Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Paid Media Ad Plan agent skill (ads-plan)
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The ads-plan skill is an agent skill from the claude-ads project that makes an AI agent write a full paid-advertising strategy from a rough goal. It is for marketers, founders, small teams and agencies who want a structured media plan covering channels, campaign structure, audiences, budget, creative, measurement and rollout. By the end of this guide you will know what the skill does, how to install it, how to ask for a plan and what to check before using the output.
Paid Media Ad PlanAgriciDaniel/claude-ads · MIT Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download the ZIP. Get the ads-plan skill ZIP from this page.
- 2Unzip the folder. Extract the skill folder so that SKILL.md sits inside it.
- 3Place it in the skills directory. Copy the folder to ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or to .claude/skills/ in your project.
- 4Or upload it in the apps. In the Claude apps, go to Settings → Capabilities → Skills and upload the skill.
- 5Describe your goal. Write a request with the objective, product, budget, geography and conversion you care about.
- 6Review the plan. Check the objective, channel choices, exclusions, guardrails and rollback conditions against your facts.
- 7Take action separately. Use the plan as a brief; any live account change needs separate, authorised tooling.
What is an agent skill, and what does ads-plan make the agent do?
An agent skill is a folder of instructions and reference files that an AI agent can read when a request matches the skill's description. The ads-plan skill covers objectives, economics, platform selection, campaign architecture, audiences, budget, creative, measurement, experiments, governance, rollout and reporting.
When you ask for a plan, the agent works through your business objective, customer, offer, conversion definition, value, budget constraints, geography and any regulated category. It then decides which channels to use and which to skip, rather than assuming every supported platform is needed. Every action in the plan gets an owner, timing, dependency, guardrail, success measure and a rollback or exit condition.
- Clarifies objective, customer, offer, conversion and constraints before recommending anything
- Chooses channels by their role and explicitly excludes channels that do not fit
- Lays out campaign architecture, audience strategy, creative system, budget pacing and measurement
- Sets experiments, approvals, operating cadence and a phased rollout
- The plan is advisory: it does not change any ad account by itself
Install the ads-plan skill
Download the ZIP for the skill from this page and unzip it. For a personal install, place the unzipped skill folder in ~/.claude/skills/. For a project-only install, place it in the project's .claude/skills/ folder.
If you use the Claude apps, you can instead upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
- Personal: ~/.claude/skills/
- Project: .claude/skills/ inside your project folder
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload
Optional extras for full functionality
The skill can run on its own, but the source describes two optional files from the wider claude-ads plugin that add depth: ads/references/additional-platforms.md and skills/ads-meta/SKILL.md. The skill uses the Meta file to check account, Pixel and conversion readiness before proposing Meta budgets, bidding or learning-phase expectations.
Your agent runtime must be able to read the skill's reference files. Templates for industries such as SaaS, e-commerce, healthcare, finance, real estate, local services, mobile apps, agencies and info products are included in the assets folder.
- ads/references/additional-platforms.md: needed for channels outside the supported platform set
- skills/ads-meta/SKILL.md: needed for Meta-specific readiness checks
- assets/: industry templates such as saas.md, ecommerce.md and healthcare.md
How to trigger the skill with natural requests
The skill activates on requests that match its description. Plain language works: name the goal, the product, the budget and the market. The source lists ad plan, media plan, PPC strategy, paid-social strategy, campaign architecture, advertising roadmap and channel planning as trigger phrases.
The more business detail you give, the better the plan. If key inputs are missing, the skill treats them as unknown and plans for validation rather than assuming benchmarks.
- "Build a paid search and paid social media plan for a B2B SaaS trial signup with a $5k monthly budget in the UK."
- "Create a PPC strategy for a local plumbing business in Austin, focused on booked calls."
- "Draft a campaign architecture and rollout timeline for a mobile app install campaign."
- "Make a channel plan for an info-product launch and tell me which channels to skip."
What to check in the output
Review the plan against your real facts. Check that the conversion definition, value and budget match your business, and that any channel the agent excluded has a reason you accept. Treat any claim about performance as a planning assumption until you test it.
For regulated categories such as healthcare, finance or real estate, have a compliance specialist review the plan before use. The skill is built to route uncertainty about regulation to qualified review.
- Confirm the objective, conversion event and value are correct
- Read the exclusions and the reasons given for them
- Check the guardrails and rollback conditions for each action
- Use the plan as a brief for your team or agency, then make changes yourself or through separately authorised tooling
Safety notes: scripts and network access
This skill runs no scripts and uses no network access, according to its listing. It works by reading its own instruction and reference files and writing a plan. Because it is advisory only, it does not launch or edit live ad accounts. Account changes depend on separate mutation gates in the wider toolkit.
Keep client data separate. The agency template in the assets folder asks for each client's credentials, exports, audiences and reports to be isolated, and for client-approved inputs only.
- No scripts are run by this skill
- No network use is listed for this skill
- Plans are advisory and do not change ad accounts
- Do not paste credentials or private customer data into prompts
Tips for better plans
Give the agent real numbers and honest history. A plan built on accurate budget, geography and conversion data is far more useful than one built on guesses. If you have little history, say so; the skill will then favour measurement validation and staged tests over aggressive scaling.
Ask for one channel at a time when you need depth, or ask for a multi-channel plan when you need to compare roles.
- State whether your account, Pixel and conversion tracking are new or established
- Name the regulated category if one applies
- Ask the agent to explain why a channel was excluded
- Use an industry template from the assets folder as a starting point for agency work
What people use it for
- Drafting a multi-channel media plan for a small team without an agency
- Building a paid search and paid social structure for an e-commerce launch
- Preparing a client plan from an industry template such as SaaS, healthcare or real estate
- Mapping a phased rollout with owners, timing and exit conditions for an advertising roadmap
Frequently asked questions
Is the ads-plan skill free to use?
The source lists the licence as MIT, which is a permissive open-source licence. Check the licence file in the repository for the full terms before redistributing it.
How do I install the ads-plan agent skill?
Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it. Place the folder in ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or in .claude/skills/ inside a project. You can also upload it in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
What do I need to run ads-plan?
You need to supply business details such as objective, offer, budget and geography. You also need an agent runtime that can read the skill's reference files. The Meta and additional platforms files from the wider claude-ads plugin are optional but add depth.
Does ads-plan change my Google or Meta ad account?
No. The skill produces an advisory plan and does not change any ad account by itself. Account changes depend on separate mutation gates in the wider toolkit.
Does ads-plan run scripts or access the internet?
According to the listing, it runs no scripts and uses no network access.
Can ads-plan be used for healthcare or finance campaigns?
It can draft a plan for regulated categories, but ad rules in these areas are strict. The plan should be reviewed by a compliance specialist before use.
How is ads-plan different from a generic AI prompt for ad strategy?
The skill follows a fixed process: it checks inputs, chooses channels by role, applies industry templates and assigns owners, guardrails and rollback conditions to every action. It also labels unsupported channels as research leads needing current evidence.
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Our verdict
Use ads-plan if you are a marketer, founder, small team or agency that needs a structured, reviewable paid-media plan and will make the account changes yourself or with separate tools. Pick something else if you expect the agent to launch or edit live ads, or if you need a finished plan for a heavily regulated category without specialist review.
Download the skill