To research competitor ads with Claude, connect an ad library MCP: a server that gives Claude tools to search brands and pull their ads. In Claude, open Customize > Connectors, click + Add, then Add custom connector, paste the server URL and sign in. Then ask in plain English, like "show me Gymshark's longest running active ads", and Claude returns the ads with their data.
This guide is for creative strategists, media buyers and founders who already use Claude and are tired of scrolling the Facebook Ad Library one brand at a time. It walks the setup with Adspo's MCP and a real research session on Gymshark, with the exact prompts and what came back on October 29, 2026.
What is an ad library MCP?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the standard Claude uses to talk to outside tools. An MCP server exposes a set of tools, and Claude decides which to call based on your question.
An ad library MCP exposes ad research tools. Adspo's server, for example, gives Claude 10 tools, including:
| Tool | What Claude uses it for |
|---|---|
search_brands | Find a brand by name or domain |
get_brand | Ad and creative counts, image vs video mix, top countries, similar brands, site traffic |
get_brand_creatives | A brand's creatives, filtered by active status, format, country or runtime and sorted by latest, longest running or most served |
get_creatives | Creatives across all brands, filtered by category, format and runtime |
get_creative_transcript | The full transcript of a video ad, with timestamps |
get_boards and get_board_creatives | Your saved Adspo boards and the ads in them |
So when you ask "what is Gymshark running in the US right now?", Claude calls search_brands to get Gymshark's ID, then get_brand_creatives with the right filters, and answers with the ads.
What you need before you start
- A Claude account. Custom connectors work on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise, according to Claude's help center. Free accounts can add one.
- An ad library with an MCP server. This guide uses Adspo, which includes MCP and API access on its single plan ($29/month, or $19/month billed yearly, with a 7-day free trial).
- About 2 minutes. There is nothing to install and no config file to edit.
On Team and Enterprise plans, only an Owner can add a custom connector. Members then find it under Customize > Connectors and click Connect.
How to connect an ad library MCP to Claude: step by step
Step 1: Get the MCP server URL
Every remote MCP server has a URL. Adspo's is https://mcp.adspo.co, and you'll find the MCP section on the Adspo homepage under Connect to Claude.
The URL doesn't contain a key. You prove who you are by signing in to your Adspo account in step 5, so there is nothing secret to copy around.
The Connect to Claude section on the Adspo homepage, showing a Claude chat asking "Show me trending health ads" with the Adspo connector on and three health ad creatives returned
Step 2: Open Customize, then Connectors in Claude
In Claude (web or desktop), open Customize and go to Connectors. You'll see the connectors you've already added, like Google Drive or Gmail.
On Team and Enterprise, the Owner does this from Organization settings > Connectors instead.
Step 3: Click + Add, then Add custom connector
Click + Add and choose Add custom connector. Claude opens a short form. Team and Enterprise Owners click Add, hover over Custom and select Web.
Claude's help center listing the steps for Pro and Max plans, with Click "+ Add" then "Add custom connector" highlighted
Step 4: Name it and paste the URL
Type a name you'll recognize in the connectors list, like Adspo. Paste https://mcp.adspo.co as the remote MCP server URL and click Continue.
Claude then shows the authentication settings it detected. Adspo uses standard OAuth sign-in, so leave them as they are and click Continue, then Add.
Step 5: Sign in to your ad library
Claude opens the ad library's sign-in page. For Adspo, that's app.adspo.co/connect. Sign in to your Adspo account and approve the connection.
You'll land back in Claude with the connector showing as connected. Claude never sees your Adspo password, only an access token the server issues.
Step 6: Switch the connector on in a chat
Start a new chat. Click the + button at the lower left, choose Connectors and make sure the toggle next to Adspo is on.
That's it. Claude will now call the ad library's tools whenever your question needs them.
Step 7: Ask your first question
Ask the way you'd brief a colleague. Be specific about the brand, the market and the sort:
Show me Gymshark's active ads, sorted by longest running.
If Claude asks for permission before calling a tool, allow it. Claude then returns the ads in the chat with their runtime, ad count, landing pages and a link to each one on Adspo.
A real research session: Gymshark
Here is what came back when we ran these prompts on October 29, 2026.
Prompt 1: "Give me Gymshark's ad profile"
Claude called search_brands and get_brand. Gymshark is a verified brand with 2,425 creatives running across 38,581 ads. 742 of those creatives are videos and 1,683 are images. By ad count, its biggest named markets were the UK (6,747 ads), the US (6,013) and Canada (3,910).
That ratio is the first insight. Gymshark runs about 16 ads per creative, so the same concept gets pushed across many ad sets, countries and placements.
Prompt 2: "Which of their ads are still live after the longest time?"
Claude called get_brand_creatives with active only and sorted by longest running. The oldest active creative had run for 649 days, since January 17, 2025. The top 12 had all run for 490 days or more.
One stood out: a cinematic video with the hook "It's you versus you, except when it isn't." It had been live for 531 days across 55 ads, sending traffic to the "We do gym" pages in the UK, Germany and France.
Prompt 3: "Which of their videos do they serve most in the US right now?"
Claude switched the sort to most served, filtered to US and video. The creative ranked #1 by impressions in Gymshark's own account was a try-on video for the men's functional fitness collection. It had run for 209 days across 45 ads in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
Impression rank is relative to the brand's own ads, not across Meta. It tells you what Gymshark puts the most delivery behind, which is a far better starting point than a random scroll.
Prompt 4: "Get me the transcript of the 'you versus you' ad"
Claude called get_creative_transcript and returned the full script with timestamps: the line "It's you versus you, except when it isn't." lands at about 6 seconds, then the brand name and "We do gym." The ad is almost all visuals, which is useful to know before you brief a voiceover-heavy version of the idea.
More prompts that work
- "Find skincare video ads that have been live for 90+ days."
- "Compare the formats Gymshark and Myprotein are running right now."
- "Which of Gymshark's active ads point to a sale page?"
- "Pull the ads in my Black Friday board and summarize the offers."
- "List the hooks from AG1's 10 most served videos."
Common problems and fixes
- Claude doesn't use the connector. Check it's switched on for that chat (+ > Connectors). New chats sometimes start with connectors off.
- Claude can't connect when you add the URL. Check for a typo or a trailing space. The URL must start with
https://. - Sign-in loops or fails. Sign in to the ad library in a normal browser tab first, then try Connect again from Customize > Connectors.
- The Add custom connector option is missing on a Team plan. Only Owners can add it. Ask an Owner, then click Connect once it appears in your list.
- Claude says it can't find a brand. Try the domain instead of the name ("gymshark.com"), or a shorter spelling.
- Results feel generic. Add a sort and a filter to your prompt: "active only", "US", "videos", "longest running" or "most served".
What a do-it-yourself Ad Library MCP won't give you
You can find open source Facebook Ad Library MCP servers on GitHub. They're a fair option if you like to tinker, but know the trade-offs:
- You run and pay for the plumbing. The popular ones fetch ads through a third-party scraping API, so you need that service's API key and a local config file in Claude Desktop.
- You get raw ads, not deduplicated creatives. The Ad Library can list the same creative once per ad, so a brand with 38,581 ads looks like 38,581 things to read.
- No ranking signal. Without impression rank or creative-level runtime, Claude has nothing reliable to sort by beyond start date.
- No memory. Nothing is saved between sessions. You can't pull "my Black Friday board" because there is no board.
If you want the official route, Meta's own API is covered in our Meta Ad Library API guide. It doesn't return commercial ads that only ran outside the EU and UK.
A faster way: competitor ad research in Claude with Adspo
Adspo is an ad library built for creative teams. It tracks 10,000+ verified brands, groups ads into creatives and ranks each creative by impressions within the brand's own account. The MCP gives Claude the same data you see in the app, so the answers line up with what your team looks at.
- Creatives, not duplicates. Claude reads 2,425 Gymshark creatives, not 38,581 ads.
- Real sorts. Longest running, most served in the brand's account, most ads behind a creative, latest.
- Transcripts and landing pages. Every video has a transcript, and every creative lists where it sends traffic.
- Your boards. Claude can read the boards your team saved in Adspo and summarize them.
- No setup to maintain. One URL, one sign-in, nothing to host.
Here is Gymshark's brand page in the Adspo app, the same data Claude pulls through get_brand:
Gymshark's brand page in the Adspo app showing creatives, ads, new creatives in the last 30 days, media mix, target countries and landing pages
And its active creatives sorted by longest running, the view behind prompt 2:
Gymshark's active creatives in the Adspo app sorted by longest running, each card showing its runtime in days
Adspo is $29/month, or $19/month billed yearly, with MCP and API access included and a 7-day free trial.
Related guides
- How to use the Facebook Ad Library: the free, manual way to do the same research.
- How to see your competitors' Facebook ads: every method, from the Ad Library to brand tracking.
- Facebook Ad Library alternatives: how Adspo compares with the free library.
Frequently asked questions
What is an ad library MCP?
An ad library MCP is a Model Context Protocol server that lets an AI assistant like Claude search ad data directly. Instead of scrolling the Meta Ad Library yourself, you ask Claude a question and it calls the server's tools to look up brands, pull their ads, sort them and read transcripts, then answers with the ads attached.
Is there a Meta ads MCP for Claude?
Yes, in two forms. Hosted ad libraries like Adspo give you a remote MCP server you add in Claude under Customize > Connectors with a URL and a sign-in. Community servers on GitHub wrap the public Ad Library through a third-party scraping API, which means your own API key and a local config file.
How do I connect a Meta ads MCP to Claude?
In Claude, go to Customize > Connectors, click + Add, then Add custom connector. Name it, paste the server URL (for Adspo, https://mcp.adspo.co), click Continue and sign in when asked. Then open a chat, click + at the lower left, choose Connectors and switch it on.
Can I use custom connectors on Claude's free plan?
Yes. Claude's help center says custom connectors using remote MCP work on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans. Free accounts are limited to one custom connector. On Team and Enterprise, an Owner adds the connector first and members then click Connect.
Does the Adspo MCP show ad spend or performance?
No tool can show a competitor's spend or results for commercial ads. Adspo returns each creative's runtime, how many ads run it, whether it is active, its landing pages, visual formats, transcript and its impression rank within the brand's own account, where 1 is the creative the brand serves most.
What can I ask Claude once the ad library MCP is connected?
Anything you would filter for by hand. For example: show me Gymshark's active ads sorted by longest running, which of their videos are served most in the US, get the transcript of that ad, or find skincare video ads that have run for 90+ days.
Wrapping it up
An ad library MCP turns Claude into a research assistant that can actually see ads. Add the connector once, switch it on in a chat, then ask for the sorts that matter: longest running, most served and most ads behind a creative.
Try Adspo free for 7 days and ask Claude what your competitors are scaling.