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Apple Ads MCP

npm version MCP compatible TypeScript License

MCP server for the Apple Search Ads API v5.
Connect it to any MCP-compatible AI client and manage your campaigns, keywords, budgets, and reporting through natural language.

Quick StartToolsResourcesPromptsClients


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

Feature Description
Campaign management Create, update, pause, and delete campaigns and ad groups
Keyword optimization Add/remove targeting and negative keywords, update bids
Performance reporting Campaign, ad group, keyword, ad, and geo reports with date presets
Search term analysis See actual search queries triggering your ads
Creative management Manage ads, creatives, and product pages
Budget control Create and manage budget orders, analyze utilization
Impression share Generate and retrieve impression share reports
Multi-org support Switch 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 SettingsUser ManagementInvite 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 SettingsAPI 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 SettingsAPI 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:

Variable Description
ASA_CLIENT_ID Your client ID (starts with SEARCHADS.)
ASA_TEAM_ID Your team ID (starts with SEARCHADS.)
ASA_KEY_ID Your key ID (UUID)
ASA_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH Absolute 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

Category Count What you can do
Organizations 3 List and switch between organizations. Get user details.
Campaigns 6 List, create, update, delete campaigns. Pull performance reports.
Ad Groups 6 Manage ad groups within campaigns. Get ad group reports.
Keywords 11 Add/remove targeting and negative keywords. Update bids. Keyword reports.
Search Terms 1 See the actual queries people searched before tapping your ad.
Ads 7 List, create, update, delete ads. Get ad reports and rejection reasons.
Creatives 5 Manage creatives and product pages.
Budget Orders 4 Create, update, list, and get budget order details.
Apps & Geo 5 Search for eligible apps, check eligibility, find assets, search geolocations.
Geo Performance 1 Performance breakdown by country/region.
Impression Share 3 Create, list, and retrieve custom impression share reports.
Optimization 2 Campaign snapshots and budget utilization analysis.

All 54 tools

Category Tools
Organizations list_organizations, switch_organization, get_me_details
Campaigns list_campaigns, get_campaign_details, create_campaign, update_campaign, delete_campaign, get_campaign_report
Ad Groups list_ad_groups, get_ad_group, create_ad_group, update_ad_group, delete_ad_group, get_adgroup_report
Keywords get_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 Terms get_search_term_report
Ads list_ads, get_ad, create_ad, update_ad, delete_ad, get_ad_report, find_ad_rejection_reasons
Creatives list_creatives, get_creative, create_creative, list_product_pages, get_product_page_by_id
Budget Orders list_budget_orders, get_budget_order, create_budget_order, update_budget_order
Apps & Geo search_apps, get_app_details, get_app_eligibility, find_app_assets, search_geolocations
Geo Performance get_geo_performance
Impression Share create_impression_share_report, get_impression_share_report_by_id, list_impression_share_reports
Optimization get_campaign_snapshot, get_budget_analysis

Resources

The server exposes 3 resources:

URI Description
apple-ads://countries Supported countries and regions for Apple Search Ads
apple-ads://device-sizes App preview device sizes for creative assets
apple-ads://metrics-glossary Definitions, formulas, and benchmarks for all reporting metrics (CPA, CPT, TTR, etc.)

Prompts

6 built-in workflow prompts to guide common tasks:

Prompt Description
campaign_health_check Comprehensive campaign analysis — reviews spend, conversions, CPA trends, and flags issues
keyword_optimization Keyword and search term optimization workflow — finds wasted spend and new opportunities
new_campaign_setup Guided new campaign creation — walks through app selection, structure, keywords, and budgets
budget_reallocation Cross-campaign budget analysis — identifies over/under-spending and proposes budget shifts
creative_review Creative A/B review — compares ad performance, flags rejections, recommends winners
geo_expansion Geographic 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

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MCP server for Apple Search Ads API v5 — manage campaigns, keywords, budgets, and reports through AI assistants

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