Meta Ads with Claude: the complete system
In the video above you see the whole thing live: a career media buyer builds a complete Meta Ads system with Claude Code and takes it from a single product photo to an ad account loaded with creatives. This lesson is the written companion to that video: every setup step, in order and with nothing skipped, so you can replicate it even if you have never opened Meta Ads or Claude in your life.
What you'll get: an understanding of what the system does (from one photo to 30+ ads and into your real account), Claude Desktop installed with the creator's repo, your own Meta API key created step by step, and all your keys stored safely in .env. You set this up once — after that, the system is yours.
The promise: what this system does
With a single product photo, your voice and Claude Code — no designer, no video editor, no virtual assistant, no Canva, CapCut or Adobe — the system produces:
- 30+ image ads across ~36 proven templates.
- Clones of any ad you spot in the wild.
- Full AI UGC videos with character consistency, B-roll, lo-fi music, voice-over, sound effects and captions — all edited inside Claude Code.
- Animated ads in claymation / Pixar style.
- The launch into your real ad account, without touching Ads Manager.
On top of that, Claude pulls your ad-account data, learns what works, scans every new creative and writes ad copy specific to every single ad. You act as the creative director; Claude is the creative team. You can even run multiple sessions or agents in parallel on the same folder.
The system is free: it lives in a GitHub repo linked in the video description. The only paid pieces are the third-party APIs that generate images and audio — we cover them in Stage D, with honest costs at the end.
Stage A — Claude Desktop and your working folder
Install Claude Desktop
Download it at claude.com/download, open it, go to Code and create a New session.
Create your folder
In Finder or Windows Explorer, create a new folder — for example "AI Meta Ads". Everything will live there: the repo, your keys, your photos and every generated ad.
Open it in Claude Code
In your session, use open folder and select your folder. From that moment on, Claude works inside it.
Paste the repo and ask for help
Copy the repo URL from the video description, paste it into the chat and ask Claude to set it up. Claude fetches the repo, reads the README and configures everything — the same review-a-repo-before-installing habit from the Obsidian lesson applies here.
[REPO URL FROM THE VIDEO DESCRIPTION] — help me set this up. I have never used Claude Code or Meta Ads before, so walk me through every step and tell me exactly what you need from me.
When Claude asks about the permission mode, choose Auto: it is the safe, recommended choice, because Claude checks with you before sensitive actions.
"Bypass permissions" is not for beginners. That mode lets Claude do anything on your machine without asking. Use it only if you are advanced and have already reviewed and trust the repo. For this lesson: Auto.
Stage B — The Meta API key (the unlock)
This key is what connects Claude to your real ad account. It is the longest step of the setup, so it comes numbered. Do it calmly once and you never repeat it:
- Go to developers.facebook.com → My Apps → Create App.
- Name your app — with one quirky rule: the name cannot contain the word "Meta" (for example, "Claude code ads"). Use your email.
- As the use case, pick create and manage ads with the Marketing API and select your business.
- Go to App Settings → Basic and add any privacy policy URL — this is an internal-use app, just for you.
- Go to Use cases → the tools section → Get access token → select all permissions → generate the token.
- Publish the app with the publish button. Without this step the key does not work — it is the classic stumble.
- Find your ad account ID in the Ads Manager URL. It needs the
act_prefix — and if you forget it, Claude fixes it automatically.
Stage C — The .env habit: keys stay out of the chat
Every key goes into the .env file in your folder, never pasted into the conversation. It is exactly the same rule you learned in the MCP lesson, and here it is sacred again.
Never paste an API key into the chat. A conversation can be scrolled, shared or leaked later; the .env file lives only on your machine. A key you pasted "just once" into the chat is already an exposed key.
The friction-free trick: have Claude open the file for you and paste the keys in there yourself.
Open the .env file so I can paste my API keys myself. Add placeholders for any keys that are still missing, like [META_ACCESS_TOKEN] and [ARCADS_API_KEY], so I can see exactly what goes where.
Stage D — The creative APIs
ArcAds
The engine that generates the images and videos. At arcads.ai: account settings → Public API → create credentials. API access requires their Pro plan.
ElevenLabs
Music, sound effects and voice-overs. In their developers → API keys → create section. Their ~$5/mo plan is enough.
Whisper Flow
Voice input: hold a key, talk, and the text appears. The creator drives the whole system by speaking through this app (not sponsored). Optional, but very comfortable.
Verification: Claude checks the circuit
With the keys in .env, Claude verifies everything end to end: that the ArcAds key works, that the Meta token is valid, and that the ad account is the right one. If something fails, it tells you right there and you fix it together.
And the fact that changes the whole equation: this setup happens once. Everything in the upcoming lessons — the creative factory, the videos, the launch — runs on top of what you just built.
Costs, honestly
| Piece | Cost |
|---|---|
| The system's repo | Free — linked in the video description |
| ArcAds | Paid Pro plan (required for the API) |
| ElevenLabs | ~$5/mo plan |
| Whisper Flow | Optional, for voice dictation |
The third-party APIs are paid by usage: the more you generate, the more you spend. The system itself costs nothing.
10-minute practice: complete Stage A today. Install Claude Desktop, create your "AI Meta Ads" folder, open it in a Code session and paste the repo from the video description using this lesson's prompt. Let Claude read the README and tell you which keys you are missing — that list is your homework for Stages B and D.