything — see references/use-as-sdk.md.
Want the actual repo source instead — to browse references/, run this connector's tests, or hack on it? See README.md for a scoped git clone.
The connector runs on Node.js 22.18+. Pick the reference that matches how you're running it, and load it before doing anything else:
| You have... | Load |
|---|
An MCP-aware client — tools may already be loaded (e.g. mcp__google-ads__<tool>), or you can register a local server yourself (or guide the user to) | references/use-as-mcp.md |
Terminal / subprocess access (you can run node) | references/use-as-cli.md |
| Only your own code, importing this package as a dependency | references/use-as-sdk.md |
| No tool access, no terminal, no ability to import this package — you write your own code that calls the Google Ads API directly (e.g. a code-execution sandbox) | references/use-as-recipe.md |
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).
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 "$5,000,000".
- Act on ids, not names. Writes (
setCampaignStatus, updateCampaignBudget) take ids. Resolve a name to an id first with listCampaigns / search; if two campaigns share a name, list them with a distinguishing field (id, status, channel type) and confirm which one before acting — never silently pick.
- Unsupported — decline, don't substitute. This connector does not upload offline conversions or add members to a Customer Match audience (Google routes new API integrations to the separate Data Manager API for those), and does not create full campaigns or manage keywords / targeting / ad creatives. If asked, say it's unsupported rather than substituting another tool and reporting success.
createConversionAction sets up the conversion action; it does not upload conversions.
Auth
Every shape passes auth as one connection selector, not the secret — a [<resolver>:]<value> string. Every connector accepts zapier:<connection-id> (Zapier-managed auth — routes through Zapier's auth, retries, and governance layer); some also accept one or more direct-token resolvers (naming and count vary per connector) — check this connector's own resolvers rather than assuming. The <resolver>: prefix is optional; a bare value goes to the first resolver that claims it — a UUID-shaped bare value always claims zapier:. Each script declares the connections it needs and the resolvers each accepts. The exact syntax for passing a connection (and how to see this connector's resolver list) differs by shape — see the reference you loaded above.
Checking what's already configured first? Don't dump environment values to do it — env or env | grep <name> prints the value along with the name, leaking a live credential into the transcript if one is set. Check names only (env | cut -d= -f1 | grep -i <name>) or test a known name directly ([ -n "$VAR_NAME" ]).
No connection yet? Pick one — and follow the reference's own flow to obtain it; never just ask the user for a connection id or token as if they already have one memorized:
Output format
Every script returns a { data, meta } envelope:
data — the script's result (the shape its outputSchema declares; see the reference you loaded above for how to inspect a script's exact schema in your shape).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, opt out of output validation (the exact syntax differs by shape — see the reference you loaded above). Input validation is never skipped.
Trimming the result / filterOutputData. To shrink a large result down to the fields you need, pass a jq expression that post-processes data (again, exact syntax per shape). The jq runs against data only, NOT the { data, meta } envelope, so write it rooted at data (run the script's --help — or your shape's equivalent — 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. |
