Can't get Google Ads metrics for manager account, can't get permission for client account

Question

I am trying to access the metrics for client accounts using the Google Ads API, through the Python client.

Currently I'm using a modified version of the get_campaign_stats_to_csv.py example, with the query:

import datetime
last_three_days = datetime.datetime.today() - datetime.timedelta(days=3)
query = """
    SELECT 
        customer.descriptive_name, 
        metrics.cost_micros 
    FROM customer 
    WHERE 
        segments.date > '{last_three_days}' 
        AND segments.date <= '{today}'""".format(
            last_three_days=last_three_days.strftime('%Y-%m-%d'),
            today=datetime.datetime.today().strftime('%Y-%m-%d'))

It requires the commandline argument --customer_id= of the account we're reporting on, used as follows:

search_request.customer_id = customer_id # e.g., '--customer_id=1234567890'

The problem is that when I use my Manager account customer id 1234567890 , I get the error:

error_code {
    query_error: REQUESTED_METRICS_FOR_MANAGER
  }
  message: "Metrics cannot be requested for a manager account. To retrieve metrics, issue 
separate requests against each client account under the manager account."
}

Which I assume means using the client id. But when I use the client ID 0987654321 , I get the error:

error_code {
    authorization_error: USER_PERMISSION_DENIED
  }
  message: "User doesn\'t have permission to access customer. Note: If you\'re accessing a 
client customer, the manager\'s customer id must be set in the \'login-customer-id\' 
header. See https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/concepts/call-structure#cid"
}

The link in the error message leads to the following header:

Which brings me back to square one, where the API spits the dummy when I use the Manager Account ID.

I've checked out this stack overflow question , but I think we're having different problems, as all my accounts have the red 'TEST ACCOUNT' flag next to them.

As a final note: there are two test client accounts, both which I've set up with quasi campaigns.

Answer 1

I wrote that example. You can set the client ID in the command line or the YAML file. It will not work if you use a manager account ID.

I know the terminology is confusing but that's what that API expects.

If you have any further issues with it, let me know.

Answer 2

So I didn't have the manager account number in the google-ads.yaml . Adding it fixed my problem when I use the client ID as the commandline line argument.

Here's a picture of where I added the manager account number..