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io.github.Happygallo/apple-ads

Manage Apple Search Ads campaigns, keywords, budgets, and reports via API v5.

Developer ToolsTypeScriptv1.0.3
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Ask your AI things like:

"How did my campaigns perform last week?" "Pause the brand campaign and increase the budget on discovery to $500." "What search terms are triggering my ads? Add the best ones as exact-match keywords."

Supports 54 tools, 3 resources, and 6 prompts — campaigns, ad groups, keywords, creatives, budgets, search terms, geo targeting, impression share, and performance reports.

Features at a glance

FeatureDescription
Campaign managementCreate, update, pause, and delete campaigns and ad groups
Keyword optimizationAdd/remove targeting and negative keywords, update bids
Performance reportingCampaign, ad group, keyword, ad, and geo reports with date presets
Search term analysisSee actual search queries triggering your ads
Creative managementManage ads, creatives, and product pages
Budget controlCreate and manage budget orders, analyze utilization
Impression shareGenerate and retrieve impression share reports
Multi-org supportSwitch between organizations at runtime

Quick Start

  1. Get your Apple credentials (~10 min, one-time)
  2. Generate your key pair (2 commands)
  3. Add to your MCP client
  4. Start chatting

Setup

Step 1 — Invite an API user

Done by the account admin at searchads.apple.com.

  1. Go to Settings → User Management → Invite User
  2. Enter the email of the person who will use the API
  3. Set the role:
    • API Account Manager — full read/write access
    • API Account Read Only — view-only access
  4. Send the invitation

The API user must be a different Apple ID from the admin. If you're the admin, use a second Apple ID.

Step 2 — Accept and copy your credentials

Done by the invited user.

  1. Accept the email invitation and sign in to searchads.apple.com
  2. Go to Settings → API tab
  3. Copy and save these three values:
    • clientId — starts with SEARCHADS.
    • teamId — starts with SEARCHADS.
    • keyId — a UUID

Step 3 — Generate your key pair

Open Terminal and run:

openssl ecparam -genkey -name prime256v1 -noout -out ~/apple-ads-key.pem && \
openssl pkcs8 -topk8 -nocrypt -in ~/apple-ads-key.pem -out ~/apple-ads-key-pkcs8.pem

Then generate the public key:

openssl ec -in ~/apple-ads-key-pkcs8.pem -pubout -out ~/apple-ads-key-public.pem

This creates:

  • ~/apple-ads-key-pkcs8.pem — private key (keep this safe, used in your config)
  • ~/apple-ads-key-public.pem — public key (upload to Apple next)

Step 4 — Upload public key to Apple

Print your public key:

cat ~/apple-ads-key-public.pem

Copy the entire output (including the BEGIN / END lines), then:

  1. Go to Settings → API tab on searchads.apple.com
  2. Paste into the Public Key field
  3. Save

Step 5 — Add to your MCP client

Pick your client below and fill in your clientId, teamId, and keyId from Step 2, and the full path to your private key from Step 3.

Multiple orgs? Omit ASA_ORG_ID and use list_organizations / switch_organization at runtime. Or set it in env to pick a default.

Clients

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-ads": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "apple-ads-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ASA_CLIENT_ID": "SEARCHADS.xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "ASA_TEAM_ID": "SEARCHADS.xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "ASA_KEY_ID": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "ASA_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH": "/Users/yourname/apple-ads-key-pkcs8.pem"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Claude Code 
claude mcp add apple-ads \
  -e ASA_CLIENT_ID=SEARCHADS.xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx \
  -e ASA_TEAM_ID=SEARCHADS.xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx \
  -e ASA_KEY_ID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx \
  -e ASA_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH=/Users/yourname/apple-ads-key-pkcs8.pem \
  -- npx -y apple-ads-mcp
Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-ads": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "apple-ads-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ASA_CLIENT_ID": "SEARCHADS.xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "ASA_TEAM_ID": "SEARCHADS.xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "ASA_KEY_ID": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "ASA_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH": "/Users/yourname/apple-ads-key-pkcs8.pem"
      }
    }
  }
}
VS Code

Add to your settings.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "apple-ads": {
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "apple-ads-mcp"],
        "env": {
          "ASA_CLIENT_ID": "SEARCHADS.xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
          "ASA_TEAM_ID": "SEARCHADS.xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
          "ASA_KEY_ID": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
          "ASA_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH": "/Users/yourname/apple-ads-key-pkcs8.pem"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-ads": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "apple-ads-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ASA_CLIENT_ID": "SEARCHADS.xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "ASA_TEAM_ID": "SEARCHADS.xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "ASA_KEY_ID": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "ASA_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH": "/Users/yourname/apple-ads-key-pkcs8.pem"
      }
    }
  }
}
Other MCP clients

This server uses STDIO transport. Any MCP-compatible client can connect by running:

npx -y apple-ads-mcp

Set these environment variables:

VariableDescription
ASA_CLIENT_IDYour client ID (starts with SEARCHADS.)
ASA_TEAM_IDYour team ID (starts with SEARCHADS.)
ASA_KEY_IDYour key ID (UUID)
ASA_PRIVATE_KEY_PATHAbsolute path to your PKCS#8 private key
ASA_ORG_ID(optional) Organization ID to use by default
Inline key (no file)

Replace ASA_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH with ASA_PRIVATE_KEY and paste the PEM content with \n for line breaks:

"ASA_PRIVATE_KEY": "-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\nMIGH...your-key...\n-----END PRIVATE KEY-----"

Tools

CategoryCountWhat you can do
Organizations3List and switch between organizations. Get user details.
Campaigns6List, create, update, delete campaigns. Pull performance reports.
Ad Groups6Manage ad groups within campaigns. Get ad group reports.
Keywords11Add/remove targeting and negative keywords. Update bids. Keyword reports.
Search Terms1See the actual queries people searched before tapping your ad.
Ads7List, create, update, delete ads. Get ad reports and rejection reasons.
Creatives5Manage creatives and product pages.
Budget Orders4Create, update, list, and get budget order details.
Apps & Geo5Search for eligible apps, check eligibility, find assets, search geolocations.
Geo Performance1Performance breakdown by country/region.
Impression Share3Create, list, and retrieve custom impression share reports.
Optimization2Campaign snapshots and budget utilization analysis.

All 54 tools

CategoryTools
Organizationslist_organizations, switch_organization, get_me_details
Campaignslist_campaigns, get_campaign_details, create_campaign, update_campaign, delete_campaign, get_campaign_report
Ad Groupslist_ad_groups, get_ad_group, create_ad_group, update_ad_group, delete_ad_group, get_adgroup_report
Keywordsget_keyword_report, list_targeting_keywords, get_targeting_keyword, add_targeting_keywords, update_targeting_keywords, delete_targeting_keywords, list_negative_keywords, get_negative_keyword, add_negative_keywords, update_negative_keywords, delete_negative_keywords
Search Termsget_search_term_report
Adslist_ads, get_ad, create_ad, update_ad, delete_ad, get_ad_report, find_ad_rejection_reasons
Creativeslist_creatives, get_creative, create_creative, list_product_pages, get_product_page_by_id
Budget Orderslist_budget_orders, get_budget_order, create_budget_order, update_budget_order
Apps & Geosearch_apps, get_app_details, get_app_eligibility, find_app_assets, search_geolocations
Geo Performanceget_geo_performance
Impression Sharecreate_impression_share_report, get_impression_share_report_by_id, list_impression_share_reports
Optimizationget_campaign_snapshot, get_budget_analysis

Resources

The server exposes 3 resources:

URIDescription
apple-ads://countriesSupported countries and regions for Apple Search Ads
apple-ads://device-sizesApp preview device sizes for creative assets
apple-ads://metrics-glossaryDefinitions, formulas, and benchmarks for all reporting metrics (CPA, CPT, TTR, etc.)

Prompts

6 built-in workflow prompts to guide common tasks:

PromptDescription
campaign_health_checkComprehensive campaign analysis — reviews spend, conversions, CPA trends, and flags issues
keyword_optimizationKeyword and search term optimization workflow — finds wasted spend and new opportunities
new_campaign_setupGuided new campaign creation — walks through app selection, structure, keywords, and budgets
budget_reallocationCross-campaign budget analysis — identifies over/under-spending and proposes budget shifts
creative_reviewCreative A/B review — compares ad performance, flags rejections, recommends winners
geo_expansionGeographic expansion analysis — ranks current markets and identifies new ones to enter
Troubleshooting

"pkcs8 must be PKCS#8 formatted string" Your key is in the wrong format. Re-run the openssl pkcs8 command from Step 3.

"No organization selected" Use list_organizations then switch_organization, or add ASA_ORG_ID to your config.

"Token request failed (401)" Verify your clientId, teamId, and keyId match Apple's API tab. Check that you uploaded your public key.

"Failed to read private key" Use an absolute path (e.g. /Users/yourname/...), not ~/....

Server disconnects immediately A required credential is missing. You need all four: ASA_CLIENT_ID, ASA_TEAM_ID, ASA_KEY_ID, and ASA_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH.

Development 
git clone https://github.com/javiergalloroca/AppleAdsMCP.git
cd AppleAdsMCP
npm install
npm run build
npm start

For hot reload: npm run dev

See CONTRIBUTING.md for contribution guidelines.

License

MIT

Installation

Source-derived launch command. Check the maintainer’s required arguments and credentials before running:

bash
npx -y apple-ads-mcp

Set up in your AI client

Merge this template into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. Keep existing servers. Add any arguments, credentials, and permissions required by the maintainer; this template has not been install-tested.

json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "io-github-happygallo-apple-ads": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "apple-ads-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop completely for changes to take effect. Confirm the server appears connected in the client’s tool list, then try a read-only example from its documentation.

Claude Desktop setup reference

Package

apple-ads-mcpnpm

Compatible MCP Clients

io.github.Happygallo/apple-ads works with any MCP-compatible client. Copy the config snippet from the Configuration section above and add it to the file shown for your client, then restart the application.

  • Claude Desktop~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.jsonRestart Claude Desktop completely for changes to take effect.
  • Cursor~/.cursor/mcp.jsonRestart Cursor for changes to take effect.
  • VS Code.vscode/mcp.jsonReload VS Code window for changes to take effect.
  • Windsurf~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.jsonRestart Windsurf for changes to take effect.
  • Claude Code.mcp.jsonSave at the project root, then start Claude Code in that project and review the MCP server approval prompt. Keep real credentials out of shared files.

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