Run the ADSMCP Marketing Agent in Claude Code

Your AI advertising manager inside the terminal. The performance marketing agent runs as a Claude Code subagent — it has its own prompt, memory, and tools, and returns results back to your main session.

How It Works

Claude Code uses an agentic loop: you describe a task, it reasons about what to do, calls tools, reads results, reasons again, and repeats until done. When your task involves advertising, Claude Code spawns the ADSMCP agent to handle it.

What Happens When You Ask About Ads

You say: “Create a Google Search campaign for my SaaS product”

Claude Code recognizes this as an advertising task
Spawns the performance marketing agent as a subagent
Agent reads CLAUDE.md (brand context), STRATEGY.md (directives), MEMORY.md (past decisions)
Follows the skill workflow: connection check → competitive research → keyword research → asset validation → campaign creation → ad extensions → verification
Each step calls ADSMCP MCP tools (research_keywords, create_search_campaign, etc.)
Agent asks for your confirmation before spending
Results return to your main Claude Code session

[!TIP] The agent runs as a subagent with its own context — long advertising workflows don’t bloat your main session.

What Gets Installed

The ADSMCP plugin gives Claude Code everything it needs:

Component	File	Purpose
MCP Server	`https://mcp.adsmcp.si/mcp`	400+ advertising tools via OAuth
Agent	`~/.claude/agents/performance-marketing-agent.md`	Agent prompt with brand awareness and workflows
Skill	`~/.claude/skills/ad-campaign-management/SKILL.md`	Proven workflows for all platforms
Commands	`~/.claude/commands/*.md`	5 slash commands for common tasks

/plugin install adsmcp-ads-agent@claude-community

Available on the official Anthropic marketplace — no custom marketplace setup needed. Or type /plugin, open the Discover tab, and search adsmcp. Installs everything in one step. Run /reload-plugins after installing.

Skills & Slash Commands

Skills are instruction files that teach Claude Code the right workflow for using ADSMCP’s 400+ tools. Without skills, the AI guesses which tools to call and in what order. With skills, it follows proven advertising workflows with safety rules baked in.

How Skills Load

Skill descriptions are always in context — Claude Code knows what’s available
Full skill content loads when invoked (by you or automatically)
The agent preloads the skill when spawned, so it starts with complete workflow instructions

One Comprehensive Skill

Claude Code uses 1 skill (ad-campaign-management) covering all platforms and workflows. This differs from Cursor and Codex which split into 5 separate skills — Claude Code consolidates because its plugin system handles slash commands separately. The skill includes:

Workflow routing: maps your request to the right tool sequence
Platform-specific campaign creation flows (Google, Meta, Amazon, ChatGPT Ads, LinkedIn, TikTok)
Keyword research with strategy directive filtering
Cross-platform performance analysis
Budget optimization and wasted spend detection
Ad extension workflows (sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets)
Competitive intelligence using web research
Safety rules: confirmation gates, PAUSED creation, read-before-write

Slash Commands

Command	What It Does
`/adsmcp:setup`	Bootstrap a brand workspace — connect accounts, scan docs, pull data
`/adsmcp:ad-campaign-management`	Full campaign management — all platforms, all workflows
`/adsmcp:performance-review`	Cross-platform performance scorecard
`/adsmcp:write-ad-copy`	Brand-voice ad copy from real performance data
`/adsmcp:wasted-spend`	Find and fix wasted ad spend

You don’t need to memorize these. Just describe what you want — Claude Code matches the right skill automatically. Cross-platform performance review with strategy alignment. Run a performance review for the last 30 days across all platforms. Compare against my KPI targets and flag any campaigns that conflict with my strategy.

Sign up for ADSMCP — free to start 15 free tool calls/month. No credit card required. Connect your ad accounts in 2 minutes.

Context Files

The agent uses three persistent files to maintain brand awareness across sessions.

CLAUDE.md — Brand Context

Created by /adsmcp:setup. Claude Code reads this automatically at session start.

Section	What It Contains
Brand Overview	What you sell, who you sell to, industry
Brand Voice	Tone, language style, prohibited words
Target Audiences	Segments with platform-specific targeting
Active Platforms	Connected platforms and campaign counts
Budget & Guardrails	Monthly budget, CPC caps, CPA targets, ROAS minimums
KPI Targets	Primary goals and target metrics
Performance Snapshot	Last 30 days across all platforms
Key Findings	Top campaigns, wasted spend, opportunities

STRATEGY.md — Strategic Decisions

Persists directives across sessions. Every skill reads this before executing.

### Google Ads
AVOID: broad match "plumbing services" — competitor-dominated, $12+ CPC
PREFER: exact match "emergency plumber [city]" — high intent, $4-6 CPC
CONSTRAINT: max CPC $8 for non-brand terms — budget protection

Directives are only saved after you explicitly confirm them. The agent proposes, you approve.

MEMORY.md — Past Decisions

Tracks campaign actions, optimization results, your preferences, and key learnings. The agent reads memory at session start and cross-references it during analysis.

The Agent Loop: Step by Step

Here’s exactly what happens when you run /adsmcp:performance-review: 1. Agent spawns Claude Code creates a subagent with the performance marketing agent prompt and skill preloaded. 2. Context loads Agent reads CLAUDE.md, STRATEGY.md, and MEMORY.md. 3. Connections check Calls get_connections_status to identify which ad platforms are active. 4. Data pull For each connected platform, calls performance and wasted spend tools in parallel. 5. Strategy check Compares campaign data against STRATEGY.md directives. Flags “Strategy Drift” items. 6. Analysis & recommendations Compares actuals vs KPI targets. Cross-references with MEMORY.md. Presents a unified scorecard with top 3 recommended actions.

Web Research

The Claude Code agent has access to WebSearch and WebFetch — it can research competitors, crawl websites, and gather market intelligence. This powers the Campaign Research workflow that runs before any campaign creation:

WebFetch crawls your website and competitor sites for positioning, pricing, value propositions
WebSearch finds competitors, comparison content, and market data
Combined with ADSMCP data (search terms, keyword volumes), the agent creates a research brief before building your campaign

The agent doesn’t just create campaigns from your prompt — it researches your market first.

Safety Rules

Rule	How It Works
User confirmation for spend	Agent always asks before creating campaigns or changing budgets
Campaigns created PAUSED	All `create_*` tools default to PAUSED status
Read-before-write	Connection check → research → validate → create
Never retry on error	Reports the error instead of retrying campaign creation
Budget guardrails	Checks `CLAUDE.md` budget limits before spend-affecting actions
Strategy compliance	Reads `STRATEGY.md` and flags conflicts with active directives
Post-creation verification	Verifies ad groups, keywords, ads, and extensions after creation

Comparison with Other Clients

Feature	Claude Code	Cursor	Codex
Agent type	Subagent	Subagent	Agent config
Brand context file	`CLAUDE.md`	`BRAND.md`	`AGENTS.md`
Skills	1 comprehensive	5 separate	5 separate
Slash commands	5 (`/adsmcp:*`)	5 (`/adsmcp-*`)	5 (`$adsmcp-*`)
Memory	`MEMORY.md`	`MEMORY.md`	Not available
Rules	—	2 rule files	Safety rules
Web research	`WebSearch` + `WebFetch`	`WebSearch` + `WebFetch`	Not available

FAQ

How is the agent different from just using MCP tools? Without the agent, you have 400+ tools but no workflow guidance, no brand awareness, no strategy persistence, and no memory. The agent turns raw tools into a managed advertising system that knows your brand and follows proven workflows.

Can I customize the agent prompt? Yes. Edit ~/.claude/agents/performance-marketing-agent.md to change behaviors, add workflows, or modify interaction style. The source is in the ads-mcp repo.

Does the agent use my main context window? No. The agent runs as a subagent with its own context. Results are summarized and returned. Long advertising workflows don’t bloat your main session.

Can I run the agent in the background? Yes. Claude Code supports background agents. Spawn the agent for a long task (like a full cross-platform review) and continue working while it runs.

What model does the agent use? The agent uses the same model as your Claude Code session. You can override this in the agent file with the model field.

Cursor Agent — How ADSMCP works in Cursor
Codex Agent — How ADSMCP works in Codex
Performance Marketing Agent — Architecture overview
Skill Reference — All 5 skills with invocation details
Claude Code Setup — Installation guide
Prompt Engineering Playbook — A custom skill, account dossier, and prompt book generated from your own ad account ($39 one-time, one free on annual)

Agent Skills

Guides

Run the ADSMCP Marketing Agent in Claude Code

How It Works

What Happens When You Ask About Ads

What Gets Installed

Skills & Slash Commands

How Skills Load

One Comprehensive Skill

Slash Commands

Context Files

CLAUDE.md — Brand Context

STRATEGY.md — Strategic Decisions

MEMORY.md — Past Decisions

The Agent Loop: Step by Step

Web Research

Safety Rules

Comparison with Other Clients

FAQ

​How It Works

​What Happens When You Ask About Ads

​What Gets Installed

​Skills & Slash Commands

​How Skills Load

​One Comprehensive Skill

​Slash Commands

​Context Files

​CLAUDE.md — Brand Context

​STRATEGY.md — Strategic Decisions

​MEMORY.md — Past Decisions

​The Agent Loop: Step by Step

​Web Research

​Safety Rules

​Comparison with Other Clients

​FAQ

​Related Documentation

How It Works

What Happens When You Ask About Ads

What Gets Installed

Skills & Slash Commands

How Skills Load

One Comprehensive Skill

Slash Commands

Context Files

CLAUDE.md — Brand Context

STRATEGY.md — Strategic Decisions

MEMORY.md — Past Decisions

The Agent Loop: Step by Step

Web Research

Safety Rules

Comparison with Other Clients

FAQ

Related Documentation