Use the API

The Ads Lighthouse API gives your own scripts, dashboards and data tools the same saved data you see in the app. It is included in the Scale, Business and Enterprise plans, and in trials of those plans. On other plans, you can still connect an AI assistant with MCP by signing in. The full reference is on the API page.

Create an API key

1. Open Settings and select API and MCP. You need to be the account owner or an account admin.
2. Enter a name that says where the key will be used, such as Reporting dashboard.
3. Choose Read only, or choose Read and write if the key needs to make changes: manage projects, team, alerts or review workflows, update settings, request reports, or run checks and redirect traces.
4. Select Create key and copy the key. It is shown only once, so store it in a secret manager.

Make your first request

Send the key in the Authorization header as Bearer followed by the key. For example, call https://adslighthouse.com/api/v1/projects. Project endpoints accept the project id, the brand domain or the exact project name.

What the numbers mean

• An observation is one saved check: one search result page for a keyword, search engine, device and location at one moment.
• Visibility is the share of saved observations where a domain showed at least one ad. It is not impression share.
• An observation shows that an ad was displayed. It does not prove a purchased keyword, spend or an infringement.

Checks, limits and errors

• Reading data never runs a search. Creating a project or starting an on-demand check uses your plan's allowance, as in the app. These requests need an Idempotency-Key header, so a retry never runs the checks twice.
• Each key can make up to 120 requests per minute. A 429 response tells you how many seconds to wait.
• Errors return a code, a message and a request id. Include the request id when you contact us.