Universal Google Ads Manager for Claude Code

A comprehensive, enterprise-grade Google Ads management plugin for Claude Code and Cowork. Automate campaign creation, ad optimization, asset management, and performance analysis across multiple countries with 186 tools, 51 slash commands and 2 skills.

Installing? Follow INSTALL.md — a step-by-step runbook an AI assistant can execute on a clean computer (virtualenv, credentials, verify_install.py, Claude Code / Claude Desktop registration, troubleshooting). The sections below are background reference.

What's new in 1.1.0 – 1.1.2

• 1.1.2 — Windows: install scripts print UTF-8 (no crash on cp1252 consoles), install.sh points Windows users to the PowerShell steps, INSTALL.md section 2a for Claude Desktop (Code tab) and bypass-permissions installs.

• 1.1.1 — google_ads_get_account_summary, google_ads_get_campaign_details and google_ads_get_performance_report queried metrics that the current Google Ads API does not have (average_position, conversion_rate); they now use conversions_from_interactions_rate.

• Reviewed Search delivery — google_ads_create_reviewed_search_campaign, google_ads_set_exact_campaign_conversion_goal and google_ads_optimize_reviewed_search create and tune Search campaigns PAUSED, validate-only by default, with naming/destination rules from config.json (search_launch). New skill google-ads-search-launch guides research → owner review → delivery.

• E-commerce engine — Producthero-style labelizer (ecom_labelizer_run/apply/deploy/verify), supplemental label feeds, IF-THEN feed rules, PMax architecture, catalog comparison and SEO title optimizer.

• Shopping coverage monitor — batch_shopping_coverage_audit and batch_shopping_fix_bids (stores in shopping_coverage.stores).

• Campaign config tracker and new-products roadmap — batch_sync_campaign_config, batch_campaign_config_dashboard, batch_np_roadmap_dashboard/update.

• Offline conversions — google_ads_upload_click_conversions (gclid / gbraid / wbraid).

• Search-terms analyzers — offline CLI scripts for harvest, negatives, country priority and channel arbitrage from "Search terms report" CSV exports.

• Fixes — keyword-intelligence tools (batch_keyword_research, batch_mine_country_keywords, …) load again; all account-specific defaults now come from config.json; outbound HTTPS keeps certificate verification.

• 15 new slash commands (51 total). All new config.json sections are optional — see config.example.json.

Features

Core Capabilities

• 186 Integrated Tools — Full Google Ads API coverage for Search, Shopping, Performance Max, and Display campaigns

• 27 Slash Commands — Quick access to common workflows: /ads-health, /ads-audit, /ads-report, and more

• Batch Optimizer — Process hundreds of products in parallel with automatic asset generation, image handling, and error recovery

• AI Ad Copy Generation — Bring your own OpenAI/Anthropic key for intelligent, localized ad copy (fallback to templates)

• Multi-Country Support — Built-in configurations for 30+ countries with localized templates, feeds, and merchant IDs

• Product Dashboard — Real-time visibility into setup progress, asset completeness, and error tracking

• Keyword Intelligence — Mine converting keywords across all campaigns, map to products, build category libraries

• Shopping Campaign Optimization — Bid automation, product grouping, exclusions, and cross-country cloning

• Performance Analytics — Location, device, time-of-day, and keyword spend analysis with trend detection

• Guardrail Validation — Automatic eligibility checks, disapproval detection, and remediation workflows

Advanced Features

• Market Intelligence Pre-warming — Gather trends, competitor ads, and keyword data before batch setup

• Image Processing — Automatic validation, cropping, enhancement via GPT-4o, and upload to Google Ads

• API Quota Monitoring — Track daily quota usage with health checks and warnings

• Job Queuing — Async processing with progress polling and automatic resume-on-interrupt

• Changelog & Audit Trail — Track all changes, fixes, and decisions with persistent logging

• Demo Mode — Safe testing without API calls

Table of Contents

1. Prerequisites

2. Google Cloud Project Setup

3. Enable APIs

4. OAuth 2.0 Credentials

5. Google Ads Developer Token

6. Generate Refresh Token

7. Google Merchant Center Setup

8. Plugin Installation

9. Configuration

10. Verify Installation

11. AI Ad Copy Setup (Optional)

12. Slash Commands Reference

13. Architecture Overview

14. Troubleshooting

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you need:

• A Google Ads account (any type — even a free account works for initial setup)

• A Google Cloud Platform (GCP) account — console.cloud.google.com

• Python 3.10+ installed on your system

• Claude Code or Cowork (Claude desktop app)

• Optionally: a Google Merchant Center account (for Shopping campaigns)

• Optionally: an OpenAI API key (for AI-generated ad copy)

1. Google Cloud Project Setup

1.1 Create a New GCP Project

1. Go to Google Cloud Console

2. Click the project dropdown in the top bar → "New Project"

3. Enter project details:

   • Project name: google-ads-plugin (or anything descriptive)

   • Organization: your org or "No organization"

   • Location: leave default

4. Click "Create"

5. Wait ~30 seconds for the project to be created

6. Select the new project from the project dropdown

Save your Project ID — you'll need it later. It's shown on the project dashboard and looks like google-ads-plugin-123456.

1.2 Enable Billing (Required for API access)

Even though the Google Ads API itself is free, GCP requires a billing account to enable APIs:

1. Go to Billing in the left sidebar (or billing page)

2. Click "Link a billing account"

3. If you don't have one, click "Create billing account" and follow the wizard

4. Link it to your project

The Google Ads API and Merchant Center API have no per-call charges. You only pay for GCP services if you use them (Cloud Functions, BigQuery, etc.), which this plugin does NOT require.

2. Enable Required APIs

You need to enable 3 APIs in your GCP project:

Via Google Cloud Console (GUI)

1. Go to APIs & Services → Library (link)

2. Search for and enable each of these:

3. For each API: click "Enable" button → wait for confirmation

Via gcloud CLI (Alternative)

# Set your project
gcloud config set project YOUR_PROJECT_ID

# Enable APIs
gcloud services enable googleads.googleapis.com
gcloud services enable content.googleapis.com
gcloud services enable pagespeedonline.googleapis.com

Verify APIs are Enabled

Go to APIs & Services → Dashboard → you should see all 3 APIs listed with "Enabled" status.

3. Create OAuth 2.0 Credentials

The plugin uses OAuth 2.0 to authenticate with Google Ads and Merchant Center APIs. You need to create a Desktop application OAuth client.

3.1 Configure OAuth Consent Screen

1. Go to APIs & Services → OAuth consent screen (link)

2. Select User Type:

   • Choose "External" (works for any Google account)

   • Click "Create"

3. Fill in the form:

   • App name: Google Ads Plugin (or your brand name)

   • User support email: your email

   • Developer contact: your email

4. Click "Save and Continue"

5. Scopes page — click "Add or Remove Scopes" and add:

   • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/adwords (Google Ads)

   • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/content (Merchant Center)

   • Or simply type adwords and content in the filter

6. Click "Update" → "Save and Continue"

7. Test users page — click "Add Users" → add your Gmail/Google Workspace email

8. Click "Save and Continue" → "Back to Dashboard"

Important: while the consent screen is in "Testing" mode, Google expires refresh tokens after 7 days. After adding yourself as a test user, click Publish app → In production. Unverified apps show a warning at sign-in (Advanced → Go to app), which is fine for your own account; Google verification is only needed for distributing the app to other organisations.

3.2 Create OAuth Client ID

1. Go to APIs & Services → Credentials (link)

2. Click "+ Create Credentials" → "OAuth client ID"

3. Select Application type: "Desktop app"

4. Name: Google Ads Plugin Desktop Client

5. Click "Create"

6. A popup shows your credentials:

   • Client ID: 123456789-abcdef.apps.googleusercontent.com

   • Client Secret: <your-client-secret>

7. Click "Download JSON" → save as client_secret.json (backup)

8. Copy both values — you'll need them in step 5

Save these securely! The Client Secret is like a password. Never commit it to git or share publicly.

4. Google Ads Developer Token

The Developer Token is required to access the Google Ads API. It's tied to your Google Ads Manager (MCC) account.

4.1 If You Have an MCC Account

1. Sign in to Google Ads

2. Navigate to your Manager account (MCC)

3. Go to Tools & Settings (wrench icon) → Setup → API Center

4. If you don't see "API Center", you may need to first request access:

   • Fill out the API access request form

5. Your Developer Token is displayed (looks like: ABcDeFgHiJkLmNoPqRs)

6. Access level will be one of:

   • Test Account — limited to test accounts, no real data

   • Basic Access — full read/write, up to 15,000 operations/day

   • Standard Access — higher quotas

4.2 If You Don't Have an MCC Account

1. Go to Google Ads Manager Accounts

2. Click "Create a manager account"

3. Fill in your business details

4. Once created, follow step 4.1 above

4.3 Developer Token Access Levels

For this plugin: Basic Access is sufficient. Apply for it in the API Center. Approval usually takes 1-3 business days. You can start testing with Test Access immediately.

4.4 Apply for Basic Access

1. In API Center, click "Apply for Basic Access"

2. Fill in the form:

   • Product type: "Internal tools (not public-facing)"

   • API usage: Describe your use: "Automated campaign management, batch product setup, performance reporting"

   • Implementation details: "MCP plugin for Claude Code, managing campaigns via Google Ads API"

3. Submit and wait for approval email (1-3 business days)

5. Generate Refresh Token

The refresh token lets the plugin call Google Ads (and Merchant Center) without signing in again. The bundled script runs Google's sign-in in your browser and writes the token straight into .env (permissions 600) — it is never printed:

.venv/bin/python generate_refresh_token.py --client-secrets ~/Downloads/client_secret_XXXX.json

• Use the Desktop app client JSON from step 3.2.

• Sign in with the Google account that has access to the Google Ads account (and Merchant Center); approve.

• --no-browser prints the URL instead (open it on the same computer); --ads-only skips the Merchant Center scope.

• If Google returns no refresh token, remove the app at https://myaccount.google.com/permissions and run it again.

Alternative — OAuth Playground: only works with a Web application client that has https://developers.google.com/oauthplayground as an authorized redirect URI. In the Playground settings tick Use your own OAuth credentials, authorize the scopes https://www.googleapis.com/auth/adwords and https://www.googleapis.com/auth/content, exchange the code, and put the refresh token into .env as GOOGLE_ADS_REFRESH_TOKEN.

6. Google Merchant Center Setup

Google Merchant Center is required only if you want to manage Shopping campaigns or Performance Max campaigns with product feeds. Skip this section if you only use Search campaigns.

6.1 Create a Merchant Center Account

1. Go to Google Merchant Center

2. Click "Get Started" or sign in with your Google account

3. Fill in business details:

   • Business name: your company name

   • Country: your primary market

   • Website URL: your shop domain (e.g., https://www.yourshop.com)

4. Verify and claim your website (follow the on-screen instructions — options include HTML tag, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, or DNS record)

6.2 Link Merchant Center to Google Ads

1. In Merchant Center, go to Settings → Linked accounts (or Tools → Linked accounts in newer UI)

2. Click "Link account" → "Google Ads"

3. Enter your Google Ads Customer ID (10-digit number, e.g., 123-456-7890)

4. Click "Send link request"

5. Go to Google Ads → Tools & Settings → Setup → Linked accounts → Google Merchant Center

6. Approve the pending link request

6.3 Note Your Merchant Center IDs

You'll need the Merchant Center account ID(s) for the plugin config:

1. In Merchant Center, your Account ID is shown in the top-right corner or in Settings → Account info

2. If you have a Multi-client account (MCA) with sub-accounts per country:

   • Go to Settings → Sub-accounts

   • Note each sub-account's ID and country

6.4 Content API for Shopping — Authentication

The plugin uses the Content API for Shopping (enabled in step 2) to read products, check statuses, and manage feeds. Authentication uses the same OAuth credentials from step 3 — no additional setup needed.

The Refresh Token generated in step 5 already includes the content scope, so it works for both Google Ads API and Merchant Center API.

6.5 Product Feeds

If you use Shopify, WooCommerce, or similar platforms, set up product feeds in Merchant Center:

1. Go to Products → Feeds in Merchant Center

2. Click "+" to add a new feed

3. Configure:

   • Country: target market

   • Language: matching language

   • Feed type: "Scheduled fetch" (recommended for Shopify/WooCommerce)

   • Feed URL: your XML/RSS product feed URL

   • Fetch schedule: daily or more frequent

4. Save and trigger the first fetch

5. Note the Feed URL — you'll add it to config.json

7. Plugin Installation & MCP Server Setup

Full runbook: INSTALL.md. In short:

7.1 Code and dependencies (virtualenv)

git clone https://github.com/ai-godfather/google-mcp-universal.git ~/google-mcp-universal
cd ~/google-mcp-universal
bash install.sh --no-wizard            # macOS/Linux: creates .venv, installs requirements.txt, runs verify_install.py

Windows: py -3.13 -m venv .venv then .venv\Scripts\python -m pip install -r requirements.txt. Python 3.12–3.14 is supported. Never pip install into the system Python — MCP configs must point at .venv/bin/python (Windows: .venv\Scripts\python.exe).

7.2 Claude Code

claude mcp add --scope user --transport stdio google-ads -- "$PWD/.venv/bin/python" "$PWD/skills/google-mcp-universal/google_ads_mcp.py"
claude mcp list                       # google-ads … ✔ Connected

Optional slash commands and skills (Claude Code plugin):

claude plugin marketplace add ai-godfather/google-mcp-universal
claude plugin install google-mcp-universal@ai-godfather

Commands are namespaced, e.g. /google-mcp-universal:ads-health. The plugin does not start the MCP server — register it as above.

7.3 Claude Desktop

Add the server to claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit Config; macOS ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows %APPDATA%\Claude\, Linux ~/.config/Claude/), then quit and reopen Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-ads": {
      "command": "/Users/NAME/google-mcp-universal/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/Users/NAME/google-mcp-universal/skills/google-mcp-universal/google_ads_mcp.py"]
    }
  }
}

No env block is needed: the server reads .env and config.json from the plugin folder itself. bash install.sh --register-claude-desktop writes this entry for you (with a backup).

7.4 Run the server by hand (debugging)

.venv/bin/python skills/google-mcp-universal/google_ads_mcp.py     # stdio MCP server; Ctrl+C to stop
.venv/bin/python verify_install.py --live                           # handshake + read-only API call

8. Configuration

8.1 Environment Variables Reference

Credentials live in .env in the plugin folder (copy .env.example, chmod 600). The server loads it itself; variables set in an MCP client config or your shell take precedence. generate_refresh_token.py fills the OAuth values for you.

# === REQUIRED ===
export GOOGLE_ADS_DEVELOPER_TOKEN="<your-developer-token>"
export GOOGLE_ADS_CLIENT_ID="123456789-abcdef.apps.googleusercontent.com"
export GOOGLE_ADS_CLIENT_SECRET="<your-client-secret>"
export GOOGLE_ADS_REFRESH_TOKEN="<your-refresh-token>"
export GOOGLE_ADS_CUSTOMER_ID="1234567890"

# === OPTIONAL (for MCC accounts) ===
export GOOGLE_ADS_LOGIN_CUSTOMER_ID="9876543210"

# === OPTIONAL (for Merchant Center — uses same OAuth by default) ===
# Only set if you need a DIFFERENT refresh token for Merchant Center:
# export MERCHANT_CENTER_REFRESH_TOKEN="1//0eYYYYYYYYYYYYY"

# === OPTIONAL (for AI ad copy generation) ===
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

# === OPTIONAL (for PageSpeed Insights — higher quota) ===
export PSI_API_KEY="AIzaSy..."

8.2 config.json (Account-Specific Settings)

Run the interactive wizard or copy the example:

# Interactive wizard (recommended)
python setup_account.py

# Or manual setup
cp config.example.json config.json

Edit config.json with your account details:

{
  "account": {
    "customer_id": "1234567890",
    "mcc_id": "9876543210",
    "alias": "my-brand",
    "company_name": "Your Company Name",
    "brand_name": "Your Brand",
    "industry": "e-commerce, retail"
  },

  "merchant_center": {
    "mca_ids": ["123456789"],
    "merchant_ids": {
      "US": "111222333",
      "UK": "444555666",
      "DE": "777888999"
    }
  },

  "domains": {
    "US": "us.yourshop.com",
    "UK": "uk.yourshop.com",
    "DE": "de.yourshop.com"
  },

  "markets": ["US", "UK", "DE"],

  "xml_feeds": {
    "US": "https://us.yourshop.com/collections/all.atom",
    "UK": "https://uk.yourshop.com/collections/all.atom",
    "DE": "https://de.yourshop.com/collections/all.atom"
  },

  "ai_copy": {
    "provider": "openai",
    "model": "gpt-4o",
    "fallback_to_templates": true
  },

  "campaign_defaults": {
    "daily_budget_micros": 5000000,
    "bidding_strategy": "MAXIMIZE_CONVERSION_VALUE",
    "target_roas": 1.6,
    "search_network": false,
    "display_network": false
  }
}

8.3 Configuration Priority

The plugin loads settings in this order (later overrides earlier):

1. Demo defaults (built-in, if no config.json found)

2. config.json (from plugin directory or ~/.google-ads-plugin/config.json)

3. Environment variables (override specific fields from config.json)

8.4 All Environment Variables Reference

9. Verify Installation

.venv/bin/python verify_install.py --live

It checks Python and packages, config.json, the credential variables (names only), starts the server over stdio exactly like Claude does, lists the tools (186) and runs one read-only query (SELECT customer.id, customer.descriptive_name, customer.currency_code FROM customer). Every [FAIL] line names what to fix; error-specific hints are in INSTALL.md → Troubleshooting.

Inside Claude, the tool google_ads_setup_status reports what the running server sees (config file, .env, customer ID, missing variables) without calling Google. With the plugin installed, /google-mcp-universal:ads-health and /google-mcp-universal:ads-quota are good first commands.

10. AI Ad Copy Generation (Optional)

The plugin can generate high-quality, localized RSA headlines and descriptions using AI. This is optional — without it, the plugin uses built-in templates.

10.1 OpenAI Setup (Recommended)

1. Go to OpenAI Platform

2. Create an account or sign in

3. Go to API Keys → "Create new secret key"

4. Copy the key (starts with sk-)

5. Add to environment:

   export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

6. Add credits to your OpenAI account (minimum $5 recommended)

Cost: ~$0.01-0.03 per product (GPT-4o). 100 products ≈ $1-3.

10.2 Anthropic Setup (Alternative)

1. Go to Anthropic Console

2. Create an API key

3. Set in config:

   {
     "ai_copy": {
       "provider": "anthropic",
       "anthropic_api_key": "sk-ant-...",
       "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"
     }
   }

10.3 How AI Copy Works

When batch-setting up products:

1. Plugin fetches product data from XML feed (name, price, description, URL)

2. Queries Google Ads for winning asset patterns (BEST/GOOD performance labels)

3. Gathers keyword intelligence (converting keywords, ROI data)

4. Sends everything to your AI provider with a localized prompt

5. AI generates 3 RSA variants per product:

   • RSA A: Generic messaging from winning patterns

   • RSA B: Keyword-focused with dynamic insertion

   • RSA C: Brand/trust with pinned HEADLINE_1

6. Each variant: 15 headlines + 4 descriptions (Google's maximum)

7. Results cached in SQLite for instant reuse

If AI is disabled or fails, the plugin falls back to template-based copy with localized fillers.

Slash Commands Reference

Installed through the Claude Code plugin (INSTALL.md, step 6.3), every command carries the plugin prefix: /google-mcp-universal:ads-health. A selection of the 51 commands:

Architecture Overview

Core Modules

Data Persistence

• batch_state.db — SQLite database created at runtime, stores product status, asset performance, keyword intelligence, operation logs

• config.json — Your account configuration (not committed to git)

Troubleshooting

Google Cloud / API Issues

Plugin Issues

Getting Your IDs — Quick Reference

License

MIT License — free to use, modify, and distribute with attribution.

Author

God_FatherAI — x.com/God_FatherAI

Support

• Issues & Bugs — Open a GitHub issue

• Feature Requests — GitHub Discussions

• Contact — x.com/God_FatherAI

Version: 1.1.2 | Last Updated: October 2026 | Status: Production Ready