Codex, OpenAI's coding agent, can call MCP servers as tools. Add VibeAds and Codex can read your Google Ads performance, list the search terms wasting money, and draft campaigns, from the same terminal where you keep your scripts and notes. If you use ChatGPT in the browser instead, the ChatGPT guide is quicker: it signs in without a key.
What do I need?
- The Codex CLI, installed and signed in.
- A VibeAds account with Google Ads connected in Settings. Reading works on every plan; drafting and publishing need Pro ($20 a month) or Max.
- A VibeAds API key from Settings, MCP Server Keys, starting with
vba_mcp_.
How do I add VibeAds to Codex?
Put the key in an environment variable, for example in your shell profile:
export VIBEADS_API_KEY=vba_mcp_YOUR_KEY_HERE
Then add the hosted server to ~/.codex/config.toml:
[mcp_servers.vibeads]
url = "https://getvibeads.com/api/mcp"
bearer_token_env_var = "VIBEADS_API_KEY"
Codex sends the key as a bearer token, which VibeAds accepts, and the key never sits in the config file. Run codex mcp list to check it, or /mcp inside Codex, then ask: "Show me my Google Ads campaigns in VibeAds."
Prefer to run the npm package locally? This works too:
codex mcp add vibeads --env VIBEADS_API_KEY=vba_mcp_YOUR_KEY_HERE -- npx -y @vibeads/mcp
What can I ask Codex?
- "Write this week's numbers for each campaign to a CSV and tell me what moved."
- "Which keywords and search terms cost the most without converting?"
- "List the optimizer's recommendations with what each would change."
- "Draft a campaign for a pest control company in Atlanta at $40 a day." (a draft that spends nothing)
Can Codex publish campaigns or raise budgets?
Not by itself. With an API key, publishing always returns an approval link, and so does raising a daily budget, or a bid past double or $50 a click: you approve them in your browser, signed in to VibeAds. Other changes go through VibeAds' safety checks, at up to 60 calls an hour per key. The key never sees your Google login, and you can revoke it any time.
Troubleshooting
- The server won't start. Check
echo $VIBEADS_API_KEYprints your key in the shell that runs Codex. - "Missing VibeAds API key". The key must start with
vba_mcp_. - No live numbers. Connect Google Ads in VibeAds Settings.
The full tool list and limits are in the MCP server docs.