Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, X, Amazon and Snap now run official MCP servers that let Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other AI agents work with an ad account. Some can only read. Others can create campaigns, change budgets and switch ads on. Search results mostly show each platform's own setup page or a vendor selling a connector, so this guide puts them side by side: what each official server can change, what it takes to connect, which safeguards are built in, a setup checklist, an approval rule you can copy, and how much an unchecked budget change can cost. It is useful without a Soloop account.
The short answer
An ads MCP server is a platform's own connector that lets an AI agent call its advertising API. Google's, Microsoft's and Snap's official servers are read-only today, so an agent can report and diagnose but cannot change anything. Meta's, X's, TikTok's and Amazon's can create and edit campaigns, so a mistaken instruction can spend money. Neither LinkedIn nor Reddit lists an official ads MCP server; the servers you find for them are third-party.
For most founders the safe order is: connect a read-only server first, use it for a week of reporting and audits, and add write access only on a platform that creates new campaigns paused, with a written rule for what the agent may change without asking. The checklist and rule below make that concrete.
The official ads MCP servers compared
Read means the agent can list accounts, campaigns, ads and performance. Change means it can create or edit objects in the ad account. Status and setup come from each platform's documentation on October 30, 2026.
| Dimension | Read or change | Setup and access |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | Read only. Google says it "cannot modify bids, pause campaigns, or create new assets." Tools list accessible accounts, run Google Ads Query Language searches and read field metadata. | Run it yourself (pipx) or deploy it on Google Cloud Run; a hosted endpoint is in an allowlisted pilot. Needs an OAuth client or service account and a Cloud project with Explorer, Basic or Standard API access. Google says developer tokens were sunset on September 9, 2026. |
| Microsoft Advertising | Read only: the tools "never modify account data." They return accounts, campaigns, ad groups, ads, keywords, Performance Max asset groups, assets, audiences and up to 180 days of change history. | Hosted by Microsoft. Sign in with a Microsoft account (Entra ID OAuth); register your own Entra app for ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot Studio. Available through an open flight since August 2026. |
| Snapchat | Read only. Snap says write access is planned for a future release. | Hosted by Snap and self-service. An organization Admin approves each agent, then each member authorizes it. Documented for Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Antigravity and Gemini CLI. |
| Meta | Read and change: reporting, campaign, ad set, ad and creative creation, catalogs, signals, A/B and lift tests, custom audiences and activity logs. | Hosted by Meta. Needs a Meta app with the Ads MCP use case and the ads_mcp_management permission plus ads_read or ads_management. Agencies need Advanced Access and app review. Meta announced it in open beta on April 29, 2026. |
| X | Read and change: 74 tools, including creating, updating and activating campaigns and line items, promoting posts, audiences and creatives. | Hosted by X. Needs an X Developer Platform app with read and write permission and an Ads project, plus OAuth scopes. Documented for Grok, Grok Build and Claude Code. |
| TikTok | Read and change: about 400 tools covering Upgraded Smart+ and GMV Max campaigns, reports, catalogs, creatives, audiences and Business Center. | Hosted by TikTok and "publicly available to all users" with a TikTok for Business account; no developer app. A layered URL loads about 40 core tools first. Authorization lasts 30 days. |
| Amazon Ads | Read and change: account and campaign management, including budget changes, Sponsored Products campaign creation, deletion, invoices and reports. | Hosted by Amazon in North America, Europe and Far East regions. Open beta since February 2, 2026 for Amazon Ads partners with active API credentials (a Login with Amazon app with Ads API access). |
| LinkedIn and Reddit | No official ads MCP server found on either platform's developer documentation. | Servers found in search results are third-party. Check who operates one and what access it requests before you connect an ad account. |
Read-only in the current release; local or Cloud Run deployment; allowlisted hosted pilot; Explorer, Basic or Standard access; developer tokens sunset September 9, 2026 (the GitHub README still describes an optional token). Page last updated October 28, 2026.
Google for Developers: Google Ads MCP serverRead-only tools that never modify account data, including GetChangeHistory for the last 180 days; open flight with read-only access announced August 31, 2026.
Microsoft Learn: MCP server toolsRead-only, write access planned; self-service with no allowlist for read-only access; Admin approves each agent per organization.
Snap for Developers: Ads MCPRemote server with reporting, ad creation, catalog, signals, help, testing and activity-log tools; ads_mcp_management plus ads_read or ads_management; Advanced Access and app review for agencies.
Meta for Developers: Ads MCP Server overviewRemote server with 74 tools; OAuth scopes ads.read, ads.write and offline.access; read-only agents omit ads.write.
X Developer Platform: X Ads MCPPublicly available to all users without additional permissions or a developer app; flat (about 400 tools) and layered (about 40 core tools) URLs; 30-day authorization.
TikTok API for Business: Connect a ready-made agentOpen beta from February 2, 2026 for Amazon Ads partners with active API credentials; regional endpoints; campaign management including budget changes and Sponsored Products creation.
Amazon Ads: MCP Server open betaSafeguards built into the servers that can change campaigns
Where a server can write, the main question is what happens between the agent's tool call and money being spent. The four write-capable servers answer that differently.
| Dimension | What the platform documents | What you still need to set |
|---|---|---|
| Meta | Write tools create campaigns, ad sets and ads paused, and the AI client asks for confirmation before activation. Deny rules per ad account can block creating campaigns or editing budget, targeting, creative or status; budget rules can trigger on a percentage or absolute change. Deny rules are in limited availability. | Edits to live campaigns, such as a budget change through the update tool, are not covered by the paused-on-create rule. Add a deny rule for budget increases if your account has the feature; otherwise keep the agent on ads_read. |
| X | Campaigns and line items are always created paused, and nothing spends until an activate tool is called. Leaving out the ads.write scope makes write tools fail. | Decide who may call activate, and keep a read-only grant for reporting. Signing in from a second client revokes the first client's tokens, so use one client per app. |
| TikTok | No confirmation step or paused-on-create behavior is documented. Upgraded Smart+ create and update calls should be limited to one operation per ad every 5 seconds. | Treat every write as live. Ask the agent to show the full change and wait for your reply, and check the campaign in Ads Manager before it can spend. |
| Amazon Ads | Clients can switch off individual tools with a disabledTools setting, and the account can be fixed for the session. Amazon describes the Sponsored Products tool as producing a campaign that only needs review and approval. | Disable delete and budget tools until you trust the setup, and confirm the account selection mode before any change. |
"Write tools create entities in a paused state; your AI client asks for confirmation before activation." Tools include ads_create_campaign, ads_update_entity and ads_activate_entity.
Meta for Developers: Ad creation and management toolsDeny rules per ad account or catalog in limited availability, with actions create_campaign, edit_budget (percentage, absolute or maximum triggers), edit_targeting, edit_creative, edit_status and all.
Meta for Developers: Rules and best practicesCampaigns and line items are always created PAUSED and nothing spends until explicitly activated; one live OAuth grant per app and user.
X Developer Platform: X Ads MCPdisabledTools client setting; dynamic or fixed account selection; OAuth tokens for public clients expire after one hour.
Amazon Ads API: Get started with the MCP serverDecide whether to connect one at all
Connecting a read-only server is a small risk with a clear payoff: you can ask questions of your account in plain language instead of building reports. Connecting a write-capable server is a different decision, because the agent then acts on whatever it understood from your message.
- Connect read-only when you spend on the platform every month, you lose time pulling reports, and you want the agent to explain changes in cost, clicks or conversions.
- Add write access when you already know which changes you want made, the platform creates new campaigns paused, and you can review every activation and budget edit.
- Wait when you have not run the platform's ads by hand yet. An agent cannot tell you whether the channel works for your buyers; a small manual test can.
- Prefer the platform's own server over a third-party one when both exist, so the access you grant goes to the platform rather than another company.
Ads MCP setup checklist
Work through this list once per platform before you let an agent near a live account.
- Start with the smallest access: Google, Microsoft and Snap are read-only; on X omit ads.write; on Meta grant ads_read before ads_management.
- Connect a person or system user with the narrowest role that can do the job. Meta does not let admin-role system user tokens access the server; use an employee-role system user or a person's login.
- Use the platform's documented URL, sign in through its own OAuth page, and keep tokens out of shared configuration files.
- If you self-host Google's server, do not deploy it with unauthenticated access unless an OAuth client protects it; Google warns this can expose the service account.
- Set a budget ceiling in the ad platform itself, such as a campaign or account spending limit, so a mistake has a known maximum.
- Turn on what each platform offers: Meta deny rules for budget increases, Amazon disabledTools for delete and budget tools, X's paused-by-default creation with activation reserved for you.
- Plan for re-authorization: TikTok grants last 30 days, X tokens expire after about two hours without offline.access, and Amazon public-client tokens after one hour.
- Treat text the agent reads, such as ad comments, landing pages or competitor ads, as untrusted. Snap's documentation warns about prompt injection; an agent should not follow instructions found in data.
- Review the platform's change history after the first week. Microsoft exposes 180 days of changes through the server; Meta offers activity logs.
Minimum ads_mcp_management plus ads_read or ads_management; connect with Facebook Login for Business, a user token or an employee-role system user token; admin-role system user tokens cannot access.
Meta for Developers: Get startedDeploying with --allow-unauthenticated without an OAuth client can expose the service account; the repository advises binding to loopback and keeping credentials out of client configuration.
GitHub: googleads/google-ads-mcpCopy an approval rule for your agent
Platform safeguards cover creation; they say less about edits to live campaigns. A short written rule in your agent's instructions closes that gap and gives you something to check its behavior against. Adjust the bracketed limits to your budget.
A rule in a prompt is guidance, not enforcement: the agent can still misread it. Keep the platform-side controls from the checklist as the hard limit and the rule as the working agreement.
What an unchecked budget change can cost
Illustrative example, not a benchmark: a campaign runs at $40 a day. You ask the agent to "push the campaign that's working", and it raises the daily budget by 50% to $60. If nobody notices for a week, the extra spend is $20 × 7 = $140, before any check of whether the extra clicks converted.
With a 20% cap on budget increases, the same request can only move the budget to $48, and a week of the extra spend is $8 × 7 = $56. The cap does not decide whether the change was wise; it limits how much a misunderstanding can cost before you see it. Platforms may also spend somewhat above a daily budget on some days, so read their own budget rules too.
A first week with a read-only server
- Day 1: connect the server, ask the agent to list the accounts it can see, and confirm it sees only the ones you expect.
- Day 2: ask for last 30 days of spend, clicks and conversions by campaign, and check the totals against the platform's own dashboard.
- Day 3: ask which campaigns or keywords spent money without a conversion, with the figures for each.
- Day 4: ask for the account's change history for the past two weeks and an explanation of each change that affected spend.
- Day 5: ask for three proposed changes, each with the expected effect and the figure that would show it worked. Make the ones you agree with yourself.
Where Soloop fits
Soloop does not install or operate these MCP servers in your accounts, and it does not run Meta, TikTok, X, Amazon, Microsoft or Snap ads. According to the Soloop manual, it can prepare and launch Google Search Ads after you review the campaign, confirm its budget and schedule, and complete the required payment steps; advertising costs are separate from Soloop credits, and delivery remains subject to Google's review. It can also research where your buyers search and talk, with sources. Actions wait for your approval by default.
A bounded first request: My product is [URL] for [buyer]. Research the search phrases [buyer] uses for [problem], with sources, and draft a Google Search Ads campaign brief with a daily budget of [$ amount] for my review. Do not launch anything.
Sources, limitations and refresh
The official documentation of Google, Meta, Microsoft, X, TikTok, Amazon and Snap was read on October 30, 2026; LinkedIn's and Reddit's developer documentation showed no official ads MCP server. Several servers are in beta, an open flight, limited availability or a pilot, tool lists change frequently, and some platform pages disagree with each other: Google's guide and its GitHub README differ on developer tokens, and Meta's announcement mentions deleting campaigns and approval-required accounts that its tool and rules pages do not list. The checklist, rule template, first-week plan and budget example are editorial guidance; the figures are illustrative. Nothing here guarantees that a server, a client prompt or a rule will prevent every unwanted change.
This guide will be reviewed by January 30, 2027, or sooner if a platform adds write access, changes its safeguards or launches an official server.
The Soloop manual describes Google Search Ads prepared and launched after campaign review, budget and schedule confirmation and payment, research with sources, and approval first by default. It does not operate ads MCP servers or other ad platforms.
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