Connect Meta Ads to Claude

Meta's ads MCP server is a Meta-hosted remote MCP at mcp.facebook.com/ads. Meta's overview, updated 14 Jul 2026, groups tools into reporting, ad creation and management, catalogues, signals, help, experiments and activity logs. It is Meta only. Get MCP Ads is a third-party gateway: one URL, six live sources, OAuth 2.1 with dynamic client registration, and a ticked-account allowlist.

Primary source: Meta's Ads MCP Server overview developers.facebook.com/documentation/ads-commerce/ads-ai-connectors/ads-mcp-server/ads-mcp-server-overview. This page does not invent a Meta tool count; Meta's overview lists categories, not a number. On Get MCP Ads, Meta Ads is 57 tools, listed on the Meta Ads MCP Server page and in the Meta Ads source guide. Every parameter is in the API reference. Use Meta official when the job is Meta only and you want Meta in the token path. Use this URL when the same Claude thread must also reach Google Ads, TikTok, Pinterest, GA4 or Search Console.

Putting both URLs in Claude is legal and usually messy. You get two OAuth grants, two tool lists, and two names for one campaign. Most desks pick one per job: mcp.facebook.com/ads mcp.facebook.com/ads for Meta-only reporting, or this gateway when a question crosses platforms. This page is not a claim that we beat Meta on Meta.

Once Claude can call the gateway, Meta Ads answers through the meta_* tools the catalogue actually ships. 57 tools, 23 of them writes. Reads cover delivery, creatives, insights and activity. Writes pause, rename or recap a campaign, always as a preview until you confirm. The Free plan has no write tools.

More prompts live on the Meta Ads MCP Server page. A write without confirm set to true returns a preview and applies nothing. Campaigns created with meta_create_campaign are always created paused. See pricing for which plan includes writes. If Claude proposes meta_update_campaign_status on Free, the tool is absent from the list and refused if called, before the request reaches Meta.

Ask Claude to name the account ID it will use before it writes. The ticked-account allowlist is the control; a polite prompt is not. If the preview lists the wrong campaign, do not confirm. Confirm is a second call on a paid plan, not a hidden default. That rule is this product's, not Meta official's.

Connecting a Meta Business Manager does not expose the client accounts under it. After OAuth, the dashboard lists what the token can reach and every account starts unticked. The gateway answers only for the IDs you tick. The check runs server-side on every call, including calls routed through run_tool. Unticking removes access on the next call.

An agency that connects one Business Manager over 40 client accounts still shows Claude nothing until someone ticks. list_accounts returns only ticked rows. If Claude invents an unticked act ID, the refusal names the allowed list. Dashboard WebMCP tools, when they appear, are read only and will not grow a tick action. See account scoping and the ticked-account allowlist article. An agent cannot tick; that step stays human, like Meta OAuth itself.

Untick when a retainer ends. In-flight results from the previous call can still sit in the Claude thread; we do not reach into the chat to erase them. Spend and impressions are not stored here, so the next question cannot reread an unticked account. Tick the smallest set that answers the brief. Two competing clients on one organisation with both ticked is a prompt away from a mix-up.

A hosted gateway is the wrong shape when you only want Meta's first-party server, when the machine cannot reach the public internet, when you are on Free and need a write, or when the source is not shipped. There is no X Ads. Microsoft Advertising is soon: OAuth exists, tools do not.

• You want Meta official mcp.facebook.com/ads and nothing else: use Meta's hosted URL.
• Air-gapped or local-only MCP: a hosted URL cannot answer there.
• You need a write on the Free plan. Write tools are absent from the list and refused if called.
• The source is not shipped. There is no X Ads. Microsoft Advertising is soon: OAuth exists, tools do not.

If the job is Meta only and you do not want a third party in the token path, start with Meta official. If the job crosses Google Ads, GA4 or Search Console in the same question, one hosted URL is the other shape. The quickstart is the four steps in order. Pricing is which plan can write. Official X and Microsoft MCPs are separate products, covered in the landscape.