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Summary
Google retired Google Ads API developer tokens on 9 September 2026. Access now belongs to your Google Cloud project: Test, Explorer, Basic and Standard, and how to get each.
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Example prompts for Google Ads
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Developer tokens are gone
Short answer: since 9 September 2026 the Google Ads API no longer needs a developer token. Access is granted to your Google Cloud project, at one of four access levels (Test, Explorer, Basic, Standard), and you request it on the project's Google Ads API page in the Cloud console. You no longer need a Google Ads manager (MCC) account to use the API. You can still send the developer-token header; Google ignores it.
Google's developer token page says it directly: developer tokens were sunset on 9 September 2026, and existing access levels were transferred to Cloud projects based on recent API activity. Applications made through the API Center of a manager account are no longer processed.
Before and after
| Until September 2026 | Since 9 September 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| What identifies your app | developer token from a manager account's API Center | your Google Cloud project |
| Manager (MCC) account | required to get a token | only to manage several accounts |
| Where you apply | API Center in Google Ads | Google Ads API page in the Cloud console |
developer-token header | required on every call | optional, ignored |
| Quota | per developer token | per Cloud project |
| OAuth | user credentials | unchanged: user credentials, scope adwords |
The access levels
| Level | Accounts | Operations per day | How you get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Test | test accounts only | 15,000 | default for a new project |
| Explorer | test and production | 2,880 on production, 15,000 on test | apply in the Cloud console; often granted automatically, no brand verification |
| Basic | test and production | 15,000 | apply after brand verification of the project; reviewed in minutes |
| Standard | test and production | unlimited (per-service rate limits apply) | apply; manual review of about 10 business days |
With Test access, a call to a real account fails with CLOUD_PROJECT_NOT_APPROVED_FOR_PRODUCTION. That is the error most people hit first after the change: the project works, the OAuth works, but the level is still Test.
Explorer is enough to read your own accounts or a handful of client accounts. A report such as "campaign performance last month" is one operation; an AI agent answering a question usually makes two to eight.
How to get access now
- Open console.cloud.google.com, pick or create a project, then APIs & Services → Library and enable Google Ads API.
- Open the Google Ads API page of the project. It shows the current access level; expand Upgrade access level and apply for Explorer (or Basic, after brand verification).
- Create an OAuth client ID under APIs & Services → Credentials, and set the OAuth consent screen to In production (in Testing mode refresh tokens expire after 7 days).
- Authorize with a Google user that has access to the ad accounts. The
adwordsscope is the only one; it is not read-only, so give that user the role it needs and no more.
What this means for existing tools
Scripts, CLIs and MCP servers written before September 2026 usually ask for a developer token and a manager account. They keep working if they also send OAuth credentials from a project that has access, because the token header is ignored. But their setup instructions now send people through steps that no longer exist, and a new user who creates a token in the API Center gets nothing out of it.
Things to update in your own setup:
- Stop asking for
GOOGLE_ADS_DEVELOPER_TOKEN; keep the OAuth client ID, secret and refresh token. - Make sure the OAuth client belongs to a Cloud project with Explorer access or higher.
- Keep
login-customer-idonly for access through a manager account. - Remember that the quota now belongs to the Cloud project. Several tools sharing one OAuth client share the quota.
Use it from Claude or ChatGPT
The Google Ads connector on AnythingMCP was built for the new model: it asks only for an OAuth client ID and secret (and optionally a manager id), you authorize it once in the browser, and Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Gemini can read your campaigns, search terms, Quality Score, budgets and conversions. It is read-only and needs no developer token.
FAQ
My tool still asks for a developer token. What do I enter? Anything, or leave it empty if the tool allows it: Google ignores the header. What matters is that the OAuth client comes from a Cloud project with access.
Do I still need a manager (MCC) account? Only to manage several accounts through one login. For your own account you can call the API directly.
Which access level do I need to read my own account? Explorer. Test access only reaches test accounts.
Is the quota per user or per project? Per Google Cloud project, over a sliding 24-hour window.
Where is this documented? On Google's developer token and access levels pages.
Related
- Google Ads MCP server: the overview
- Connect Google Ads to Claude
- Google Ads audit with Claude
- Google Ads in the marketplace
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