Connect ads for a platform
Unified ads connection endpoint. Creates a dedicated ads SocialAccount for the specified platform.
Meta business login (opt-in). Set loginMode=business for facebook or instagram to use Facebook Login for Business and a Business Integration System User token. No posting account is created or required. This mode always returns an authUrl; it returns 503 when the server has no META_ADS_CONFIG_ID. Complete the dialog in a browser. The callback creates or reconnects only the metaads account, preserving its ID, history and scopedAdAccountIds. Non-empty successful subscription results replace subscribedAdAccountIds to remove stale grants; an empty result leaves routing unchanged. A reconnect must grant every previously scoped ad account (or every previous grant for an unscoped connection). Missing or unverifiable grants return 409 before changing the account.
Pass pageId to select a granted Page for creatives and lead forms. API integrations otherwise reuse the previous Page or sole granted Page. Multiple Pages without a selection return 400 with available Page IDs for API integrations; restart with pageId. Dashboard session logins use the sole current grant automatically or open the existing Facebook Page picker for several grants, including reconnects. Selection completes the Meta Ads connection. With no Pages granted the callback returns 400 with instructions to connect again and grant a Page. Success redirects with connected=metaads, profileId and accountId. Business login reports metadata.tokenType=system-user in GET /v1/accounts. An absent Meta expires_in leaves tokenExpiresAt absent; no personal-token re-exchange occurs. Subsequent classic requests can change the ad-account scope using the business token; force=true requires loginMode=business to reconnect that connection.
Same-token platforms (facebook, instagram, linkedin, pinterest). The ads SocialAccount (metaads, linkedinads, pinterestads) reuses the OAuth token of the parent posting account, but only when an active parent exists and, for facebook and instagram, its stored token carries ads_management and ads_read (linkedin and pinterest need no extra scope). In that case no extra OAuth happens and the response is alreadyConnected: true.
When no such parent exists, or the scopes are missing, the endpoint returns an authUrl and a full OAuth round trip is required. When a parent exists but carries no token usable for ad accounts, the call fails with 400 RECONNECT_REQUIRED. Independently of the branch, the call can return 403 ADS_ADDON_REQUIRED without the ads add-on and 402 PAYMENT_REQUIRED when the billing gate is closed.
Meta Ads prerequisite: connecting Meta Ads (via facebook or instagram) requires a Facebook Page. Not because the ad account is read through a Page, but because both parent posting accounts are: the facebook flow only offers Pages you manage, and the instagram flow with loginMethod=facebook_login only offers Instagram accounts linked to one of those Pages. Without a Page there is no parent account to inherit a token from. A user who manages no Facebook Page cannot complete this connection, and the facebook flow ends with error=no_facebook_pages.
Separate-token platforms (tiktok, twitter). Starts the platform-specific marketing API OAuth flow and creates an ads SocialAccount (tiktokads, xads) with its own token. If the ads account already exists, returns alreadyConnected: true.
- tiktok: accountId is OPTIONAL. With accountId, the new tiktokads account links to that posting account (parentAccountId set), so Spark Ads + standalone ads using the posting TT_USER identity become available. Without accountId, ads-only mode kicks in: the new tiktokads account has parentAccountId=null and standalone ads use a synthetic CUSTOMIZED_USER ("Brand Identity"); Spark Ads are unavailable because TikTok requires a posting account for them. The Brand Identity is configured separately via PATCH /v1/connect/tiktok-ads (or inline on POST /v1/ads/create via the brandIdentity field).
- twitter (X Ads): accountId is REQUIRED. There's no ads-only mode, because tweets need to be authored by a real X user.
Standalone platforms (googleads). Starts the Google Ads OAuth flow and creates a standalone ads SocialAccount (googleads) with no parent. If the account already exists, returns alreadyConnected: true.
Ads accounts appear as regular SocialAccount documents with ads platform values (e.g., metaads, tiktokads) in GET /v1/accounts.
Path parameters
Platform to connect ads for. Only platforms with ads support are accepted.
In classic mode, instagram requires an Instagram account connected with loginMethod=facebook_login whose token carries ads_management and ads_read. With an account connected through the default instagram_login flow no ads account can be created; do not use this value for those accounts.
Query parameters
Meta ads authorization mode. Business login is opt-in for Facebook and Instagram; classic preserves the posting-account flow.
Business login only. Ad-account permission the connection's system user will hold. full asks the owner for Full control (MANAGE; required to create pixels and other account-level assets through Zernio). advertise asks for Manage campaigns (ADVERTISE), enough for campaigns, ad sets, creatives, ads, media and reporting, for owners who will not grant billing-level control to an integration. Either way Meta only lets a business admin complete the grant. 503 if the advertise configuration is not set up.
Business login only. Facebook Page ID to select from the token grants for ad creatives and lead forms.
Your Zernio profile ID
Existing SocialAccount ID. Required for twitter (X Ads). Optional for tiktok: omit to enter ads-only mode (no TikTok posting account linked; ad creation uses a Brand Identity instead of a TT_USER). Ignored for same-token (facebook, instagram, linkedin, pinterest) and standalone (googleads) platforms.
Custom URL the browser is sent to once the OAuth flow finishes. Honored on every ads platform, including the separate-token (tiktok, twitter) and standalone (googleads) flows. MUST be an absolute http(s) URL or a custom app scheme for mobile deeplinks (e.g. myapp://callback); a relative path is rejected with 400 INVALID_REDIRECT_URL. On success tiktok, twitter and googleads land on the URL unchanged, while the same-token platforms (facebook, instagram, linkedin, pinterest) append connected, profileId, accountId, username and, on API-key calls, connect_token. On failure the same error contract applies as on GET /v1/connect/{platform}: error and platform are always appended, other params are optional, and the value list there is not exhaustive. On the tiktok, twitter and googleads flows platform carries the ads platform id (tiktokads, xads, googleads), not the value used in the request path. When omitted, the browser lands on the Zernio dashboard.
Enable headless mode (same-token platforms only)
Force a fresh OAuth even when an account already exists. Normally the endpoint returns alreadyConnected: true whenever a connected account is found, keying off its active state rather than token liveness. Set force=true to bypass that and always receivean authUrl. Completing the returned OAuth refreshes the stored token on the existing posting and ads accounts in place.
Scope ad sync to a single platform ad account. Without this param, sync covers every ad account the connected token can see. Business-login reconnects preserve the existing scope; supplied IDs are checked against the new grant. To change that scope after migration, call this endpoint with the IDs and omit loginMode. Supported on facebook/instagram (Meta, act_<digits>), linkedin (bare numeric sponsored-account id), googleads (bare customer id digits) and twitter (X Ads, base36 account id). tiktok scopes advertisers at OAuth and pinterest has no ads discovery, so both ignore it. Meta ids are additionally validated against the connected token: an id the token cannot see returns 400 invalid_field_value, and an id it can see but that Meta marks unusable for ads (disabled, closed, under risk review, settlement pending) returns 400 ad_account_unusable with details.accountStatus (Meta's account_status) and, when Meta gives one, details.disableReason. Unsettled and in-grace accounts are accepted, matching the selectable flag of GET /v1/ads/accounts. Setting a scope also removes already synced ads from de-scoped ad accounts. On Meta the scope also decides which ad accounts Zernio subscribes to ad-account webhooks: only the scoped ones, instead of every ad account the login can reach. The scope is kept when this call returns an authUrl, so the Meta Ads account created after OAuth is scoped (and only its scoped ad accounts synced and subscribed) from the start. For multiple accounts use adAccountIds instead.
Scope ad sync to multiple platform ad accounts (same platform support and id shapes as adAccountId). Repeat the param (?adAccountIds=act_1&adAccountIds=act_2) or comma-separate (?adAccountIds=act_1,act_2). Persisted server-side; latest call wins, and de-scoped ad accounts have their synced ads removed. On Meta only the scoped ad accounts get webhook subscriptions, including when the call starts a fresh OAuth. Omitting both adAccountId and adAccountIds keeps any previously persisted scope unchanged (no scope means every reachable ad account).
Response
Either an OAuth URL to redirect to, or confirmation that ads are already connected
Example response
{
"alreadyConnected": true,
"scopedAdAccountIds": [
"act_1330190928038136"
]
}