Required Credentials

META_APP_ID and META_APP_SECRET are not needed — the access token alone is sufficient for all API operations.

How to Call the Meta API

Use exec + curl with your META_ACCESS_TOKEN. All requests go to https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/.

Example structure:

curl -X POST "https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/act_{AD_ACCOUNT_ID}/campaigns" \
  -d "access_token={META_ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
  -d "name=My Campaign" \
  -d "objective=LEADS" \
  -d "status=PAUSED"

When to Use

When user wants to launch a new campaign, make changes to an existing one, or do any campaign management task. Requires META_ACCESS_TOKEN and META_AD_ACCOUNT_ID.

Step 1: Authenticate

Required credentials:

• META_ACCESS_TOKEN — from Meta Developer Console (Graph API Explorer)
• META_AD_ACCOUNT_ID — format: act_XXXXXXXXX (from Ads Manager URL)

If credentials are not yet configured: Guide the user to get them:

1. Access Token: Go to developers.facebook.com/tools/explorer → select App → Generate Token → copy
2. Ad Account ID: adsmanager.facebook.com → Account Settings → find act_XXXXXXXXX

Store credentials securely. Never paste tokens into open conversation unless absolutely necessary.

Step 2: Create New Campaign

Campaign Level

POST to /act_{AD_ACCOUNT_ID}/campaigns

• objective: LEADS / PURCHASE / LINK_CLICK / AWARENESS
• status: PAUSED (create paused, activate after review)
• name: [Descriptive name: Product + Audience + Date]
• budget_type: DAILY or LIFETIME

Adset Level

POST to /act_{AD_ACCOUNT_ID}/adsets

• campaign_id: [From step above]
• status: PAUSED
• optimization_goal: corresponds to campaign objective
• billing_event: IMPRESSIONS / LINK_CLICK / etc.
• bid_amount: [If using manual bid]
• targeting: age, gender, geo, interests, behaviors
• daily_budget or lifetime_budget

Creative / Ad Level

Upload image first: POST /act_{AD_ACCOUNT_ID}/adimages Then reference image_hash in creative.

POST to /act_{AD_ACCOUNT_ID}/ads

• adset_id: [From adset step]
• creative: reference to adcreative
• status: PAUSED

Step 3: Pre-flight Checklist — Before Activating

Before setting status to ACTIVE, verify all of the following:

1. Campaign status is PAUSED — never launch in ACTIVE status; always review first
2. Budget confirmed with user — confirm the daily budget amount before going live
3. Targeting is appropriate — not too broad (> 1M people is too broad for interest-based) or too narrow (< 100K people may not have enough volume)
4. Creative passed Quality Check — confirm the ad creative has been reviewed
5. Pixel and CAPI installed — verify Meta pixel is firing and CAPI is connected
6. Bid strategy matches the objective — lowest cost for testing, cost cap for CPL control, target cost for scaling

Step 4: Campaign Management Tasks

Pause / Activate

PATCH /act_{AD_ACCOUNT_ID}/adsets?ids=[ADSET_ID] Set status to PAUSED or ACTIVE.

Change Budget

PATCH /act_{AD_ACCOUNT_ID}/adsets?ids=[ADSET_ID] Set new daily_budget or lifetime_budget. Rule: Change by max 20% per adjustment to avoid disrupting learning.

Check Campaign List

GET /act_{AD_ACCOUNT_ID}/campaigns?fields=id,name,status,objective,daily_budget

Get Performance

GET /act_{AD_ACCOUNT_ID}/insights?fields=spend,impressions,clicks,results,cpc,cpm,ctr&level=[campaign|adset|ad]&time_range={'since':'YYYY-MM-DD','until':'YYYY-MM-DD'}

Duplicate / Clone Campaign

When you have a winner campaign and want to replicate it to a new audience, geo, or offer, follow these 6 steps:

Step 1: Get source campaign structure

GET https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/[CAMPAIGN_ID]?fields=id,name,status,objective,daily_budget&access_token=[TOKEN]

Step 2: Get source adsets

GET https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/[ADSET_ID]?fields=id,name,status,optimization_goal,targeting,daily_budget,bid_amount&access_token=[TOKEN]

Step 3: Get source ads

GET https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/[AD_ID]?fields=id,name,status,creative&access_token=[TOKEN]

Step 4: Create new campaign (PAUSED)

POST https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/act_[AD_ACCOUNT_ID]/campaigns
  access_token=[TOKEN]
  name=[NEW_NAME — e.g. "Didoo AI — US — Interest — 2026-04-14"]
  objective=[SAME AS SOURCE]
  status=PAUSED
  budget_type=DAILY

Step 5: Create new adset(s) with modified targeting/budget

POST https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/act_[AD_ACCOUNT_ID]/adsets
  access_token=[TOKEN]
  campaign_id=[NEW CAMPAIGN ID]
  name=[NEW ADSET NAME]
  optimization_goal=[SAME AS SOURCE — e.g. LEAD_GENERATION]
  targeting=[MODIFIED — change geo, age, interests, etc.]
  daily_budget=[NEW BUDGET — integer in cents, e.g. 5000 = $50/day]
  status=PAUSED

Step 6: Create new ad(s)

POST https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/act_[AD_ACCOUNT_ID]/ads
  access_token=[TOKEN]
  adset_id=[NEW ADSET ID]
  name=[NEW AD NAME]
  creative={'creative_id': '[NEW_CREATIVE_ID]'}
  status=PAUSED

Review BEFORE activating:

1. Verify targeting is correct for the new audience
2. Confirm budget is realistic
3. Review creative and copy
4. Set status to ACTIVE only after review

Step 5: Common Issues

Output Rules

• Always confirm what was done: "Campaign created in PAUSED status. Ready to review before I activate it."
• After any change, summarize what changed and what to expect
• If user asks for a campaign list, format as a readable table

Security Rules

• Never log or print access tokens in plain text
• Store credentials in platform's secret management only
• Only use credentials for Meta Marketing API — never for other purposes

Key Numbers to Know

• Budgets in cents (5000 = $50.00) in API calls
• Ad Account ID format: act_XXXXXXXXX
• Minimum viable daily budget for learning: ~$10–15/day per adset
• Need ~50 results per week per adset to exit learning phase