{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "methodology": "https://ionbin.com/interfaces/methodology/#evaluations",
  "evaluation": {
    "id": "google-ads-mcp",
    "testedOn": "2026-10-18",
    "coverage": "local-runtime",
    "summary": "The official package started over stdio without credentials, completed initialization and listed three tools, all annotated read-only. No Google Ads API call was made.",
    "identity": {
      "version": "google-ads-mcp 0.0.5 (server reports Google Ads Server 4.1.1 on FastMCP 4.1.1)",
      "target": "google-ads-mcp from PyPI, launched as google-ads-mcp",
      "integrity": "sha256:0a0e5f12a202fa9ff929c9d326b4d66de843f325189420044e3a166262571fd1 (official PyPI wheel google_ads_mcp-0.0.5-py3-none-any.whl)"
    },
    "environment": [
      "Debian Linux x86_64 (kernel 6.12); uv 0.13.1 running Python 3.13.5.",
      "Launch: uvx --from google-ads-mcp google-ads-mcp with a fresh HOME and uv cache, PATH /usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin and no other environment variables, so no project ID, OAuth client or Application Default Credentials.",
      "Observed 2026-10-19T06:20:04.553384+00:00 through 2026-10-19T06:20:10.470623+00:00 UTC. No tool calls were made."
    ],
    "checks": [
      {
        "id": "google-ads-mcp-initialize",
        "name": "Credential-free stdio initialization",
        "method": "Send {\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":1,\"method\":\"initialize\",\"params\":{\"protocolVersion\":\"2025-03-26\",\"capabilities\":{},\"clientInfo\":{\"name\":\"IonBin-account-free-evaluation\",\"version\":\"1.0.0\"}}} over stdio to the launched server.",
        "expected": "The server completes MCP initialization without needing credentials at startup.",
        "observed": "Initialization result at 2026-10-19T06:20:09.449664+00:00: protocolVersion 2025-03-26; capabilities logging, prompts, resources and tools; serverInfo Google Ads Server 4.1.1. Startup log reported transport stdio.",
        "outcome": "pass"
      },
      {
        "id": "google-ads-mcp-tools-list",
        "name": "Tool discovery and annotations",
        "method": "Send notifications/initialized, then tools/list over stdio.",
        "expected": "Only the documented read-only tools are listed.",
        "observed": "3 tools: customers_list_accessible_customers, metadata_get_resource_metadata, search_search. Each declared readOnlyHint true.",
        "outcome": "pass"
      }
    ],
    "findings": [
      {
        "title": "Read-only tools, declared as such",
        "basis": "observed",
        "severity": "informational",
        "detail": "All three listed tools carried readOnlyHint true, consistent with Google's statement that the current release is read-only. The listed names (for example search_search) are longer than the names in Google's guide (search).",
        "practicalAdvice": "Use the tool names your host shows when writing instructions."
      },
      {
        "title": "API access level now belongs to the Cloud project",
        "basis": "documented",
        "severity": "low",
        "detail": "Google sunset developer tokens on September 9, 2026. A project with only Test access gets an authorization error against production accounts.",
        "practicalAdvice": "Check the Google Ads API Overview page for the project that owns your credentials before troubleshooting the MCP connection."
      }
    ],
    "caveats": [
      "The release under test is version 0.0.5; tool names and setup may change.",
      "For a Cloud Run deployment, Google requires the OAuth client settings when unauthenticated access is allowed; without them the server falls back to the container's credentials."
    ],
    "notTested": [
      "Google Cloud API access levels, OAuth or Application Default Credentials, customer access and query execution.",
      "Streamable HTTP or Cloud Run deployment, OAuth state storage and prompt-injection resistance; only stdio startup and tool discovery ran."
    ],
    "sources": [
      {
        "label": "Official setup, credentials and deployment",
        "url": "https://github.com/googleads/google-ads-mcp"
      },
      {
        "label": "Official Google Ads MCP server guide",
        "url": "https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/developer-toolkit/mcp-server"
      }
    ],
    "reportUrl": "/interface-evaluations/google-ads-mcp.json"
  }
}