MCP Server for Reddit Ads (mcp-server-reddit-ads)

A Reddit Ads API v3 MCP server with working write operations and tiered safety controls, built and dogfooded by an actual Reddit advertiser. It gives an MCP client read access to campaigns, ad groups, ads, and performance reports, plus gated write tools for pausing, creating, budget and bid changes, targeting edits, and copying ads between ad groups.

Requirements

• A Reddit Ads account, with business-admin access so you can register an app.
• Node.js 20 or newer.
• An MCP client (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, or any other).

Getting started

Pick the path that matches your setup: a paste-one-prompt route for Claude Code or Claude Desktop, or the manual steps for any other client. Every path installs read-only and cannot change anything in your account until you deliberately turn on writes (the last step).

Simple setup with Claude Code (recommended)

If you use Claude Code, let it do the mechanical work. Copy this whole prompt and paste it into Claude Code:

Set up the mcp-server-reddit-ads MCP server for me so I can manage my Reddit Ads
account from here. Install it read-only for now - no write access. Please:

1. Read the setup instructions at https://github.com/camlowe/mcp-server-reddit-ads
2. Check I'm on Node.js 20 or newer.
3. Walk me through registering a Reddit app, since only I can do that part. Tell me
   exactly where to click and which two values (client ID and client secret) to copy.
4. Run `npx mcp-server-reddit-ads auth` and guide me through the browser login.
5. Add the server to my .mcp.json using the credentials from the auth step, with the
   write tier set to read-only.
6. Confirm the server loads and list my Reddit ad accounts to prove it works.

Do not enable any write access yet. I'll ask for that later when I'm ready.

Claude reads this README, tells you exactly what to do for the parts only you can do, runs npx mcp-server-reddit-ads auth, writes your .mcp.json, and confirms the server loads. Later, when you want to make changes, just ask it to raise the write tier.

Simple setup with Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop can't run terminal commands for you, so this prompt has it act as a patient guide while you run one command and edit one config file. Paste it into a new Claude Desktop chat:

I want to set up the mcp-server-reddit-ads MCP server so I can manage my Reddit Ads
account with you. I'm not a developer, so please guide me one step at a time with
simple, copy-pasteable instructions, and wait for me to confirm each step before
moving to the next.

Look up the setup details at https://github.com/camlowe/mcp-server-reddit-ads. The
main steps are: register a Reddit app to get a client ID and secret, run a one-time
`npx mcp-server-reddit-ads auth` command in my terminal to log in, and add the server
to my Claude Desktop config file. Set it up read-only so nothing in my account can
change until I decide to turn writes on.

Either way, you still register the Reddit app (step 1 below) and approve the browser login yourself - those cannot be automated.

Advanced setup (manual)

The full process, for other MCP clients or if you prefer to do it by hand. It takes about five minutes.

1. Register a Reddit app

1. Open the Reddit Ads dashboard at ads.reddit.com and sign in with an account that has business-admin access.
2. Open Business settings (the gear / settings menu, top right), then Developer Applications, then Create App.
3. Give the app a name, set the redirect URI to exactly http://localhost:8080, and choose a primary contact (a business admin). Save it.

Reddit then shows the two values you need in step 2:

• Client ID - the short string (roughly 22 characters, for example Ab3xK9zQ1rStUvWxYzAbCd) displayed directly under the app's name. Reddit often shows it without a "client ID" label, so it is easy to miss; it is the code beneath the app title, not

... View full README on GitHub