Can I use the Facebook Ad Library API without app review?
Not Meta's own: the Ad Library API requires identity confirmation and a Meta developer app, and it returns only ads about social issues, elections or politics plus ads shown in the EU. SocialAPIs' GET /facebook/ads/search returns what the public Ad Library website shows, by keyword or by advertiser, with one API key and no Meta app.
Meta's official option
If political / issue ads or EU ad transparency data is what you need, Meta's Ad Library API is free and official: use it. For ordinary commercial ads shown elsewhere it has no answer.
How to do it with SocialAPIs
Search by query (keyword) or ad_page_id (advertiser), with country (ISO code or ALL), activeStatus (Active, Inactive or ALL), after_time / before_time (YYYY-MM-DD) and sort_data (impressions or recent). Each search costs 1 credit.
/facebook/ads/archive-details returns one ad's full details, and /facebook/ads/keywords finds advertisers for a keyword.
Endpoints
GET /facebook/ads/search1 credit
Search ads in the Meta Ad Library by keyword or page ID with filters.
Params:
query,ad_page_id,country,activeStatus,after_time,before_time,sort_data,end_cursorMeta Ads Library Search: docs and playgroundMCP:
facebook_ads→searchGET /facebook/ads/archive-details1 credit
Get detailed info about a specific archived ad by archive ID.
Params:
ad_archive_id(required),page_id,country,is_ad_non_political,is_ad_not_aaa_eligibleMeta Ads Archive Details: docs and playgroundMCP:
facebook_ads→archive_detailsGET /facebook/ads/keywords1 credit
Search for ads by keyword with optional country filter.
Params:
query(required),countryMeta Ads Keywords Search: docs and playgroundMCP:
facebook_ads→keywords
curl -G "https://api.socialapis.io/facebook/ads/search" \
--max-time 100 \
--fail-with-body \
-H "x-api-token: $SOCIALAPIS_API_KEY" \
--data-urlencode "query=running shoes" \
--data-urlencode "country=US" \
--data-urlencode "activeStatus=Active" \
--data-urlencode "sort_data=impressions"import os
import requests
response = requests.get(
"https://api.socialapis.io/facebook/ads/search",
headers={"x-api-token": os.environ["SOCIALAPIS_API_KEY"]},
params={
"query": "running shoes",
"country": "US",
"activeStatus": "Active",
"sort_data": "impressions",
},
timeout=100,
)
response.raise_for_status()
print(response.json())// Node 18+, as an ES module (e.g. main.mjs)
async function get(url, params) {
const query = new URLSearchParams(params).toString();
const response = await fetch(query ? `${url}?${query}` : url, {
headers: { "x-api-token": process.env.SOCIALAPIS_API_KEY },
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(100000),
});
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}: ${await response.text()}`);
return response.json();
}
const data = await get("https://api.socialapis.io/facebook/ads/search", {
query: "running shoes",
country: "US",
activeStatus: "Active",
sort_data: "impressions",
});
console.log(data);import java.net.URI;
import java.net.URLEncoder;
import java.net.http.HttpClient;
import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
import java.time.Duration;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.stream.Collectors;
public class Main {
private static final HttpClient CLIENT = HttpClient.newBuilder()
.connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10))
.build();
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
String body = get("https://api.socialapis.io/facebook/ads/search", Map.of(
"query", "running shoes",
"country", "US",
"activeStatus", "Active",
"sort_data", "impressions"));
System.out.println(body);
}
static String get(String url, Map<String, String> params) throws Exception {
String query = params.entrySet().stream()
.map(e -> URLEncoder.encode(e.getKey(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8) + "="
+ URLEncoder.encode(e.getValue(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8))
.collect(Collectors.joining("&"));
HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder(URI.create(query.isEmpty() ? url : url + "?" + query))
.header("x-api-token", System.getenv("SOCIALAPIS_API_KEY"))
.timeout(Duration.ofSeconds(100))
.GET()
.build();
HttpResponse<String> response = CLIENT.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
if (response.statusCode() / 100 != 2) {
throw new RuntimeException("HTTP " + response.statusCode() + ": " + response.body());
}
return response.body();
}
}package main
import (
"fmt"
"io"
"log"
"net/http"
"net/url"
"os"
"time"
)
func main() {
body, err := get("https://api.socialapis.io/facebook/ads/search", url.Values{
"query": {"running shoes"},
"country": {"US"},
"activeStatus": {"Active"},
"sort_data": {"impressions"},
})
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
fmt.Println(string(body))
}
func get(endpoint string, params url.Values) ([]byte, error) {
if len(params) > 0 {
endpoint += "?" + params.Encode()
}
req, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, endpoint, nil)
if err != nil {
return nil, err
}
req.Header.Set("x-api-token", os.Getenv("SOCIALAPIS_API_KEY"))
client := &http.Client{Timeout: 100 * time.Second}
resp, err := client.Do(req)
if err != nil {
return nil, err
}
defer resp.Body.Close()
body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
if err != nil {
return nil, err
}
if resp.StatusCode/100 != 2 {
return nil, fmt.Errorf("HTTP %d: %s", resp.StatusCode, body)
}
return body, nil
}# pip install socialapis-sdk
import os
from socialapis import Facebook
client = Facebook(api_token=os.environ["SOCIALAPIS_API_KEY"])
response = client.search_ads(
"running shoes",
country="US",
activeStatus="Active",
sort_data="impressions",
)
print(response)// npm install socialapis-sdk
import { Facebook } from "socialapis-sdk";
const client = new Facebook({ apiToken: process.env.SOCIALAPIS_API_KEY });
const response = await client.searchAds("running shoes", {
country: "US",
activeStatus: "Active",
sort_data: "impressions",
});
console.log(response);Your API key goes in the x-api-token header (here from the SOCIALAPIS_API_KEY environment variable). Get a free key.
Tutorial: Facebook Ads Library API without app reviewUse it from Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor (MCP)
Good to know
data.adsis a list of groups of near-identical ads: take the first ad of each group.- Catalog ads (
display_formatDPAorDCO) show template text like{{product.name}}; the real copy is insnapshot.cards. spend, impressions and reach arenullfor most commercial ads: Meta only publishes them for political / issue ads and some EU data. No tool can give you a competitor's real budget.