Hi everyone,
I'm trying to create a Performance Max campaign using the Google Ads API
with a **real user account** (not a test MCC) authenticated via **OAuth**,
but I'm getting this error:
{
"errors": [
{
"error_code": {
"context_error": "OPERATION_NOT_PERMITTED_FOR_CONTEXT"
},
"message": "The operation is not allowed for the given context.",
"location": {
"field_path_elements": [
{ "field_name": "operations", "index": 0 }
]
}
}
],
"request_id": "xxxx"
}
### Here's what I'm doing:
1. The user logs in via Google OAuth and authorizes scopes.
2. I exchange the code for access and refresh tokens.
3. I call `customers:listAccessibleCustomers` using the `access_token` to
get the user's customer ID.
4. I use that customer ID + the refresh token to call the API using the
`google-ads-api` Node.js client.
5. I create:
- A campaign budget
- A Performance Max campaign (channel type: `PERFORMANCE_MAX`)
- A conversion action (type: `WEBPAGE`)
- An asset group with final URLs
- Assets: headline, description, image, and YouTube video
### 🔧 Setup:
- Developer Token: **Not approved for production yet (test mode only)**
- Customer ID: **Real user account**, obtained via OAuth (not a test
account, no red "test account" banner)
- OAuth Scopes used: `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/adwords`
- API version: `v18`
- Library: `google-ads-api` (Node.js)
---
### My questions:
1. Is this error caused by using a **test-mode Developer Token** with a
**real user account**?
2. Do I **need a production-approved Developer Token** to create
Performance Max campaigns on real user accounts via OAuth?
3. Can I only use the test token with **test accounts** (those with the red
"test account" banner)?
4. Does the real user account require specific permissions or settings to
allow campaign creation?
5. Is there any workaround to test the full campaign creation flow
(including asset groups and conversion actions) without production token
access?
I’ve been stuck with this for over a week and would really appreciate any
clarification from the team or the community
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