Introducing Google Ads API Developer Assistant v2.0

This major update transforms the Assistant from a powerful code generation tool into a proactive troubleshooting and automation partner for Google Ads developers. Since our v1.6.0 release, we've listened to your feedback and focused on the most challenging parts of API development: diagnostics, consistency, and setup.

What’s new in v2.0? 1. Simpler Installation & Maintenance

Setting up a multi-language development environment shouldn't be a chore.

• One-Command Setup: Use the new --install-deps flag with install.sh or install.ps1 to handle pip, composer, and bundler dependencies in one go.
• Unified Directory Structure: All your generated code, CSV exports, and diagnostic reports are now organized under a single saved/ directory with sub-directories for each type of output.
• One-Command Update: When a new version of the API and the client libraries are released you need to execute update.sh to work with the latest version. You can also use update.sh to add additional client libraries to your context.

2. Agentic conversion troubleshooting

Offline conversion tracking is one of the most powerful—yet complex—features of the Google Ads API. Debugging why a conversion wasn't attributed can be a time-consuming manual process.

In v2.0, we’ve introduced a dedicated Conversion Troubleshooting & Diagnostics suite.

• New Script: api_examples/collect_conversions_troubleshooting_data.py
• New Command: /conversions_support_data

The script executes standard reports for conversions troubleshooting and provides context for the Assistant to troubleshoot your issues.

The command is most useful after the Assistant has analyzed your conversion problem and attempted to solve it. If it cannot, and you need to contact support, this command will analyze your customer settings, conversion actions, and upload summaries to generate a structured diagnostic report based on the analysis already performed. It even identifies "unhealthy" states and high failure rates automatically, saving you hours of log diving. It saves the results to a text file that you can include with a support request should you need to file one.

3. Built for the latest API (v23)

Version 2.0 fully supports Google Ads API v23. All our interactive examples have been updated, and the Assistant's internal context is now optimized for the latest resources and fields, ensuring the code you generate is production-ready.

4. Seamless Automation with Session Hooks

We’ve added SessionStart and SessionEnd hooks to make your workflow truly frictionless.

• Automatic Configuration: The Assistant can now automatically locate your configuration file in your $HOME directory at the start of a session. It copies it to the sub-directory config in your project directory. Python is Gemini’s preferred language to query the API. So, if you are using another language, it reads your configuration file and creates a temporary google-ads.yaml in config for its queries, but continues to respond in the code of your preferred language.
• Auto-Cleanup: Temporary configurations are securely wiped when you exit, keeping your workspace clean and your credentials safe.

5. Smarter GAQL validation

Building complex GAQL queries is easier than ever. We've updated GEMINI.md and conversions/GEMINI.md with rigorous validation rules for the latest API edge cases, including improved handling of date segments and finite range requirements. The Assistant now catches logic errors before you execute the query.

6. Skills

Think of a Skill as a mini-plugin or a "behavior blueprint." While the general context (like your GEMINI.md file) provides background info, a Skill is only "loaded" into the AI's brain when it specifically needs to perform a complex, procedural task like obtaining the current version of this extension. You don’t execute the Skill directly. Gemini decides when it needs it.

Although still an experimental feature, we have included one with this release to compliment our use of hooks for session initialization and cleanup.

Why Should You Upgrade?

The leap from v1.6.0 to v2.0.0 is about more than just new features; it’s about reliability. By integrating deep API knowledge with automated diagnostic tools, v2.0 reduces the "trial and error" loop that often slows down API integration.

Whether you're debugging conversion uploads or building complex reporting pipelines, v2.0 gives you the tools to work faster and with more confidence.

Getting Started

First installation

• git clone https://github.com/googleads/google-ads-api-developer-assistant.git
• In the project directory, run install.sh or install.ps1 to install the extension and client libraries.

Upgrading from a previous version

• Copy any custom code from saved_code/ and saved_csv/ to a secure location.
• Delete your local clone of the Google Ads API Developer Assistant by deleting your project directory and all sub-directories and files.
• git clone https://github.com/googleads/google-ads-api-developer-assistant.git
• In the project directory, run install.sh or install.ps1 to install the extension and client libraries.

Bob Hancock, Google Ads API Team