The Google Ads API Explorer is an interactive execution environment that lets you
construct and send live API requests directly from your browser. Embedded
within the reference documentation, it handles the complexities of OAuth 2.0
authentication and JSON payload formatting, allowing you to test specific
services and methods without writing a single line of code.

## Benefits

- **No-code testing:** Execute live API calls (both read and write) directly from the documentation without setting up a local development environment.
- **Protocol discovery:** See the exact structure of HTTP requests and responses to understand how the API behaves.
- **Low-friction prototyping:** Verify endpoint behavior and inspect raw API responses immediately before implementing logic in your application.
- **Simplified authentication:** The tool manages OAuth 2.0 flows automatically, allowing you to focus on the API request rather than credential management.

## Get started

1. **Navigate to the documentation:** Go to the [Reference
   documentation](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26) and select the service and method you want to test, such as [`GoogleAdsService/Search`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26/GoogleAdsService/Search).
2. **Open the Explorer:** Look for the **Try this method** panel on the right side of the page.
3. **Configure the request:**
   - Enter the required **Request parameters** , such as `customerId`, and expand **Headers** to provide optional HTTP headers such as `login-customer-id` (required only when accessing an account through a manager account). Note that [developer tokens](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/api-policy/developer-token) (`developer-token`) were sunset on September 9, 2026 and are ignored by API servers, though you can still enter a value if prompted by the form.
   - Define the **Request body** using the interactive JSON editor if the method requires a payload, such as for `search` or `mutate` operations.
4. **Execute:** Click **Execute** to send the request. The tool displays the full HTTP request and the live JSON response from the API.

## Key features

- **Live execution:** Perform real-time `search` and `mutate` operations against your production or test accounts.
- **JSON payload formatting:** Interactively build complex JSON objects for requests, with the tool highlighting required fields and valid schema structures.
- **Field masks:** Test `update_mask` logic to see how partial resource updates behave in practice.
- **Error inspection:** View detailed error messages and codes (such as `QUERY_ERROR` or `AUTHENTICATION_ERROR`) in the raw response to facilitate faster debugging.
- **Code export:** Export `curl` commands, raw HTTP requests, or sample JavaScript code from the expanded view of the API Explorer.

## Example use cases

- **Audit account settings:** Quickly retrieve account-level configurations or metadata by executing a [`GoogleAdsService/Search`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26/GoogleAdsService/Search) request against the [`customer`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/fields/v26/customer) resource.
- **Test mutations:** Verify the success of a campaign creation or budget update before deploying the code to production.
- **Debug GAQL:** Use the Explorer to run a [Google Ads Query Language
  (GAQL)](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/query/overview) string and verify that the returned JSON structure matches your application's expectations.
- **Protocol verification:** Inspect the exact HTTP headers and JSON nesting required for a specific API version.