Run the ADSMCP Marketing Agent in OpenAI Codex

Your AI advertising manager in Codex CLI. The performance marketing agent runs as a Codex agent config with 5 dedicated skills and safety rules that prevent direct API calls to ad platforms.

How It Works

Codex CLI uses a plan-execute-verify loop: it explains its plan, you approve, it executes, then verifies results. When your task involves advertising, Codex loads the ADSMCP agent config and skills to follow proven workflows.

What Makes Codex Different

Codex has some unique characteristics compared to Claude Code and Cursor:

AGENTS.md — Codex uses AGENTS.md (not CLAUDE.md or BRAND.md) for persistent context
No memory file — Codex doesn’t support cross-session memory like Claude Code and Cursor
No web research — WebSearch and WebFetch are not available, so competitive research is done through ad platform data only
Safety rules — .rules files that block direct API calls to ad platforms, ensuring everything goes through ADSMCP’s authenticated pipeline
Dollar-sign commands — Skills are invoked with $adsmcp-* syntax

What Gets Installed

The one-command installer sets up everything:

Component	File	Purpose
MCP Server	`~/.codex/config.toml`	400+ advertising tools via OAuth
Agent config	`~/.codex/agents/performance-marketing-agent.toml`	Agent prompt and behavior
5 Skills	`~/.agents/skills/adsmcp-*/SKILL.md`	Workflow instructions per task type
Safety rules	`rules/campaign-safety.rules`	Block direct ad platform API calls

Plugin Marketplace (Recommended)

codex plugin marketplace add amekala/ads-mcp

Then inside Codex, run /plugins → navigate to the ADSMCP tab → select ADSMCP Ads Agent → press Enter to install. OAuth runs automatically on first use. Shell Installer

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/amekala/ads-mcp/main/plugins/codex/adsmcp/install.sh)

Installs MCP server, agent config, all 5 skills, and safety rules. Restart Codex after installing, then run codex mcp login adsmcp to authenticate. Manual Install

# Add MCP server
codex mcp add adsmcp --url https://mcp.adsmcp.si/mcp

# Clone and install skills + agent
git clone https://github.com/amekala/ads-mcp.git /tmp/ads-mcp
mkdir -p ~/.agents/skills
cp -r /tmp/ads-mcp/plugins/codex/adsmcp/skills/adsmcp-ads ~/.agents/skills/
cp -r /tmp/ads-mcp/plugins/codex/adsmcp/skills/adsmcp-setup ~/.agents/skills/
cp -r /tmp/ads-mcp/plugins/codex/adsmcp/skills/adsmcp-performance-review ~/.agents/skills/
cp -r /tmp/ads-mcp/plugins/codex/adsmcp/skills/adsmcp-write-ad-copy ~/.agents/skills/
cp -r /tmp/ads-mcp/plugins/codex/adsmcp/skills/adsmcp-wasted-spend ~/.agents/skills/

The 5 Skills

Codex uses the same Agent Skills standard as Claude Code. Each skill is a SKILL.md file with YAML frontmatter and workflow instructions.

Skill	Command	What It Does
Ad Campaign Management	`$adsmcp-ads`	Full campaign management — all platforms, all workflows
Setup	`$adsmcp-setup`	Bootstrap a brand workspace
Performance Review	`$adsmcp-performance-review`	Cross-platform performance scorecard
Write Ad Copy	`$adsmcp-write-ad-copy`	Brand-voice ad copy from real data
Wasted Spend	`$adsmcp-wasted-spend`	Find and fix wasted ad spend

How Skills Work in Codex

Codex discovers skills from ~/.agents/skills/ automatically
Progressive disclosure: metadata loads first, full SKILL.md loads when the skill is needed
Invoke explicitly with $adsmcp-* or let Codex match automatically from your description
Skills use generic verbs (“Search”, “Crawl”) instead of tool-specific names since Codex doesn’t have WebSearch/WebFetch

Run a performance review across all connected platforms. $adsmcp-performance-review Run a performance review for the last 30 days across all platforms. Compare against my KPI targets and flag any strategy drift.

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

Codex-Specific Adaptations

The Codex versions of ADSMCP skills are adapted from the same source templates as Claude Code and Cursor, with these differences:

Feature	Claude Code / Cursor	Codex
Context file	`CLAUDE.md` / `BRAND.md`	`AGENTS.md`
Web research	`WebFetch` / `WebSearch`	Not available — uses ad platform data only
Memory	`MEMORY.md`	Not available
Auth troubleshooting	Reconnect via settings	`codex mcp login adsmcp`

Safety Rules

Codex uses .rules files to enforce safety at a deeper level than skills. The campaign-safety.rules file blocks direct API calls to ad platforms:

prefix_rule(
    pattern = ["curl", "https://ads.google.com"],
    decision = "forbidden",
    justification = "Google Ads API calls must go through ADSMCP MCP"
)

This ensures all ad platform operations go through ADSMCP’s authenticated, auditable pipeline — never through raw API calls or curl commands.

Full Safety Stack

Rule	How It Works
User confirmation for spend	Agent 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 errors instead of retrying campaign creation
Direct API blocked	`.rules` files block `curl` to ad platform APIs
Post-creation verification	Verifies ad groups, keywords, ads after creation
Build integrity check	Flags campaigns with zero ads or zero keywords before optimization

Context Files

Codex uses two persistent files (no memory file).

AGENTS.md — Brand Context

Created by $adsmcp-setup. This is Codex’s equivalent of CLAUDE.md (Claude Code) and BRAND.md (Cursor). Codex uses a hierarchical AGENTS.md loading system:

Global: ~/.codex/AGENTS.md (applies to all projects)
Project: Walks from git root to current directory, merging each level
Maximum combined size: 32 KiB

Section	What It Contains
Brand Overview	What you sell, who you sell to, industry
Brand Voice	Tone, language style, prohibited words
Active Platforms	Connected platforms and campaign counts
Budget & Guardrails	Monthly budget, CPC caps, CPA targets
Performance Snapshot	Last 30 days from ADSMCP

STRATEGY.md — Strategic Decisions

Same as Claude Code and Cursor. Persists directives across sessions:

### Google Ads
AVOID: broad match "plumbing services" — competitor-dominated, $12+ CPC
PREFER: exact match "emergency plumber [city]" — high intent, $4-6 CPC

[!NOTE] Since Codex doesn’t have a memory file, STRATEGY.md and AGENTS.md are the primary ways to persist context across sessions. Put anything you want the agent to remember in these files.

The Agent Loop

When you invoke $adsmcp-performance-review in Codex: 1. Skill loads Codex discovers and loads the performance review skill via progressive disclosure. 2. Context loads Reads AGENTS.md for brand context and KPI targets. Reads STRATEGY.md for active directives. 3. Connections check Calls get_connections_status to identify connected ad platforms. 4. Data pull For each connected platform, calls performance tools via ADSMCP MCP. 5. Strategy check Compares campaign data against STRATEGY.md. Flags “Strategy Drift” items. 6. Results Presents a unified scorecard with recommendations and top 3 actions.

Approval Modes

Codex has 3 approval modes that affect how the agent interacts:

Mode	File Access	Tool Calls	Best For
Read-only	Read only	Approval needed	Reviewing performance, auditing spend
Auto (default)	Read + edit in working dir	Auto-approved in scope	Campaign creation, keyword management
Full Access	Read anywhere + network	Auto-approved	Bulk operations across accounts

For advertising tasks, Auto mode works well — you get automatic approvals for read operations and prompted for spend-affecting actions.

Comparison with Other Clients

Feature	Codex	Claude Code	Cursor
Agent type	Agent config	Subagent	Subagent
Brand context file	`AGENTS.md`	`CLAUDE.md`	`BRAND.md`
Skills	5 separate	1 comprehensive	5 separate
Commands	`$adsmcp-*`	`/adsmcp:*`	`/adsmcp-*`
Memory	Not available	`MEMORY.md`	`MEMORY.md`
Rules	Safety rules (`.rules`)	—	Cursor Rules (`.mdc`)
Web research	Not available	`WebSearch` + `WebFetch`	`WebSearch` + `WebFetch`
Direct API blocking	Yes (`.rules`)	No	No

FAQ

Why doesn’t Codex have memory? Codex CLI doesn’t support a persistent memory file like Claude Code’s MEMORY.md. Use AGENTS.md and STRATEGY.md to persist important context. The agent will record decisions and findings in STRATEGY.md when you confirm them.

Can the agent do competitive research without WebSearch? The Codex agent can’t crawl websites or search the web. It relies on ADSMCP’s ad platform data (search terms, keyword volumes, campaign performance, benchmarks) for insights. For competitive research, use Claude Code or Cursor instead.

What are safety rules? Codex .rules files block specific command patterns. ADSMCP’s campaign-safety.rules prevents direct curl or API calls to Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, and TikTok APIs. This ensures all operations go through ADSMCP’s authenticated pipeline with proper OAuth, audit logging, and safety checks.

Can I use Codex as an MCP server for other agents? Yes. Codex CLI can expose itself as an MCP server for the OpenAI Agents SDK. This means you can build higher-level agents that delegate advertising tasks to Codex + ADSMCP. See the Codex Agents SDK guide.

Claude Code Agent — How ADSMCP works in Claude Code
Cursor Agent — How ADSMCP works in Cursor
Performance Marketing Agent — Architecture overview
Skill Reference — All 5 skills with invocation details
Codex 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)

​How It Works

​What Makes Codex Different

​What Gets Installed

​The 5 Skills

​How Skills Work in Codex

​Codex-Specific Adaptations

​Safety Rules

​Full Safety Stack

​Context Files

​AGENTS.md — Brand Context

​STRATEGY.md — Strategic Decisions

​The Agent Loop

​Approval Modes

​Comparison with Other Clients

​FAQ

​Related Documentation