What Makes Codex Different
Most AI tools are assistants. They answer questions. They generate copy. They analyze data when you ask. Codex is autonomous. You define the goal — “check my ad performance every morning and flag anything unusual” — and the agent runs that task on a schedule. No human in the loop. It wakes up, pulls your campaign data, analyzes it, and sends you a summary. If your cost-per-acquisition spikes 40% overnight, you get an alert before you’ve had coffee. When you connect Codex to Adspirer, you get 100+ advertising tools that run on a schedule. It’s an AI ad manager that operates 24/7.Prerequisites
- OpenAI Codex CLI installed and working
- git installed (used by the installer)
- An Adspirer account (free to start)
- At least one ad platform account: Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, or TikTok Ads
Setup
- Quick Install (Recommended)
- Manual Setup
Run the Installer
Verify the MCP Server
adspirer in the output. It’s normal for auth to show Unsupported at this point — that resolves after login.Authenticate with Adspirer
adspirer should now show as enabled.Set Up Your Brand Workspace
Open your brand folder and launch Codex:Say “set up my brand workspace”. The agent will connect to your ad accounts, scan for brand docs, pull live campaign data, and create
AGENTS.md. If it doesn’t trigger automatically, run: $adspirer-setupYou’re connected. Codex now has 100+ advertising tools available for autonomous and interactive use.
Available Skills
| Skill | Invocation | What it Does |
|---|---|---|
| Adspirer Ads | $adspirer-ads or just ask naturally | Full campaign management — 100+ tools, all workflows, all platforms |
| Setup | $adspirer-setup | Bootstrap a brand workspace (first-time or refresh) |
| Performance Review | $adspirer-performance-review | Cross-platform performance scorecard |
| Write Ad Copy | $adspirer-write-ad-copy Google Search | Brand-voice ad copy from real data |
| Wasted Spend | $adspirer-wasted-spend | Find and fix wasted ad spend |
What You Can Do
100+ tools across 4 ad platforms, available for autonomous or on-demand tasks:| Platform | Tools | Key Capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | 39 | Keyword research, Search & PMax campaigns, wasted spend detection, budget reallocation, search term analysis |
| LinkedIn Ads | 28 | B2B targeting (job titles, industries, company size), sponsored content, lead gen forms, performance analysis |
| Meta Ads | 20 | Image/video/carousel campaigns, creative fatigue detection, audience targeting, placement optimization |
| TikTok Ads | 4 | In-feed campaigns, asset validation, performance tracking |
Autonomous Workflows (The Real Use Case)
Here’s why people use Codex with Adspirer:Daily Performance Check-In
Agent YAML default_prompt:Weekly Wasted Spend Audit
Agent YAML default_prompt:Budget Rebalancing
Agent YAML default_prompt:Anomaly Detection
Agent YAML default_prompt:On-Demand Prompts (Non-Autonomous)
You can also run Codex with one-off prompts instead of the default task:Campaign Creation
LinkedIn Lead Gen
Cross-Platform Report
Safety Features (Critical for Autonomous Agents)
When an AI agent runs without human oversight, safety matters. Adspirer enforces these rules:- All campaigns created PAUSED: Even in autonomous mode, campaigns don’t launch until you manually approve them
- No budget changes without confirmation: The agent can analyze and recommend budget changes, but it can’t execute them autonomously
- Read-before-write workflows: Skills force research and validation before any campaign creation
- Connection status checks: Agent verifies it’s managing the correct account before taking any action
- No automatic retries: If a tool call fails, the agent reports the error instead of retrying blindly
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| MCP server not found | Run codex mcp add adspirer --url https://mcp.adspirer.com/mcp and restart |
| MCP shows “Unsupported” | Run codex mcp login adspirer to complete OAuth authentication |
| Authentication failed | Run codex mcp login adspirer to re-authenticate |
| Install appears to hang | A browser window may have opened for OAuth — complete sign-in and return to terminal |
| No ad platforms connected | Connect platforms at adspirer.com |
| Skills not showing | Verify: ls ~/.agents/skills/ — should show adspirer-* directories |
| No data returned | Check for active campaigns. Try longer lookback (60/90 days) |
| Rate limit hit | Check Adspirer tier (Free: 10/mo, Plus: 50, Pro: 100, Enterprise: unlimited) |
FAQ
Can the agent actually spend money autonomously?
Can the agent actually spend money autonomously?
No. All campaigns are created PAUSED, and budget changes require user confirmation. The agent can analyze, recommend, and alert — but you approve spending decisions manually.
What's the difference between Codex and Claude Code?
What's the difference between Codex and Claude Code?
Claude Code is interactive — you ask it to do something, it does it. Codex is autonomous — you define a task once, and it runs on a schedule. Use Claude Code for ad-hoc analysis. Use Codex for recurring tasks like daily performance checks.
How do I change the agent's default task?
How do I change the agent's default task?
Edit the
default_prompt in ~/.codex/agents/performance-marketing-agent.toml. Restart the agent for changes to take effect.Can I run multiple agents for different ad accounts?
Can I run multiple agents for different ad accounts?
Yes. Create separate agent config files with different default prompts. Each agent can specify which Adspirer account to use via the
switch_primary_account tool.How much does this cost?
How much does this cost?
Adspirer pricing is based on tool calls. Free tier: 10 calls/month. Plus: 75/mo for 100 calls. Autonomous agents typically use 2-5 tool calls per run. See full pricing details.