Google Ads MCP setup guide

Help the user reach a verified, read-only Google Ads query from their chosen AI client. Preserve existing accounts, credentials, and unrelated client configuration. This is a community skill, not a Google product.

Choose the relevant path

• New setup: read the installation tutorial. It covers gcloud CLI, official Google skills, OAuth, MCP installation, and Codex registration. macOS is the tested path; other platforms link to official installers.
• A specific error: read troubleshooting and check the failing layer only.
• Time-sensitive behavior or conflicting guidance: consult sources and version notes. Treat live official policy, the installed package, and the server's tools/list as evidence; a cached skill is not proof of current behavior.

Establish what is actually available

Distinguish these outcomes: skill files installed; server installed; MCP handshake works; ADC authenticates; an account query works; a campaign query returns a valid list; the chosen AI host can invoke that server. Evidence for one does not prove the next.

Check executables and package metadata before installing anything. Validate gcloud login syntax with gcloud help auth application-default login before proposing the command. For an explanation-only request, explain; do not install or register tools merely because this skill describes how.

The scope here is local stdio with the official google-ads-mcp package. Do not open a network listener, configure an OAuth proxy, or deploy a server as a side effect of setup.

Credentials and current policy