Google Ads API quickstart
Go from zero to a first working Google Ads API call — developer token, OAuth, 6 client libraries or REST, with USER_PERMISSION_DENIED troubleshooting
- What
- Go from zero to a first working Google Ads API call — developer token, OAuth, 6 client libraries or REST, with USER_PERMISSION_DENIED troubleshooting
- Cost
- Free
- Needs
- a Google Ads Manager account (for the developer token) and a Google Cloud project for OAuth credentials; a pending developer token restricts you to test accounts only
- Install
- Copy the installer prompt below into your Muse — your agent does the rest.
Curated by Skill Harbor — @google's own zero-to-first-call guide for the Google Ads API: obtain the five authentication parameters (developer token from the API Center of a Manager account, OAuth client ID/secret with a Desktop App consent screen in Testing mode plus registered test users, refresh token via the gcloud device flow, client customer ID, login customer ID), then choose an integration track — official client libraries (Python, Java, .NET, PHP, Ruby, Perl) or direct REST — with a hard discipline the skill enforces at run time: **never hardcode the API or runtime versions**; resolve the latest stable major version from the release notes and the language minimums from the supported-versions page at the start of execution (with documented offline fallbacks), outputting a version anchor as the first line of the response. Includes static-only troubleshooting for the two classic setup failures — `USER_PERMISSION_DENIED` (missing login_customer_id in a manager hierarchy) and `DEVELOPER_TOKEN_NOT_APPROVED` (pending token restricted to test accounts, with the three production access levels named) — and hands off AI-assistant/MCP use cases to the dedicated `google-ads-api-mcp-setup` skill. Honest caveats: requires a Google Ads Manager account and developer token (a **pending token works on test accounts only**); the API itself has no per-call fee but ad spend is separate; dynamic version resolution means the agent may need live web access at run time. Apache-2.0 licensed. Skill Harbor never reviews the code, review it yourself before use. Discovered via skills.sh.
Version:
Install
Prerequisites: a Google Ads Manager account (for the developer token) and a Google Cloud project for OAuth credentials; a pending developer token restricts you to test accounts only Install "Google Ads API quickstart" for me. It gives the agent @google's official zero-to-first-call playbook: the five auth parameters (developer token, OAuth client ID/secret, refresh token, client customer ID, login customer ID), the two integration tracks (6 official client libraries or direct REST), mandatory dynamic resolution of the API and runtime versions at run time (never hardcoded), and static troubleshooting for USER_PERMISSION_DENIED and DEVELOPER_TOKEN_NOT_APPROVED — with a handoff to the google-ads-api-mcp-setup skill for AI-assistant use. Apache-2.0 licensed. Repository: https://github.com/google/skills/blob/main/skills/ads/google-ads-api-quickstart/SKILL.md 1. Fetch the SKILL.md file (and any helper files) from the repository path into a temporary folder and summarize what it does in one or two sentences. 2. Safety check: review the SKILL.md and scripts for anything suspicious (unexpected network calls, shell commands, credential harvesting). This repo should contain zero secrets in code, credentials only via the secure vault, allowed hosts declared in the SKILL.md. Verify that holds here; STOP on any red flag and tell me. 3. Install it as a skill: copy SKILL.md and its helper files into the agent's skills directory, in a folder named "google-ads-api-quickstart". 4. Verify with no network calls: frontmatter valid, files in place. 5. Report what was installed, where, and what I still need to do myself (e.g. get the developer token from the API Center, create the OAuth Desktop App credentials, run the gcloud device flow for the refresh token — keep all five values in the vault). GitHub is optional: if I have a GitHub account or the gh CLI, you may use it; otherwise public access is fine. Never require it unless it's in the prerequisites above. Rules: don't touch anything outside the temp folder and the install target. If anything looks off, stop and ask me.
Questions
How do I install a build?
Every product page includes a copy-paste install prompt. Paste it into your Muse and it sets the build up for you — no manual configuration.
Where does my money go?
Straight to the seller. Skill Harbor never processes payments: checkout happens on the seller’s own page, usually Stripe.
What does the ✓ next to a creator’s name mean?
It means we confirmed the identity of the person behind the listing. It says nothing about the code itself — always check a build before installing it.