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Get your Meta Ads access token

Meta Ads lets your AI agent read and manage Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns, ad sets, creatives, and performance insights.

Business account required

Meta Ads access tokens must come from a Meta Business Suite account that owns or has been granted access to an Ad Account. Personal Facebook accounts cannot generate Ads API tokens.

Step 1 β€” Set up the Meta Business prerequisitesDirect link to Step 1 β€” Set up the Meta Business prerequisites​

If you already advertise through a Business Manager, skip to Step 2.

  1. Create a Meta Business account at business.facebook.com.
  2. Add (or claim) the Ad Account you want to expose. Business Settings β†’ Accounts β†’ Ad Accounts β†’ Add.
  3. Make sure the same business owns (or is connected to) the Facebook Page the ads run from.
  4. Verify your business if Meta asks for it (some endpoints require Standard Access).

Step 2 β€” Create a Meta Developer AppDirect link to Step 2 β€” Create a Meta Developer App​

  1. Go to developers.facebook.com and sign in.
  2. Click My Apps β†’ Create App.
  3. Pick "Other" as the use case β†’ "Business" as the app type.
  4. Give it a name (e.g. Clawify Ads) and link it to your Business Account.
  5. From the app dashboard, add the Marketing API product.

Step 3 β€” Generate a long-lived access tokenDirect link to Step 3 β€” Generate a long-lived access token​

  1. Open the Graph API Explorer.
  2. Top right: pick the app you just created.
  3. Click Generate Access Token β†’ sign in with the Facebook account that has Business access.
  4. Add the following permissions:
    • ads_read
    • ads_management
    • business_management
    • read_insights
  5. Click Generate, then copy the short-lived token shown.
  6. Exchange it for a 60-day long-lived token using the Access Token Debugger β†’ Extend Access Token.
Production tokens

For long-running setups, generate a System User token in Business Settings β†’ Users β†’ System Users β†’ Add β†’ Generate new token. System User tokens don't expire and are the recommended choice for any production assistant.

Step 4 β€” Connect it to ClawifyDirect link to Step 4 β€” Connect it to Clawify​

  1. In Clawify, go to Integrations (or /app/integrations).
  2. Find the Meta Ads card and click Connect.
  3. Paste the access token.
  4. Click Continue. The card flips to Connected.

What your AI can do once connectedDirect link to What your AI can do once connected​

  • "List my active campaigns and their last-7-day spend."
  • "Pause every ad set with a CPA above 25 € over the last 14 days."
  • "Duplicate the best-performing ad creative from last month into a new campaign targeting Latvia."

TroubleshootingDirect link to Troubleshooting​

  • "Invalid OAuth access token" β†’ the short-lived token expired (1 hour). Re-generate, then exchange for a 60-day or System User token.
  • "(#200) Permissions error" β†’ the token is missing one of ads_read, ads_management, or business_management. Re-issue the token with all four scopes.
  • "App in development mode" β†’ some endpoints require Meta's App Review with Standard Access on the Marketing API. For internal usage tied to your own business, request Advanced Access directly from the app dashboard.
  • No campaigns visible β†’ confirm the Business Account that issued the token actually has access to the Ad Account you expect.