Meta Ads MCP: Server URL and Setup for Claude and ChatGPT

The official Meta Ads MCP server lives at https://mcp.facebook.com/ads, and that one address is all Claude or ChatGPT needs to reach your ad account. Add it as a custom connector, sign in with your Meta login, approve the ad account, and about five minutes later you can ask for last week's spend, pause a campaign, or check whether your pixel is firing without opening Ads Manager. This article gives you the exact URL, the click path for each assistant, the developer-app route for teams that want tighter control, and the fixes for the errors people hit first.

Meta announced its Ads AI Connectors on April 29, 2026 as an open beta. On July 16, 2026 it opened the ads MCP server to any developer holding a Meta app and added server rules that limit what an AI agent may do. The product is still moving, so treat the menus below as a snapshot from October 2026 and check Meta's official ads MCP server documentation if a label looks different on your screen.

What Meta Ads MCP Actually Is

MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, an open standard that lets an AI assistant call tools hosted somewhere else. In this setup Meta runs the server, so there is nothing to install or host. Claude or ChatGPT acts as the client, the server exposes a set of ad tools, and your Meta sign-in decides which ad accounts the assistant may touch.

The One URL You Need

Everything below revolves around a single address. Meta's documentation, its launch post and the third-party walkthroughs I checked all agree on it.

💡 Copy it exactly. No www, no extra path, no spaces pasted in at the end. A typo in the address and a wrong authentication type are the two causes behind most failed setups.

What the Tools Do

Meta's documentation groups the server's tools into seven categories. Its launch post describes the same abilities as four plain jobs: reporting, campaign management, catalog management and signal diagnostics. Here is what each category looks like as a request you would type into a chat.

Write access exists from day one. That is the part worth pausing on: the assistant can edit live campaigns, not only describe them. A report is harmless. A budget edit or a pause is not, which is why later sections spend real time on permissions.

What it does not do. The server exposes part of what the full Meta Marketing API offers, and rate limits apply but are not published. Third-party setup writeups report a few missing fields (cost per add-to-cart was one example) and say the assistant launches ads from creative you already uploaded instead of designing it. They also say Meta is rolling access out in waves, so your account may not show the connector yet. Check anything important against Ads Manager.

Set Up Meta Ads MCP in Claude

You need a Claude plan that allows custom connectors and a Meta login with admin or advertiser access to the ad account. Plan eligibility changes, so open the connectors page in your own Claude settings before you begin.

Claude Desktop and Claude.ai

1. Open Claude on the web or in the desktop app.
2. Go to Settings, then Connectors.
3. Click Add custom connector at the bottom of the list.
4. Type a name such as Ads manager and paste https://mcp.facebook.com/ads as the URL.
5. Leave the optional settings at their defaults unless you use your own Meta app (see the developer-app section below), then click Add.
6. A Meta login window opens. Sign in with the account that holds your ad access.
7. Approve the ad account or accounts you want Claude to see.
8. Open a new chat and switch the connector on from the tools menu.

Test it with a plain question: "What is my total spend this month across all campaigns?" If Claude answers with real numbers, the connection works.

Claude Code and Config Files

Meta's get-started page shows this command for Claude Code. The --client-id flag takes the ID of a Meta app, so this route belongs to the developer-app path described later.

claude mcp add --transport http --client-id <META_APP_ID> meta-ads https://mcp.facebook.com/ads

Copy Prompt

Other tools read a JSON config file. The general shape looks like this, but field names differ between clients, so check your client's own docs before pasting it.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "meta-ads": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.facebook.com/ads"
    }
  }
}

Copy Prompt

Set Up Meta Ads MCP in ChatGPT

ChatGPT reaches the same server through a custom app, and that needs developer mode switched on. The address is identical to the one you used for Claude.

Turn On Developer Mode

1. Open Settings, then Apps.
2. In the lower section of that page, switch on Developer mode.
3. Click Create app.
4. Name it Ads manager and paste https://mcp.facebook.com/ads as the MCP server URL.
5. Set authentication to OAuth. Choosing "No auth" or "Mixed" makes the connection fail.
6. Tick the risk acknowledgement box and click Create.
7. Finish the Meta sign-in and pick the ad account.
8. Start a chat, enable the new app through developer mode, and ask a read-only question first.

If you connect through your own Meta app, set the redirect URL ChatGPT asks for in the app's login settings, then enter your Meta app ID as the OAuth client ID in the app's OAuth section.

Plan Limits to Check

Reports about plan limits differ between sources. One walkthrough says that on a Pro plan ChatGPT is limited to reading and fetching data, while full write actions arrive for Business and Enterprise workspaces through admin controls. Another lists Claude Pro or Team and ChatGPT Pro, Business or Enterprise as eligible. Treat both as a snapshot and confirm in your workspace.

Connect With Your Own Meta App

The simple path above needs no developer credentials. Your own Meta app becomes useful when you want tighter control, programmatic access, or when you are an agency managing accounts for other businesses.

Add the Ads MCP Use Case

1. Open the Meta for Developers dashboard and select an existing app or create a new one.
2. Click Use cases in the left navigation.
3. Under the ads and monetization category, add Create and manage ads with the ads MCP server.
4. Configure Facebook Login for Business and add the redirect URL your AI client uses.
5. In the client, use the Meta app ID as the OAuth client ID.

For scripts and backends, skip OAuth and send a token in the request header: Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>. You then own the token lifecycle yourself.

Permissions and App Review

A user access token for the ads MCP server needs these permissions, according to Meta's get-started page.

Review only matters for one group. Agencies and partners that manage data on behalf of other businesses must request the higher access level for ads_mcp_management and submit the app through Meta's app review. A developer who connects their own app to their own accounts does not need review. Read Meta's July 16 announcement for the exact wording.

First Prompts Worth Running

Start with questions that only read data. They prove the connection, show you how the assistant formats numbers, and cost nothing if the answer is wrong.

1. "List my ad accounts and tell me which one you are connected to."
2. "Compare spend, CTR and ROAS for my five biggest campaigns over the last 7 days."
3. "Which ad sets have a frequency above 3.5?"
4. "Check my pixel and Conversions API health and tell me what looks broken."
5. "Show the activity log for the last 3 days."

Catalog work comes second. If you sell products, ask the assistant to list catalog items missing a price or an image before you let it add anything new.

Write actions come last, and each one should be small and reversible. Ask for a change, read the plan the assistant proposes, and approve it only when the account, campaign name and number match what you meant. Meta itself suggests reminding your agent that new ad sets are still in their initial delivery optimization window, so it does not keep editing them and reset that process.

Fixes for Common Errors

Most problems fall into a short list. Work through the tables from top to bottom before you rebuild anything.

Login Loops and Wrong Auth Type

Missing Accounts and Missing Fields

💡 Trust, then verify. The server is still in beta. When a number will drive a budget decision, open Ads Manager and confirm it once.

Keep Control of Your Budget

An assistant with write access deserves the same care you would give a new media buyer on day one. Give it a small scope, watch what it does, and widen the scope slowly.

On July 16, 2026, Meta added ads MCP server rules. Anyone with full control of a business portfolio can set rules that govern what AI agents may do, including budget changes and catalog updates. If several people connect assistants to one portfolio, set the rules first and connect second.

A rollout that holds up in practice looks like this:

• Pick one ad account for the first week, ideally a small one.
• Run reports only until you trust how the assistant reads your numbers.
• Require confirmation by asking it to describe every change before it makes it.
• Set a budget ceiling in your prompt and in Meta's server rules.
• Check the activity log each morning and compare it with what you asked for.
• Remove the connector from any workspace where nobody uses it.

Make Your Own Ad Visuals

The assistant can read results and edit campaigns, but a campaign still needs creative that people stop to look at. That part happens on Picasso IA, where one prompt gives you a photorealistic image sized for the placement you are buying. Picasso IA also offers MCP connections for image and video generation, described on its API page, so the same chat that reads your Meta numbers can request new visuals.

Pick a Model for the Job

How to Use P Image on PicassoIA

1. Open the P Image model page.
2. Write the scene in one clear paragraph: subject, setting, light and lens, for example "a woman unpacking a parcel at a sunlit kitchen table, 35mm lens, natural window light".
3. Choose the aspect ratio that fits your placement, such as 1:1 for a feed post or 9:16 for a story.
4. Run it and generate a few variations of the same idea.
5. Download the best one and upload it to Meta, then ask your assistant to attach it to the ad set.

💡 Keep text out of the picture. Put headlines and offers in the ad's text fields, where Meta's tools can edit them without regenerating the image.

Your Next Step

You now have the URL, both click paths and a safe order of operations. Connect one ad account, run a read-only report, and then build a fresh set of images for your next test. Open Picasso IA, pick a model from the table above, and generate your first batch of ad visuals today. The full list of image, video and language models is on the all models page.