No developer experience required.
By Chetan Parmar · April 1, 2026 · 10 min read
Existing guides for connecting Claude Code to Google Ads - from Metaflow.ai and Stormy AI - are excellent. They assume you know what a developer token is, can navigate Google Cloud Console without instructions, and are comfortable editing JSON config files. Most performance marketers are not starting from that baseline.
This guide fills that gap. It covers every step from scratch, explains what each credential does and why you need it, and gets you to a working connection where you can ask Claude Code plain English questions about your Google Ads account.
The setup takes about 45 minutes the first time. Every subsequent Google Ads task you run with Claude Code costs minutes instead of hours.
Key Takeaways
Pull all campaign performance data for any date range with a single sentence
Generate 10-15 Responsive Search Ad variations for any product or service
Audit an entire account for quality score issues, broken extensions, and bid strategy gaps
Find search term anomalies and identify wasted spend automatically
Cross-reference Google Ads data with GA4 conversion data without manual exports
Build a weekly reporting summary that writes itself before Monday morning
A Google Ads account
You need Manager account (MCC) access if you manage multiple client accounts. Standard account access works for a single account.
Claude Code installed
If you have not installed it yet, follow the installation guide first. It takes about 10 minutes.
A Google account with Google Cloud access
This is typically the same Google account linked to your Google Ads account. Google Cloud Console is free to access.
About 45 minutes
The credential setup process involves several steps with Google. Do not rush it. Do it once correctly and you will not need to repeat it.
The Google Ads API requires a developer token. This is different from an API key - it is a token specific to the Google Ads API that Google issues after a short application.
Go to your Google Ads account, click Tools, then under "Setup" find API Center. Click "Apply for access." For a basic token that works for personal or agency use, select "Basic Access." You will need to describe how you plan to use the API - write something like "automating reporting and analysis for my own Google Ads accounts."
Google typically approves basic access tokens within 24-48 hours. You will receive the token by email. Keep it - you will need it in Step 3.
Go to console.cloud.google.com and create a new project (name it something like "Claude Code Google Ads"). In the left sidebar, go to APIs and Services, then Credentials.
Click "Create Credentials" and select "OAuth 2.0 Client IDs." For Application Type, choose "Desktop App." Give it a name like "Claude Code Local."
Click Create. Google will show you a Client ID and Client Secret. Download the JSON file - this is your credentials file. Do not share it or commit it to any repository.
Still in Google Cloud Console, go to APIs and Services, then Library. Search for "Google Ads API" and click Enable.
This links your Cloud project to the Google Ads API. Without this step, your credentials will not have permission to call the API even if everything else is set up correctly.
Create or edit the file at ~/.claude/config.json (Mac/Linux) or %APPDATA%\Claude\config.json (Windows). Add the Google Ads MCP server configuration:
{ "mcpServers": { "google-ads": { "command": "npx", "args": ["@anthropic-ai/mcp-google-ads"], "env": { "GOOGLE_ADS_DEVELOPER_TOKEN": "your-developer-token-here", "GOOGLE_ADS_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id-here", "GOOGLE_ADS_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-client-secret-here", "GOOGLE_ADS_CUSTOMER_ID": "your-account-id-without-dashes" } } } }
Replace the placeholder values with the credentials from Steps 1-3. Your Customer ID is the 10-digit number in the top right of your Google Ads account (remove the dashes).
Open a terminal and start Claude Code. On first run with the Google Ads MCP configuration, Claude Code will prompt you to complete OAuth authentication. It will open a browser window asking you to authorize access to your Google Ads account.
Approve the request. Claude Code will store the refresh token locally so you do not need to re-authenticate on subsequent runs.
Test the connection by typing: "Pull the last 7 days of campaign performance for all active campaigns in my Google Ads account."
If the setup worked, Claude Code will return a list of campaigns with impressions, clicks, cost, and conversions. If it returns an error, check that your developer token status is "Approved" in your Google Ads API Center.
Once the connection works, start with these. They give you immediate value and help you understand what the integration can do.
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