Apple Ads with the asc CLI

asc Apple Ads

Run Apple Ads work through asc ads. Apple Ads credentials are separate from App Store Connect credentials; asc auth login does not configure Ads.

Pick the API first

• Direct asc ads <resource> ... commands use Apple Ads Platform API v1 and an ad account ID.
• Deprecated Campaign Management API v5 commands live under asc ads v5 ... and use an organization ID. Apple retires v5 on January 26, 2027.
• Never substitute an org ID for an ad account ID. The CLI keeps them separate.
• Run the exact leaf command with --help before building a request file. Platform v1 payloads and response envelopes differ from v5; the CLI does not translate them.
• For non-interactive pipelines, pass --file - to read a JSON request body from stdin; the CLI rejects it when stdin is a terminal.
• Resource, report, upload, and raw commands emit lossless JSON. Use jq for projections instead of asking for table or markdown output.

Authenticate and pin the account

Store both contexts when a profile must support v1 and legacy v5:

asc ads auth login \
  --name "Marketing" \
  --client-id "$ASC_ADS_CLIENT_ID" \
  --team-id "$ASC_ADS_TEAM_ID" \
  --key-id "$ASC_ADS_KEY_ID" \
  --private-key "$ASC_ADS_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH" \
  --ad-account "987654" \
  --org "123456" \
  --network

For CI, set Ads-specific variables and bypass the host keychain:

export ASC_ADS_CLIENT_ID="SEARCHADS_CLIENT_ID"
export ASC_ADS_TEAM_ID="SEARCHADS_TEAM_ID"
export ASC_ADS_KEY_ID="KEY_ID"
export ASC_ADS_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH="$HOME/.asc/apple-ads-private-key.pem"
export ASC_ADS_AD_ACCOUNT_ID="987654"
export ASC_ADS_BYPASS_KEYCHAIN=1

ASC_ADS_PRIVATE_KEY and ASC_ADS_PRIVATE_KEY_B64 also work. If another trusted process minted a short-lived token, set ASC_ADS_ACCESS_TOKEN; scoped v1 calls still need an ad account ID.

Check auth without printing a token:

asc ads auth status --validate --output json
asc ads auth discover --ads-profile "Marketing" --output json
asc ads auth doctor --output json

Discovery calls Platform v1 GET /v1/me and GET /v1/acls. Compare each ACL's ad-account ID, name, organization ID, and roles; never select the first result automatically. Print the chosen account before any mutation, then pass both --ads-profile "Marketing" and --ad-account "987654" when more than one profile or account is available.

For named profiles, the profile's ad_account_id and org_id stand alone; they do not inherit context from another profile or root config. V1 context precedence is --ad-account, ASC_ADS_AD_ACCOUNT_ID, the selected profile, then profile-less root config. Legacy v5 uses the matching --org and ASC_ADS_ORG_ID chain.

Start read-only

Identity and ACL calls need no ad account context:

asc ads me view --ads-profile "Marketing" --output json
asc ads acls list --ads-profile "Marketing" --output json
asc ads orgs view --ads-profile "Marketing" --org-id "123456" --output json

Then prove the selected account with a small app search:

asc ads apps search \
  --ads-profile "Marketing" \
  --ad-account "987654" \
  --query "Example" \
  --limit 1 \
  --output json

App search requires at least one of --query, --cpids, or --return-owned-apps. Storefronts use comma-separated ISO alpha-2 codes. Add --paginate only when every search result is needed.

Use each resource's find command for inventory. Most v1 queries put filters, sorting, and pagination in a JSON object. A subordinate-resource filter looks like this:

{
  "filters": [
    {"field": "campaignId", "operator": "EQUALS", "value": ["campaign-id"]}
  ],
  "pagination": {"offset": 0, "pageSize": 100, "fetchTotalCount": true}
}

asc ads campaigns find --ads-profile "Marketing" --ad-account "987654" --output json
asc ads ad-groups find --ads-profile "Marketing" --ad-account "987654" --file query.json --output json
asc ads ads find --ads-profile "Marketing" --ad-account "987654" --file query.json --output json

Omitting --file from campaigns find requests the default first page. To control or exhaust the result set, use pagination.offset, pageSize, and fetchTotalCount in a query file, read the response pagination, and advance the offset until complete. This command has no --paginate flag. Platform filters use the singular value; do not copy v5 Selector fields such as conditions or plural values, which current asc rejects before auth.

The direct v1 tree also covers ad accounts and advertiser resources; app eligibility, locales, product pages, and rejection reasons; brands, business categories, locations, location groups, creatives, and assets; geographic targeting and shared budgets; reports for apps and brands; insights, suggestions, recommendations, and change history. Discover the exact leaf instead of falling back to raw HTTP:

asc ads change-history --help
asc ads suggestions --help
asc ads rejection-reasons --help
asc ads reports brands --help

Keyword queries need a selector file. Targeting keywords require an id, adGroupId, or campaignId filter. Negative keywords require id or adGroupId; campaign-level negative keywords combine campaignId with an adGroupId filter whose operator is IS_NULL.

asc ads targeting-keywords find --ads-profile "Marketing" --ad-account "987654" --file keyword-query.json --output json
asc ads negative-keywords find --ads-profile "Marketing" --ad-account "987654" --file negative-keyword-query.json --output json

Reports and optimization

V1 reports require an endpoint-specific body. Dates live under timeRange, page controls use offset and pageSize, and campaign or ad-group IDs belong in filters:

{
  "pagination": {"offset": 0, "pageSize": 20},
  "filters": [
    {"field": "campaignId", "operator": "EQUALS", "value": ["campaign-id"]}
  ],
  "groupBy": ["countryOrRegion"],
  "timeRange": {
    "start": "2026-08-01",
    "end": "2026-08-14",
    "timeZone": "ORTZ",
    "granularity": "DAILY"
  }
}

asc ads reports apps campaigns \
  --ads-profile "Marketing" \
  --ad-account "987654" \
  --file report.json \
  --output json

Report commands do not accept --paginate; change pagination in the body. Inspect the leaf help because report entities accept different groupBy and option values.

Recommendations and suggestions also use endpoint-specific bodies. Applying or dismissing recommendations can change spend and requires --confirm:

asc ads recommendations daily-budgets find --ads-profile "Marketing" --ad-account "987654" --file query.json
asc ads recommendations daily-budgets apply --ads-profile "Marketing" --ad-account "987654" --file recommendations.json --confirm