create_campaign

Instructions

Create a new Facebook or Instagram ad campaign in a Meta Ads account. Use this to start
a new campaign with an ODAX objective (OUTCOME_LEADS, OUTCOME_SALES, OUTCOME_AWARENESS,
OUTCOME_TRAFFIC, OUTCOME_ENGAGEMENT, OUTCOME_APP_PROMOTION), pick CBO (campaign budget
optimization) or ABO (ad-set-level budgets), and set bid strategy, spend cap, and special
ad categories. This is the first step of the campaign group → ad set → ad hierarchy on
Meta. Returns the new campaign id. Also known as: create campaign, new campaign, make
campaign, campaign group, ABO campaign, CBO campaign.

Note: Campaigns do not support start_time for scheduling — set start_time on the ad set instead.

Args:
    account_id: Meta Ads account ID (format: act_XXXXXXXXX)
    name: Campaign name
    objective: Campaign objective (ODAX, outcome-based). Must be one of:
               OUTCOME_AWARENESS, OUTCOME_TRAFFIC, OUTCOME_ENGAGEMENT,
               OUTCOME_LEADS, OUTCOME_SALES, OUTCOME_APP_PROMOTION.
               Note: Legacy objectives like BRAND_AWARENESS, LINK_CLICKS,
               CONVERSIONS, APP_INSTALLS, etc. are not valid for new
               campaigns and will cause a 400 error. Use the outcome-based
               values above (e.g., BRAND_AWARENESS → OUTCOME_AWARENESS).
    access_token: Meta API access token (optional - will use cached token if not provided)
    status: Initial campaign status (default: PAUSED)
    special_ad_categories: List of special ad categories if applicable
    daily_budget: Daily budget in account currency (in cents) as a string (only used if use_adset_level_budgets=False)
    lifetime_budget: Lifetime budget in account currency (in cents) as a string (only used if use_adset_level_budgets=False)
    buying_type: Buying type (e.g., 'AUCTION')
    bid_strategy: Bid strategy (default: LOWEST_COST_WITHOUT_CAP). Must be one of: 'LOWEST_COST_WITHOUT_CAP', 'LOWEST_COST_WITH_BID_CAP', 'COST_CAP', 'LOWEST_COST_WITH_MIN_ROAS'. WARNING: If you use LOWEST_COST_WITH_BID_CAP or COST_CAP, all child ad sets will require bid_amount to be set.
    bid_cap: Bid cap in account currency (in cents) as a string
    spend_cap: Spending limit for the campaign in account currency (in cents) as a string
    campaign_budget_optimization: Whether to enable campaign budget optimization (only used if use_adset_level_budgets=False)
    ab_test_control_setups: Settings for A/B testing (e.g., [{"name":"Creative A", "ad_format":"SINGLE_IMAGE"}])
    use_adset_level_budgets: If True, budgets will be set at the ad set level instead of campaign level (default: False)

Implementation Reference

• meta_ads_mcp/core/campaigns.py:115-261 (handler)

  The main handler function for create_campaign. Decorated with @mcp_server.tool() and @meta_api_tool. Accepts account_id, name, objective, and many optional parameters. Builds the API request parameters and calls make_api_request with method='POST' to create a new campaign on the Meta Ads API. Returns the response as a JSON string.

  @mcp_server.tool()
  @meta_api_tool
  async def create_campaign(
      account_id: str,
      name: str,
      objective: str,
      access_token: Optional[str] = None,
      status: str = "PAUSED",
      special_ad_categories: Optional[List[str]] = None,
      daily_budget: Optional[int] = None,
      lifetime_budget: Optional[int] = None,
      buying_type: Optional[str] = None,
      bid_strategy: str = "LOWEST_COST_WITHOUT_CAP",
      bid_cap: Optional[int] = None,
      spend_cap: Optional[int] = None,
      campaign_budget_optimization: Optional[bool] = None,
      ab_test_control_setups: Optional[List[Dict[str, Any]]] = None,
      use_adset_level_budgets: bool = False
  ) -> str:
      """
      Create a new Facebook or Instagram ad campaign in a Meta Ads account. Use this to start
      a new campaign with an ODAX objective (OUTCOME_LEADS, OUTCOME_SALES, OUTCOME_AWARENESS,
      OUTCOME_TRAFFIC, OUTCOME_ENGAGEMENT, OUTCOME_APP_PROMOTION), pick CBO (campaign budget
      optimization) or ABO (ad-set-level budgets), and set bid strategy, spend cap, and special
      ad categories. This is the first step of the campaign group → ad set → ad hierarchy on
      Meta. Returns the new campaign id. Also known as: create campaign, new campaign, make
      campaign, campaign group, ABO campaign, CBO campaign.
  
      Note: Campaigns do not support start_time for scheduling — set start_time on the ad set instead.
  
      Args:
          account_id: Meta Ads account ID (format: act_XXXXXXXXX)
          name: Campaign name
          objective: Campaign objective (ODAX, outcome-based). Must be one of:
                     OUTCOME_AWARENESS, OUTCOME_TRAFFIC, OUTCOME_ENGAGEMENT,
                     OUTCOME_LEADS, OUTCOME_SALES, OUTCOME_APP_PROMOTION.
                     Note: Legacy objectives like BRAND_AWARENESS, LINK_CLICKS,
                     CONVERSIONS, APP_INSTALLS, etc. are not valid for new
                     campaigns and will cause a 400 error. Use the outcome-based
                     values above (e.g., BRAND_AWARENESS → OUTCOME_AWARENESS).
          access_token: Meta API access token (optional - will use cached token if not provided)
          status: Initial campaign status (default: PAUSED)
          special_ad_categories: List of special ad categories if applicable
          daily_budget: Daily budget in account currency (in cents) as a string (only used if use_adset_level_budgets=False)
          lifetime_budget: Lifetime budget in account currency (in cents) as a string (only used if use_adset_level_budgets=False)
          buying_type: Buying type (e.g., 'AUCTION')
          bid_strategy: Bid strategy (default: LOWEST_COST_WITHOUT_CAP). Must be one of: 'LOWEST_COST_WITHOUT_CAP', 'LOWEST_COST_WITH_BID_CAP', 'COST_CAP', 'LOWEST_COST_WITH_MIN_ROAS'. WARNING: If you use LOWEST_COST_WITH_BID_CAP or COST_CAP, all child ad sets will require bid_amount to be set.
          bid_cap: Bid cap in account currency (in cents) as a string
          spend_cap: Spending limit for the campaign in account currency (in cents) as a string
          campaign_budget_optimization: Whether to enable campaign budget optimization (only used if use_adset_level_budgets=False)
          ab_test_control_setups: Settings for A/B testing (e.g., [{"name":"Creative A", "ad_format":"SINGLE_IMAGE"}])
          use_adset_level_budgets: If True, budgets will be set at the ad set level instead of campaign level (default: False)
      """
      # Check required parameters
      if not account_id:
          return json.dumps({"error": "No account ID provided"}, indent=2)
      
      if not name:
          return json.dumps({"error": "No campaign name provided"}, indent=2)
          
      if not objective:
          return json.dumps({"error": "No campaign objective provided"}, indent=2)
  
      account_id = ensure_act_prefix(account_id)
  
      # Track whether the user explicitly provided special_ad_categories
      _user_provided_categories = special_ad_categories is not None
      
      # Special_ad_categories is required by the API, set default if not provided
      if special_ad_categories is None:
          special_ad_categories = []
      
      # Only warn if user omitted special_ad_categories entirely.
      # If they explicitly passed [] they are saying none are needed.
      compliance_warning = None
      if objective == "OUTCOME_LEADS" and not special_ad_categories and not _user_provided_categories:
          compliance_warning = (
              "Warning: Campaign objective is OUTCOME_LEADS but no special_ad_categories were specified. "
              "If this campaign is for a regulated industry (insurance, housing, employment, credit), "
              "you must set special_ad_categories (e.g., FINANCIAL_PRODUCTS_SERVICES, HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT, CREDIT) "
              "to comply with Meta advertising policies. Ads without the correct category may be rejected."
          )
      
      # For this example, we'll add a fixed daily budget if none is provided and we're not using ad set level budgets
      if not daily_budget and not lifetime_budget and not use_adset_level_budgets:
          daily_budget = "1000"  # Default to $10 USD
      
      endpoint = f"{account_id}/campaigns"
      
      params = {
          "name": name,
          "objective": objective,
          "status": status,
          "special_ad_categories": json.dumps(special_ad_categories)  # Properly format as JSON string
      }
      
      # Only set campaign-level budgets if we're not using ad set level budgets
      if not use_adset_level_budgets:
          # Convert budget values to strings if they aren't already
          if daily_budget is not None:
              params["daily_budget"] = str(daily_budget)
  
          if lifetime_budget is not None:
              params["lifetime_budget"] = str(lifetime_budget)
  
          if campaign_budget_optimization is not None:
              params["campaign_budget_optimization"] = "true" if campaign_budget_optimization else "false"
      else:
          # Meta API v24 requires is_adset_budget_sharing_enabled when not using campaign budget
          params["is_adset_budget_sharing_enabled"] = "false"
  
      # Add new parameters
      if buying_type:
          params["buying_type"] = buying_type
      
      if bid_strategy and not use_adset_level_budgets:
          params["bid_strategy"] = bid_strategy
      
      if bid_cap is not None:
          params["bid_cap"] = str(bid_cap)
      
      if spend_cap is not None:
          params["spend_cap"] = str(spend_cap)
      
      if ab_test_control_setups:
          params["ab_test_control_setups"] = json.dumps(ab_test_control_setups)
      
      try:
          data = await make_api_request(endpoint, access_token, params, method="POST")
          
          # Add a note about budget strategy if using ad set level budgets
          if use_adset_level_budgets:
              data["budget_strategy"] = "ad_set_level"
              data["note"] = "Campaign created with ad set level budgets. Set budgets when creating ad sets within this campaign."
          
          if compliance_warning:
              data["compliance_warning"] = compliance_warning
          
          return json.dumps(data, indent=2)
      except Exception as e:
          error_msg = str(e)
          return json.dumps({
              "error": "Failed to create campaign",
              "details": error_msg,
              "params_sent": params
          }, indent=2)

• meta_ads_mcp/core/campaigns.py:115-115 (registration)

  The @mcp_server.tool() decorator on line 115 registers create_campaign as an MCP tool with the MCP server.

  @mcp_server.tool()

• meta_ads_mcp/core/campaigns.py:117-133 (schema)

  Function signature with type annotations defining the input schema for create_campaign including parameters like account_id, name, objective, status, special_ad_categories, budgets, bid_strategy, etc.

  async def create_campaign(
      account_id: str,
      name: str,
      objective: str,
      access_token: Optional[str] = None,
      status: str = "PAUSED",
      special_ad_categories: Optional[List[str]] = None,
      daily_budget: Optional[int] = None,
      lifetime_budget: Optional[int] = None,
      buying_type: Optional[str] = None,
      bid_strategy: str = "LOWEST_COST_WITHOUT_CAP",
      bid_cap: Optional[int] = None,
      spend_cap: Optional[int] = None,
      campaign_budget_optimization: Optional[bool] = None,
      ab_test_control_setups: Optional[List[Dict[str, Any]]] = None,
      use_adset_level_budgets: bool = False
  ) -> str:

• meta_ads_mcp/core/__init__.py:5-5 (registration)

  Imports create_campaign from the campaigns module to make it available at the core package level.

  from .campaigns import get_campaigns, get_campaign_details, create_campaign

• meta_ads_mcp/__init__.py:16-16 (registration)

  Exports create_campaign in the package-level __all__ list.

  'create_campaign',