AI ads creator

VS Code is a free app from Microsoft. it's where you'll open and run the tool. think of it like Word, but for code.

1. go to code.visualstudio.com
2. click the big Download button
3. open the downloaded file and install it like any other app
4. on Mac: drag it into your Applications folder. on Windows: just click "Next" through the installer

Node.js is a small program that runs in the background. you install it once and forget about it. the tool needs it to work.

1. go to nodejs.org
2. click the big green button that says Download Node.js (LTS)
3. open the downloaded file and install it, clicking "Next" / "Continue" through everything, don't change any settings

that's it. you won't need to open Node.js ever again.

Claude Code is the AI assistant that helps you use this tool. it lives inside VS Code.

1. open VS Code
2. on the left sidebar, click the Extensions icon (it looks like four small squares)
3. in the search bar at the top, type Claude Code
4. find the one by Anthropic and click the blue Install button
5. once installed, it will ask you to sign in. follow the prompts to create an account. it costs $19/month (you can cancel anytime)

the tool is free and lives on GitHub (a site where people share code).

1. go to github.com/melnikoff-oleg/ads-ai
2. click the green <> Code button
3. click Download ZIP
4. find the downloaded ZIP file (usually in your Downloads folder) and double-click it to unzip
5. you should now have a folder called ads-ai-main. move it somewhere easy to find, like your Desktop

1. open VS Code
2. click File in the top menu, then Open Folder...
3. find the ads-ai-main folder you just downloaded and select it
4. if VS Code asks "Do you trust the authors?", click Yes, I trust the authors

you should now see all the project files in the left sidebar.

API keys are like passwords that let the tool use different AI services. you need to sign up for each service (most have free trials) and copy the key they give you.

you need 5 keys. here's where to get each one:

save all 5 keys somewhere safe (like a notes app). you'll paste them in the next step.

1. in VS Code, look at the left sidebar and find a file called .env.example
2. right-click on it and choose Rename
3. change the name from .env.example to just .env (remove the word "example") and press Enter
4. click on the file to open it. you'll see something like this:

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=
GEMINI_API_KEY=
FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=
APIFY_API_TOKEN=
KIE_AI_API_KEY=

5. paste each key right after the = sign, with no spaces. for example:

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-abc123...
GEMINI_API_KEY=AIzaSy...
FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=fc-...
APIFY_API_TOKEN=apify_api...
KIE_AI_API_KEY=kie-...

6. press Cmd+S (Mac) or Ctrl+S (Windows) to save the file

now you'll use Claude Code to start the tool. this is the easiest part.

1. in VS Code, click the Claude Code icon in the left sidebar (it looks like a sparkle ✦)
2. a chat panel will open. type this message and press Enter:

install the app dependencies and start the dev server

3. Claude Code will run the commands for you. when it's done, it'll say the server is running.
4. open your web browser (Chrome, Safari, etc.) and go to localhost:3000. you should see the tool

if anything goes wrong, just ask Claude Code in the chat. it can read the error and fix it for you.

now the tool is running in your browser. the first thing to do is tell it about your brand.

1. you should see the Brand page. if not, click Brand in the left sidebar
2. enter your website URL (like https://yourbrand.com)
3. optionally add your Instagram handle (like @yourbrand)
4. click "Scrape Brand" and wait about 30 seconds

the tool will crawl your website, pull out your products, download your images, and build a complete brand profile. you'll see everything it found on the page.

1. click Competitors in the left sidebar
2. you'll see suggested keywords based on your brand. you can edit them or add your own
3. click Search, and the tool will search the Meta Ad Library and find companies running ads in your space
4. it ranks them by how long their ads have been running (longer = they're making money from those ads)

1. click What's Working in the left sidebar
2. click the Analyze button, and the AI will study the top 25 competitor ads
3. wait about a minute. when it's done, you'll see:
   • the exact opening lines (hooks) that grab attention, and why they work
   • patterns across all the ads: what copy style, emotional angle, and visual approach keeps showing up

1. click Create in the left sidebar
2. choose how many ad concepts you want (start with 3 to test it out)
3. pick which of your products to feature
4. click Generate and wait a couple of minutes
5. each concept comes with:
   • AI-written ad copy (headline, text, and call-to-action)
   • an AI-generated image matching the competitor's visual style
   • a side-by-side comparison so you can see the original ad next to yours

the tool automatically checks the quality of each concept. only the good ones are shown.