X Ads API Credentials Setup

You need four credentials to connect the X Ads connector:

• Consumer Key and Consumer Secret — identify your developer app (Steps 1–3)
• Access Token and Access Token Secret — prove your app can access your ad account (Steps 4–6)

Steps 4–6 use OAuth 1.0a — a secure handshake that lets OWOX read your X Ads data without storing your X password.

Before you start: Sign up for Postman if you don’t have an account yet. It’s a free tool for sending API requests. You’ll use it in Steps 4 and 6.

Steps

• Step 1: Create a Developer App
• Step 2: Request Ads API Access
• Step 3: Get Your Consumer Key and Secret
• Step 4: Get a Temporary OAuth Token
• Step 5: Authorize the App
• Step 6: Exchange for Permanent Tokens

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Step 1: Create a Developer App

Go to the X Developer Console and sign in with the X (Twitter) account you use to run your ads. Click Start Building.

A Create Project dialog opens. Fill in:

• Project Name: anything works (for example, OWOX Project)
• Use Case: Exploring the API
• Description: optional

Click Create.

Go to the Apps page. Choose the Free (Deprecated) tier. Click Create App.

Fill in the Application Name (for example, OWOX Ads Connector). Click Create New Client Application.

An Application Created Successfully dialog appears with your Consumer Key and Secret Key. Copy both and save them in a password manager — X shows them only once.

⚠️ If you close this dialog without copying, go to Step 3 to regenerate them.

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Step 2: Request Ads API Access

Creating a developer app doesn’t automatically give you access to the Ads API. You need to request it separately.

Submit the Ads API Access Form.

The form asks for your Developer App ID. To find it:

1. Go to console.x.com
2. Click on your app name
3. The App ID is the number shown next to the ACTIVE badge

The form also asks you to describe how you’ll use the API. X grants access based on this description, so name the data areas the connector needs: Analytics, Campaign Management, and Creatives. These belong to Standard Access. Conversion Only access covers conversion tracking alone and won’t work with this connector.

Adapt this example:

“We are advertisers connecting to the X Ads API to access campaign analytics, campaign management, and ad creative data for reporting and optimization. The data will be imported via the OWOX Data Marts platform to support strategic marketing decisions.”

Submit the form. X reviews requests within 3 business days and sends an approval email to your address.

⛔ Do not continue until you receive the approval email from X.

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Step 3: Get Your Consumer Key and Secret

ℹ️ Skip this step if you already saved your Consumer Key and Secret Key in Step 1.

Go to console.x.com, click your app name, then open the Keys & Tokens tab.

Scroll to the OAuth 1.0 Keys section. Click Regenerate.

⚠️ Regenerating creates new keys and invalidates the old ones. If anything was using the old keys, it will stop working.

Copy and save both values in a password manager:

• Consumer Key
• Secret Key ← X calls this “Secret Key” here, but you’ll enter it as Consumer Secret in Postman later

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Step 4: Get a Temporary OAuth Token

Open Postman. Click the + button to open a new tab.

1. Change the method dropdown from GET to POST

2. Paste this URL into the address bar:

   https://api.x.com/oauth/request_token

3. Click the Authorization tab (below the URL bar)

4. Open the Auth Type dropdown and select OAuth 1.0

Fill in the fields that appear on the right:

Field	Value
Signature Method	HMAC-SHA1
Consumer Key	your Consumer Key from Step 1 or Step 3
Consumer Secret	your Secret Key from Step 1 or Step 3

ℹ️ This request works because the app you created in Step 1 has OAuth 1.0a user authentication enabled. If it fails with a callback error, or Step 5 shows no PIN, open your app’s User authentication settings, turn on OAuth 1.0a, and set any callback URL. In Postman, you can also add oauth_callback = oob under the OAuth 1.0 advanced parameters.

Click Send. The response appears in the panel at the bottom of the screen. It looks like:

oauth_token=E4MQKQAAAAAB1yCFAAABl2OHH80&oauth_token_secret=UlDQaqOoJHj1VvLQ8fQH6Iq686rEFww2&oauth_callback_confirmed=true

This is a single string with values separated by &. Extract both values and keep them handy — you’ll use them in the next two steps:

• oauth_token — the value between oauth_token= and &oauth_token_secret. In the example above: E4MQKQAAAAAB1yCFAAABl2OHH80
• oauth_token_secret — the value between oauth_token_secret= and &oauth_callback_confirmed. In the example above: UlDQaqOoJHj1VvLQ8fQH6Iq686rEFww2

Possible errors:

This request sends only your Consumer Key and Consumer Secret. So an authentication error points to one of those two values:

• “Could not authenticate you.” — Your Consumer Key or Consumer Secret is wrong. Re-enter them carefully and try again.
• Still failing after re-entering? Regenerate the keys in Step 3, then use the new values.

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Step 5: Authorize the App

Replace YOUR_OAUTH_TOKEN in the URL below with the oauth_token value you saved in Step 4:

https://api.x.com/oauth/authorize?oauth_token=YOUR_OAUTH_TOKEN

For example, if your oauth_token is E4MQKQAAAAAB1yCFAAABl2OHH80, the URL is:

https://api.x.com/oauth/authorize?oauth_token=E4MQKQAAAAAB1yCFAAABl2OHH80

Open the URL in your browser. An authorization page appears. Click Authorize app.

After you click Authorize app, X shows a page with a numeric PIN. Copy the PIN and save it — you’ll enter it in Step 6.

ℹ️ If X redirects you to a website instead of showing a PIN, look at the URL bar. Copy the oauth_verifier value from it — that value serves the same purpose as the PIN. Use it as the Verifier in Step 6.

Possible errors:

• “The request token for this page is invalid.” — The oauth_token expired. Temporary tokens are short-lived. Go back to Step 4, request a new one, and complete Steps 5–6 without delay.

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Step 6: Exchange for Permanent Tokens

In Postman, open a new tab (click +) to keep this request separate from the one in Step 4.

1. Change the method to POST

2. Paste this URL:

   https://api.x.com/oauth/access_token

3. Click the Authorization tab and select OAuth 1.0

Fill in the fields. Note: the Access Token and Access Token Secret here are the temporary values from Step 4.

Field	Value
Signature Method	HMAC-SHA1
Consumer Key	your Consumer Key from Step 1 or Step 3
Consumer Secret	your Secret Key from Step 1 or Step 3
Access Token	oauth_token from Step 4 (temporary)
Access Token Secret	oauth_token_secret from Step 4 (temporary)
Verifier	the PIN from Step 5

Click Send. The response appears in the bottom panel:

oauth_token=1534231826281152515-kDGnM70as1fh6xoYWK9HvlwtDHHqe8&oauth_token_secret=KiXVKSyHifVoVm7vq3iC7zjclE1ocqvgpouS95RuLXM61&user_id=1534231826281152213&screen_name=examplename

Save these two values — these are your permanent credentials:

• oauth_token → this is your Access Token
• oauth_token_secret → this is your Access Token Secret

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Your Credentials

You now have all four credentials for the connector:

Credential	What X calls it	Where it comes from
Consumer Key	Consumer Key	Step 1 or Step 3
Consumer Secret	Secret Key	Step 1 or Step 3
Access Token	oauth_token	Step 6 response
Access Token Secret	oauth_token_secret	Step 6 response

Go to the Getting Started Guide to complete the setup.

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Support

• Join the Slack Community to ask questions and connect with other users
• Browse the Q&A section for common answers
• Found a bug? Open an issue
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