Meta Marketing API

# Fix list: Meta Marketing API

From Anchor Terminal's listing at https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/meta-marketing-api, the October 2026 research run, assessed 8 October 2026. Grade B, 67.7 out of 100.

This is everything the published grade says the listing lacks, the biggest possible gain to the total first. It comes from the reason given for each score, the checklist each category was scored against (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist), the provenance checks, the deductions, what we couldn't check and what the review panel asked for. A fix counts at the next check, once it's public.

For a coding agent working on Meta Marketing API: work through the items below in the product, its docs and its public pages. Each category gives the reason for its score, with the points each checklist item earned, and the checklist itself, so the gap is the items that earned less than their points. Change the product, not the wording, and keep a note of what you changed and where it's published.

## 1. Payments & pricing, 30 out of 100, up to 8.8 more on the total

Why it scored 30: No x402, MPP or L402 (0). No charge for API calls was found and no price list exists for the API. Tiers differ by rate limit and ad spend is billed to the ad account, so we scored the middle value (10). Limited access is automatic with no card, and a sandbox ad account needs no funding source (20). A person has to create a Meta account and a developer app in a browser, and App Review applies to managing other businesses' accounts (0).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-payments):

The published rubric, also on the [x402 page](https://www.anchorterminal.com/x402/).

- 40, a machine payment protocol (x402, MPP or L402) on the tool's own endpoints. 10 to 30 when it covers only some endpoints or only goes through a third party, and the note says which.
- 20, per-call or per-unit pricing published without a login. 10 for public plan-only pricing, 0 for "contact sales" or prices behind a login.
- 20, a free tier or trial that doesn't need a card.
- 20, autonomous onboarding, meaning an agent can get access without a person signing up in a browser (keyless use, x402, a programmatic key API).

Payment platforms and agent wallets rarely charge for their own API over a machine protocol, so the first line has steps for them, and the highest one that applies counts. 40 when x402, MPP or L402 runs on all their own endpoints, 30 when it runs on part of their own API, 25 when their merchants can accept one, 20 for running a facilitator, 15 for paying as a buyer, and 0 when the only protocol is their own. Merchant acceptance sits above a facilitator because the platform's own customers can charge agents through it, while a facilitator settles for sellers who wire up the protocol themselves. The counter-argument (a facilitator does more for the protocol as a whole) has a point. Each note says which step applied.

Open-source software you run yourself is scored on its hosted or paid option if it has one. A free, self-hosted package with nothing to buy gets 20, 20 and 20 for the last three lines, and 0 to 40 for the first only if it ships a payment protocol.

## 2. Security & auth, 61 out of 100, up to 6.8 more on the total

Why it scored 61: OAuth 2.0 access tokens with scopes, revocable, with system users for servers and optional `appsecret_proof`. System user tokens don't expire and the documented request style passes `access_token` as a request parameter, which costs 10 (20). `ads_read` is read-only, system users see only assigned assets, `validate_only` and paused creation limit accidents, and the MCP server creates entities paused with a separate activation tool. The API itself has no approval step before a write that spends (14). Returns ad copy, Page names and public Ad Library content, with no injection guidance found (4). Ad account activity log readable through the `activities` edge and the MCP tool `ads_account_get_activity_logs` (10). security.txt valid to 7 November 2026, a bug bounty at bugbounty.meta.com and a published disclosure policy. No SOC 2 or ISO 27001 statement for this API was found in the pages read (13).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-security):

- 0 to 30, the credential model. 30 for OAuth 2.1 with scopes, or scoped and revocable keys with rotation. 20 for plain revocable API keys. 10 for one all-powerful key. 10 off when a secret can travel in a URL query string as a documented option.
- 0 to 20, read-only or least-privilege modes, and confirmation or approval for destructive actions.
- 0 to 15, prompt-injection posture where the tool returns untrusted content (documented mitigations or guidance). A tool that returns no untrusted content gets 10.
- 0 to 15, audit logs or per-call visibility for the operator.
- 0 to 20, a security programme. security.txt or a disclosure policy, a bug bounty, SOC 2 or ISO 27001, advisories handled in public.

Models are read for retention, whether API data trains models (and whether that's off by default), zero-retention options and certifications. Frameworks for telemetry defaults, approval hooks, guardrails and sandboxing.

## 3. Reliability, 80 out of 100, up to 4 more on the total

Why it scored 80: Graded on the public Marketing API. metastatus.com lists Marketing API with two components, Ads Creation and Editing API and Ads Insights API, and an incident history (20). Neither Marketing API nor Graph API shows an incident in the 90 days to 8 October 2026. The last was on 12 June 2026, about three hours on creation and editing. Ads Manager's Ads Delivery component had four incidents in the window (16 and 19 July, 21 August, 22 September), two marked high disruption for over two hours each, so we departed from the full 30 (25). Rate limits are published with numbers per tier and use case (15). The docs ask for exponential backoff and name usage headers with `estimated_time_to_regain_access`, but no idempotency key for writes was found (10). No SLA found (0). The API is generally available, while the Ads MCP server was announced in open beta (10).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-reliability):

Hosted APIs, MCP servers, models and platforms.

- 20, a public status page with component history (Statuspage, Instatus, BetterStack or the vendor's own).
- 0 to 30, the incident record for the last 90 days on that page. 30 for a clean record or trivial incidents only, 20 for minor incidents only, 10 for one major outage (an hour or more of a core API down, or errors across the board), 0 for several. 5 when there's no history we could read, and the note says so.
- 15, rate limits documented with numbers.
- 15, documented 429 or overload handling (Retry-After, backoff guidance), and idempotency keys or safe-retry guidance where writes are involved.
- 10, an SLA published for any paid tier.
- 10, the surface agents use is generally available, not beta or preview.

Local packages, SDKs, frameworks and stdio MCP servers.

- 20, installs from an official package with supported runtimes stated.
- 25, a public CI and test suite, passing on the default branch.
- 0 to 25, open crash or regression issues relative to activity (25 for few and handled, 0 for many, old and unanswered).
- 15, semver discipline and breaking changes called out in a changelog.
- 15, version 1.0 or later, or declared stable.

Protocols are read from their reference implementations, the public facilitators or servers, spec stability and test vectors.

## 4. Schema & documentation, 76 out of 100, up to 3.9 more on the total

Why it scored 76: No OpenAPI document. Meta publishes its own JSON specs for 1,105 objects in facebook/facebook-business-sdk-codegen, refreshed on 17 September 2026, and a 47-request Postman collection (15). llms.txt indexes and a Markdown copy of each guide and reference page, with a section of rules for AI agents (10). Reference pages describe each field and guides cover when to use asynchronous reports, batches and sandbox mode, with little on when not to use an endpoint (13). Parameters carry types, enums, defaults and required marks, though targeting and creative specs travel as JSON strings in form fields (11). Request examples per endpoint in several languages and an error reference with codes and subcodes. Examples still use v25.0, and one Insights example uses v2.7 (12). Numbered versions, per-version changelogs and a dated out-of-cycle log (15).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-schema):

APIs and MCP servers.

- 25, a machine-readable contract (a public OpenAPI file or similar; for MCP, typed JSON Schema inputs on every tool).
- 10, llms.txt or Markdown docs served for agents.
- 0 to 20, descriptions that say what a tool is for, when to use it and when not to, read from the tool definitions in the source or the API reference.
- 0 to 15, typed inputs with enums, constraints and required fields, and no free-form JSON blobs.
- 0 to 15, examples and documented error responses.
- 15, versioning and a public changelog.

Models are read from the API reference, the OpenAPI file, llms.txt, the structured-output and tool-use docs and the model cards. Frameworks from docs a model can follow, typed interfaces, examples and the API reference.

## 5. Agent ergonomics, 77 out of 100, up to 3.7 more on the total

Why it scored 77: Responses can be sized with `fields`, `limit`, Insights `level` and summaries. The Ads MCP server is not what we graded, and its 91 documented tools would score lower here (20). Cursor paging, `filtering`, date presets, breakdowns, asynchronous report runs, batch requests and ETags (20). Errors carry `code`, `error_subcode`, `error_user_title`, `error_user_msg` and `fbtrace_id`, and the error reference maps codes to causes (17). No idempotency key was found in the reviewed documentation. `execution_options=validate_only` tests a write without performing it, and objects can be created paused (8). Business SDKs in five languages, but npm's Node.js package is two versions behind, every path needs a version, and campaign creation needs `special_ad_categories` as well as name, objective and status (12).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-ergonomics):

- 0 to 25, context cost. For MCP, the number and size of the tool definitions (25 for ten or fewer compact tools, 15 for 11 to 30, 5 for more than 30, plus up to 10 back for toolsets, dynamic loading or read-only subsets). For APIs, whether responses can be sized (field selection, limits, summaries).
- 20, pagination, filtering and output-size controls.
- 20, actionable, documented error responses, codes and messages an agent can recover from.
- 20, idempotency or safe retries, and for MCP the `readOnlyHint` and `destructiveHint` annotations.
- 15, sensible defaults, few required parameters, and official SDKs in at least two languages.

Models are read for tool use, structured output, prompt caching, context length, batch and SDKs. Frameworks for how much code and how many defaults a tool-calling agent with MCP needs.

## 6. Transparency & trust, 68 out of 100, up to 2.8 more on the total

Made of editorial 41, provenance 94.

Why it scored 68: Editorial half only. Closed service with clear Platform Terms and Developer Policies, both last updated 3 February 2026. The SDKs use Meta's own platform licence, which isn't an OSI licence (15). The Platform Terms set out what a developer may do with Platform Data, deletion duties and Meta's audit rights. Meta's privacy policy and data processing terms render only with JavaScript and weren't read, so retention on Meta's side is unscored (10). A written 90-day minimum for version removal, expiry dates per version and dated deprecation notices such as Poll ads on 27 October 2026 (20). The terms name Meta Platforms Ireland Limited and Meta Platforms, Inc. as controllers for EEA and UK transfers. No subprocessor list or data location list was read (3).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-transparency):

- 0 to 30, source availability and licence clarity. 30 for open source under an OSI licence, 15 for closed with clear terms, 0 for unclear terms.
- 0 to 30, data handling and retention statements that agree with each other (privacy policy, DPA, retention periods, subprocessors).
- 0 to 20, a deprecation policy or notices with dates.
- 0 to 20, telemetry disclosed with an opt-out (local software), or subprocessors and data locations disclosed (hosted).

The other half of Transparency and trust is the provenance score, computed from checked facts (below). The category score is the mean of the two.

Provenance checks not met in full (half of this category, computed from checked facts):

- Terms of service: read, states 4 of the 7 things a reader expects (7.4 of 10)
- Privacy policy: published, but our reader couldn't read it (7 of 10)

## 7. Maintenance & community, 74 out of 100, up to 2.3 more on the total

Why it scored 74: Python SDK 26.0.2 on PyPI on 21 September 2026 and the `meta-ads` CLI 1.2.0 on 29 September (30). Marketing API v26.0 on 29 July, and SDK tags 25.0.3, 26.0.0, 26.0.1 and 26.0.2 between 17 July and 17 September (20). Closed service with a dated changelog, a support page and a developer community group. The Marketing API changelog and versioning pages still name v25.0 as current, the out-of-cycle log ends on 28 June 2026, and the 30 newest open issues on the Python SDK repository are spam with no replies (7). Official SDKs in five languages, current on PyPI at 26.0.2, while npm's latest is 24.0.1 from 21 November 2025 (10). CI and publish workflows in the SDK repositories, with generated code and a changelog that stops at v25.0.3 (7).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-maintenance):

- 0 to 30, time since the last release, or the last published model or API change for a closed service. 30 within 30 days, 20 within 90, 10 within 180, 0 older.
- 20, at least three releases or dated changelog entries in the last 90 days.
- 0 to 25, responsiveness. Issues and pull requests answered on GitHub (the open issues and how recent the replies are). For closed services, a public changelog and a support or community channel that answers, 0 to 15.
- 15, presence in the official MCP registry under a verified namespace (MCP servers), or current official SDKs (APIs and models).
- 10, package health, current dependencies and CI.

Models are read for deprecation notice periods and model churn rather than release counts.

## What we couldn't check

What we couldn't read counted as absent. Publishing it on a page a plain HTTP fetch can read (not only in a browser) lets the next check count it.

- unchecked: Meta's privacy policy and data processing terms on facebook.com render only with JavaScript, so retention periods, subprocessors and data locations weren't read
- unchecked: the Ads MCP server's tool schemas and annotations, which need an access token to list. Tool names and descriptions come from the documentation
- unchecked: whether the Ads MCP server is still in open beta. The 29 April 2026 announcement says open beta and the documentation doesn't state a status
- unchecked: the official Postman workspace page renders only with JavaScript. The collection in facebook/facebook-business-sdk-codegen was read instead
- No statement that Marketing API calls are free was found. The absence of any price is the basis for the pricing field
- No idempotency key, Retry-After header or SLA was found in the reviewed documentation
- The Marketing API changelog and versioning pages name v25.0 as current while the Graph API changelog, the v26.0 changelog page and the SDKs show v26.0 from 29 July 2026
- Sandbox limits come from a 2017 post and the best practices page. Not tested, as we had no test account

## Weaknesses

- Default Limited access allows a score of 60 per ad account (read 1, write 3) and blocks for 300 seconds at the limit
- The documented request style passes `access_token` as a request parameter, and system user tokens don't expire
- No idempotency key was found in the reviewed documentation, so a retried create can make a second campaign
- npm's `facebook-nodejs-business-sdk` is still 24.0.1 from 21 November 2025, while GitHub is at v26.0.2 and v24.0 expired on 6 October 2026
- The Marketing API changelog and versioning pages still name v25.0 as current, ten weeks after v26.0

## What costs an agent a turn today

The notes we give agents before they call it. Each one is a workaround an agent shouldn't need.

- Put a version in every path, such as /v26.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/campaigns. Unversioned Marketing API calls fail
- Create campaigns, ad sets and ads with `status=PAUSED`, and send `execution_options=["validate_only"]` first to test a write without making it
- Ask for `ads_read` alone when the task is reporting. `ads_management` can change budgets and activate spend
- Read `X-Business-Use-Case-Usage` and `X-Ad-Account-Usage` after each call and wait for `estimated_time_to_regain_access` on errors 17, 613 and 80004
- Change an ad set budget at most four times an hour and an account spending limit at most ten times a day

## When it's done

Send what changed and where it's published as a dispute (https://www.anchorterminal.com/builders/#disputes, or `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/contact` with `"kind": "dispute"`). Disputes are answered in public, and the listing is checked again by the same checklist. Paying for an audit or a listing claim changes nothing here.