Google Ads — Routine (cadence + decision gates)
This is the operating rhythm, not a new analysis engine: it calls tracker and optimizer at the
right cadence, remembers history, and gates actions so nothing changes unless its preconditions
are met. It answers: "what do I check today, what am I allowed to change, and under what conditions."
STEP 0 — Read state + build today's agenda
- Load
account-context.yaml (esp. guardrails, margin_tiers, campaign_defaults).
- Run the history engine:
python "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/routine/scripts/routine_state.py" [--today YYYY-MM-DD]
It reads routine-state.json in the working dir and prints what's DUE / OVERDUE per cadence.
- Run everything that's due or overdue — not just what the user asked. If the user says "daily" but
the weekly/monthly is overdue (they haven't checked in a while), run those too and say so. This is the
"it remembers and nags" behavior: long gap → the overdue cadence surfaces automatically.
Model dispatch (run cheap, decide expensive) — see ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/model-tier-dispatch.md
- Scout (
haiku) — STEP 0 routine_state.py run (agenda) and the --mark stamp after acting.
- Routine / Judge — inherited from the skills this orchestrates:
tracker and optimizer carry their own per-STEP tiers (collection is Routine, verdicts are Judge).
- Judge (main session) — the decision gates (every precondition check, +10% vs WAIT), reading the cooldown from guardrails, and deciding what overdue work to run. The agenda is cheap; the gate is judgment — never delegate a gate.
Cadence checklists (each calls existing skills — don't re-implement)
- Daily (~15 min) — health check, NOT optimization. Via
tracker: spend/CPC/clicks vs yesterday,
budget pacing, disapprovals/policy, paused-by-error, sudden anomalies. Goal = spot what's BROKEN. No
performance changes off one day of data.
- Weekly (1-2h) — via
optimizer: search-term review (mandatory, both sources) — pull
search_term_view (covers Search/Branded campaigns) AND PMax/Demand-Gen search category insights
(campaign_search_term_insight; search_term_view does NOT contain PMax terms). Feed both to
search_term_miner.py. Never propose blocking brand terms (brand intent = your own traffic, even at
0 conv). Then: budget pacing + reallocate to top performers, campaign tiering, automated-rules check.
Apply the decision gates below.
- Monthly (2-4h): the full money-leak sweep — run D1-D14 in
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/diagnostic-playbook.md: bid/target health (decode
bidding_strategy_system_status; lower tROAS if LIMITED_BY_INVENTORY, scale if LIMITED_BY_BUDGET on-target),
budget allocation (shift low-ROAS→high-ROAS), geo waste, dayparting, structure, Quality Score, PMax channel
distribution (D8), ad copy/assets/extensions (D9). Any tROAS/budget move follows the Scaling Ladder
(one variable, cooldowns). Plus conversion-tracking audit (measurement), attribution review. Pull a fresh
audit if drift is suspected.
- Quarterly: strategic
audit + plan alignment to business goals.
Decision gates — only act when ALL preconditions hold (else WAIT and say which failed)
Read the spacing/cooldown from the context guardrails (the change-event-cooldown rule), don't hardcode it.
| Action |
Preconditions (ALL must hold) |
Step |
| Scale budget UP |
ROAS ≥ margin-tier target · campaign is budget-limited (lost IS to budget / capping) · no budget change within the context cooldown · not reversing a recent decrease · not in Learning · ≥~15 conv/week |
+10% (gentle), never bigger |
| Raise target ROAS |
≥15 conv/week · ≥2 weeks since last target change · ROAS stable above current target · no recent change_event |
+0.1x per step |
| Add negative keyword |
term >$10 spend AND 0 conv (or clearly irrelevant) · NOT in the protected set (store/coupon/cheap-brand) |
exact/phrase, ready-to-copy |
| Scale budget DOWN |
ROAS < target sustained (not one bad day) · not in Learning · not reversing a recent increase within cooldown |
PMax: pause low-ROAS asset groups, do NOT cut budget |
| Pause campaign / asset group |
Dead tier (ROAS < ~0.5× target) sustained · checked non-paid (organic/email) revenue contribution first |
PMax → pause the asset group, not the campaign budget |
Rules of the road (see ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/optimization-playbook.md): never reverse budget
direction within the cooldown window (went up → stay up or hold); hold the cooldown between changes so
Smart Bidding stabilizes; prefer Mondays for budget changes (cleaner weekday pacing). If a precondition
fails, do NOT act — report the action as "WAIT — needs: ".
After acting — record it
Stamp the cadence so history stays accurate:
python "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/routine/scripts/routine_state.py" --mark weekly --actions "raised <campaign> budget +10%; added 4 negatives"
Account mutations still go through pusher (approval gate): the optimizer serializes the gated actions into a
change-set.json, and pusher validates (validate_changeset.py — the cooldown gate re-checks the spacing
this routine just decided) + renders CHANGE-PLAN.md. The routine proposes + gates; it doesn't push silently.
Scheduling (optional)
Pairs with cron/scheduled agents: a daily cron runs the daily health check; a Monday cron runs the weekly
routine. The history engine means even ad-hoc runs catch up anything overdue.
To build / refine later
1---2name: google-ads-routine3description: The daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly operating rhythm for a Google Ads account. Orchestrates tracker (observe) and optimizer (act) at the right cadence, remembers when each was last run, auto-surfaces overdue checks, and gates every action behind explicit preconditions (only act when ALL are met, else wait). Use when the user says "daily routine", "weekly review", "what should I check today", "routine", "what's due", "ongoing management", "what can I change now".4---56# Google Ads — Routine (cadence + decision gates)78This is the operating rhythm, not a new analysis engine: it **calls `tracker` and `optimizer`** at the9right cadence, **remembers history**, and **gates actions** so nothing changes unless its preconditions10are met. It answers: "what do I check today, what am I allowed to change, and under what conditions."1112## STEP 0 — Read state + build today's agenda131. Load `account-context.yaml` (esp. `guardrails`, `margin_tiers`, `campaign_defaults`).142. Run the history engine:15 `python "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/routine/scripts/routine_state.py" [--today YYYY-MM-DD]`16 It reads `routine-state.json` in the working dir and prints what's **DUE / OVERDUE** per cadence.173. **Run everything that's due or overdue — not just what the user asked.** If the user says "daily" but18 the weekly/monthly is overdue (they haven't checked in a while), run those too and say so. This is the19 "it remembers and nags" behavior: long gap → the overdue cadence surfaces automatically.2021## Model dispatch (run cheap, decide expensive) — see `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/model-tier-dispatch.md`22- **Scout (`haiku`)** — STEP 0 `routine_state.py` run (agenda) and the `--mark` stamp after acting.23- **Routine / Judge** — inherited from the skills this orchestrates: `tracker` and `optimizer` carry their own per-STEP tiers (collection is Routine, verdicts are Judge).24- **Judge (main session)** — the **decision gates** (every precondition check, +10% vs WAIT), reading the cooldown from guardrails, and deciding what overdue work to run. The agenda is cheap; the gate is judgment — **never delegate a gate**.2526## Cadence checklists (each calls existing skills — don't re-implement)27- **Daily (~15 min) — health check, NOT optimization.** Via `tracker`: spend/CPC/clicks vs yesterday,28 budget pacing, disapprovals/policy, paused-by-error, sudden anomalies. Goal = spot what's BROKEN. No29 performance changes off one day of data.30- **Weekly (1-2h) — via `optimizer`:** **search-term review (mandatory, both sources)** — pull31 `search_term_view` (covers Search/Branded campaigns) AND PMax/Demand-Gen **search category insights**32 (`campaign_search_term_insight`; search_term_view does NOT contain PMax terms). Feed both to33 `search_term_miner.py`. **Never propose blocking brand terms** (brand intent = your own traffic, even at34 0 conv). Then: budget pacing + reallocate to top performers, campaign tiering, automated-rules check.35 Apply the decision gates below.36- **Monthly (2-4h):** the full **money-leak sweep** — run D1-D14 in37 `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/diagnostic-playbook.md`: bid/target health (decode38 `bidding_strategy_system_status`; lower tROAS if `LIMITED_BY_INVENTORY`, scale if `LIMITED_BY_BUDGET` on-target),39 budget allocation (shift low-ROAS→high-ROAS), geo waste, dayparting, structure, Quality Score, PMax channel40 distribution (D8), ad copy/assets/extensions (D9). Any tROAS/budget move follows the **Scaling Ladder**41 (one variable, cooldowns). Plus conversion-tracking audit (`measurement`), attribution review. Pull a fresh42 `audit` if drift is suspected.43- **Quarterly:** strategic `audit` + `plan` alignment to business goals.4445## Decision gates — only act when ALL preconditions hold (else WAIT and say which failed)46Read the spacing/cooldown from the context `guardrails` (the `change-event-cooldown` rule), don't hardcode it.4748| Action | Preconditions (ALL must hold) | Step |49|--------|-------------------------------|------|50| **Scale budget UP** | ROAS ≥ margin-tier target · campaign is budget-limited (lost IS to budget / capping) · **no budget change within the context cooldown** · not reversing a recent decrease · not in Learning · ≥~15 conv/week | **+10% (gentle), never bigger** |51| **Raise target ROAS** | ≥15 conv/week · ≥2 weeks since last target change · ROAS stable above current target · no recent `change_event` | **+0.1x per step** |52| **Add negative keyword** | term >$10 spend AND 0 conv (or clearly irrelevant) · NOT in the protected set (store/coupon/cheap-brand) | exact/phrase, ready-to-copy |53| **Scale budget DOWN** | ROAS < target sustained (not one bad day) · not in Learning · not reversing a recent increase within cooldown | **PMax: pause low-ROAS asset groups, do NOT cut budget** |54| **Pause campaign / asset group** | Dead tier (ROAS < ~0.5× target) sustained · checked non-paid (organic/email) revenue contribution first | PMax → pause the asset group, not the campaign budget |5556Rules of the road (see `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/optimization-playbook.md`): **never reverse budget57direction within the cooldown window** (went up → stay up or hold); **hold the cooldown between changes** so58Smart Bidding stabilizes; **prefer Mondays** for budget changes (cleaner weekday pacing). If a precondition59fails, do NOT act — report the action as "WAIT — needs: <the failing condition>".6061## After acting — record it62Stamp the cadence so history stays accurate:63`python "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/routine/scripts/routine_state.py" --mark weekly --actions "raised <campaign> budget +10%; added 4 negatives"`64Account mutations still go through `pusher` (approval gate): the optimizer serializes the gated actions into a65`change-set.json`, and `pusher` validates (`validate_changeset.py` — the cooldown gate re-checks the spacing66this routine just decided) + renders `CHANGE-PLAN.md`. The routine proposes + gates; it doesn't push silently.6768## Scheduling (optional)69Pairs with cron/scheduled agents: a daily cron runs the daily health check; a Monday cron runs the weekly70routine. The history engine means even ad-hoc runs catch up anything overdue.7172## To build / refine later73- [ ] A one-line "what changed since last run" diff from the log.
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