Creative Refresh

PREREQUISITE: Read ../_mureo-shared/SKILL.md for auth, security rules, output format, and Tool Selection (Read/Write on Code, mureo_strategy_* / mureo_state_* MCP on Desktop / Cowork).

Tool names below refer to the built-in platforms; a namespaced variant (see _mureo-shared → Namespaced built-in variants) is used with its prefix substituted.

Refresh ad creatives based on strategy context and performance data across all platforms.

Prerequisites

• STRATEGY.md and STATE.json must exist (run the onboard skill first)

Steps

Before you start: Run the Diagnostic preamble from ../_mureo-shared/SKILL.md — load learning insights (mureo_learning_insights_get) and consult advisors (mureo_consult_advisor) before drawing conclusions.

0. Establish today: call mureo_state_get first, on every host (including Claude Code, where you would otherwise Read the file) and take server_now from its response — ISO 8601 with UTC offset, e.g. 2026-07-28T10:12:33+09:00. Its date is the only source of the current date for this run: the observation_due you write in step 12, and every "is a previous creative change still inside its observation window?" check in step 10, are measured from it. Do not shell out (this skill must run in Bash-less headless hosts) and do not read the date off STATE.json — last_synced_at, reports.*.period and action_log timestamps are history, never evidence of what day it is now. Never write server_now into STATE.json: it is a response field, and a persisted copy becomes tomorrow's stale "today".
1. Load context: Read STRATEGY.md (Persona, USP, Brand Voice, Data Sources) and STATE.json (the same mureo_state_get response from step 0 on MCP hosts).
2. Discover platforms: Identify all configured ad platforms from STATE.json platforms. Also include any hosted official-MCP connector present in the session (e.g. TikTok, key tiktok_ads) — drive it via its own tools and skip mureo-only value-adds; see ../_mureo-shared/SKILL.md → Hosted-connector platforms.
3. Audit current creatives: For each ad platform:
   • Google Ads: prefer mureo native — call google_ads_ad_performance_report per campaign, plus google_ads_rsa_assets_audit (per-asset CTR/CVR ratings) and google_ads_rsa_assets_analyze (LOW/POOR detection). A Performance Max campaign has no ad_group_ad, so google_ads_ads_list and the RSA asset tools return nothing for it — an audit that stops there reports a P-MAX account as having no creative at all. Read its creative with google_ads_asset_group_assets_list (pass campaign_id when you have no asset_group_id); one call returns both the HEADLINE / LONG_HEADLINE / DESCRIPTION text (each entry with text) and the MARKETING_IMAGE / SQUARE_MARKETING_IMAGE / PORTRAIT_MARKETING_IMAGE / LOGO / LANDSCAPE_LOGO images (each entry with asset_name, a full-size serving url, width_pixels, height_pixels). field_type says which. Every entry carries the asset_id you will need to change it. Video and business-name assets are not returned. In BYOD mode, the Apps Script bundle does not include per-asset ratings — these tools return []; fall back to google_ads_ads_list for headline/description text and use ad_performance.report for ad-level CTR/conv only. If mureo's Google Ads tools are unavailable (e.g. MUREO_DISABLE_GOOGLE_ADS=1 after mureo providers add google-ads-official), fall back to the official google-ads-official MCP for ad-level performance and ad listing, then skip the mureo-only RSA asset audit tools (google_ads_rsa_assets_audit, google_ads_rsa_assets_analyze) and note: "per-asset LOW/POOR detection and the RSA asset audit are mureo-specific value-add features — install or re-enable via mureo setup claude-code for the full creative audit."
   • Meta Ads: prefer mureo native — call meta_ads_creatives_list, meta_ads_analysis_compare_ads, and meta_ads_analysis_suggest_creative. In BYOD mode, creative URLs / headlines / body / CTA may be present in ~/.mureo/byod/meta_ads/creatives.csv (best-effort, populated only when those columns were in the export). If mureo's Meta Ads tools are unavailable, fall back to the official meta-ads-official hosted MCP for the creative list and ad-level insights only, then skip the mureo-only analysis tools (meta_ads_analysis_compare_ads, meta_ads_analysis_suggest_creative); perform the ad-comparison and creative-suggestion logic yourself using the rules in step 6 and note to the user that mureo's automated creative-suggestion engine requires the native MCP.
   • mureo BYOD data is centralized in the workspace byod/ directory (or ~/.mureo/byod/ for legacy CLI users) and is only accessible through mureo MCP tools — do not look for raw CSVs in the project directory.
   • Identify underperforming assets (LOW/POOR ratings for search ads, low CTR/engagement for social ads).
   • Image / banner creatives: the text-and-metrics audit above does not look at the picture itself. When a creative carries an image you can actually reach — image_url / thumbnail_url from meta_ads_creatives_list, a P-MAX asset group's images from google_ads_asset_group_assets_list (which says which asset group serves each one), or a Google image asset from google_ads_image_assets_list (account-level: name, dimensions and a full-size serving url) — also run the Visual creative evaluation section below to score the banner's design, not just its copy and CTR.
4. Analyze landing pages: For each campaign's final URL, analyze the landing page to extract key selling points, CTAs, and features. If GA4 is available, pull engagement metrics (time on page, scroll depth, bounce rate) to inform creative direction.
5. Organic keyword insights (if Search Console is available): Incorporate top-performing organic search queries into ad copy. Terms that drive organic clicks likely resonate with users.

6. Generate platform-appropriate creative recommendations: First run the Apply or draft check below for every surface you are about to write copy for, and carry its verdict into the draft itself — a draft mureo cannot apply is labelled that way in the same message that presents it, not after the operator agrees. Using Persona pain points + USP + LP selling points + Brand Voice rules, draft:

   • Search ads: Headlines and descriptions aligned with character limits and ad format requirements
   • Social ads: Primary text, headline, description, CTA suggestions
   • Consider platform-specific best practices and format requirements

   Each creative must:

   • Address a specific Persona pain point OR highlight a USP
   • Match the Brand Voice guidelines
   • Include keywords from top-performing search terms (paid and organic)
7. Validate: Run each through the relevant platform's ad validation rules (character limits, prohibited expressions, no duplicates).
8. Present recommendations with rationale for each. Group by platform, and inside each group keep the Apply or draft verdict visible per item — "mureo will apply" and "paste this in yourself" are different offers and must not be presented as one list.
9. Ask for approval before creating/updating any ads — only for the items the Apply or draft check marked applicable. Never ask for approval to apply a draft-only item; hand that draft over as paste-in copy and move on.
10. Check pending observations: Before executing, check action_log for campaigns being modified. If a previous creative change is still within its observation window, warn about stacking changes.
11. Execute approved changes: Use each platform's ad creation/update tools to apply changes. For Google Performance Max copy that is google_ads_asset_group_assets_replace — one call per asset, taking asset_group_id + field_type + old_asset_id (from google_ads_asset_group_assets_list) + new_text — not google_ads_ads_update, which cannot see a P-MAX campaign. For a P-MAX image or logo it is google_ads_asset_group_images_replace, same targeting arguments plus either new_asset_id (an image the account already holds) or new_image_path (a local file to upload) — exactly one, and you do not need to know which situation you are in to pick the tool. A draft-only item produces no tool call at all.
12. Record outcome context: For each campaign modified, log to action_log with observation_due (14 days from server_now's date); omit metrics_at_action and mureo fills it from the campaign's snapshot. Log only what mureo actually wrote: a draft the operator was asked to paste in by hand is not a mureo change and gets no action_log entry (log it, and /ad-fatigue-check and the outcome evaluator will later measure a change that may never have been made).
13. Update STATE.json with notes.

Apply or draft (decide before you draft, not after approval)

Some ad copy mureo can write for the operator; some it can only hand over as text to paste into the platform's own UI. Both are useful outcomes. What is never useful is finding out which one applies after the operator has said yes — that spends a round trip on an offer that was never executable.

The rule: before you draft anything, name the mureo write tool that would apply it for that exact surface (platform + campaign type + asset kind), and scope the offer by whether that tool is in this session's tool list — never by campaign type as a category.

• A write tool exists → offer to apply it, under the step 9 approval gate.
• No write tool exists → say so in the same message that carries the draft, before asking for anything: "mureo cannot apply this one — here is copy to paste into <platform> yourself." Never offer to apply it, never ask for approval to apply it, and never log it as a mureo change (step 12).

What Google Ads copy mureo can write today:

That table is a snapshot of the tool layer, not the boundary. The boundary is the tool list you can actually see in this session, and it moves in both directions: mureo gains tools, so a surface that was draft-only last release may have a write tool now — offer it even though the table does not name it. And a tool the table names can be absent here (BYOD, a plugin-only or hosted-connector-only session, MUREO_DISABLE_GOOGLE_ADS=1); when it is, that surface is draft-only for this run. Check, do not assume in either direction.

The same rule governs the platforms this table does not cover: if you cannot name the write tool, the answer is a draft, said up front.

Visual creative evaluation (image / banner ads)

Scores the picture itself — composition, legibility, brand fit — which the copy-and-metrics audit in step 3 does not cover. Use it to grade a single banner or to rank several competing ones before recommending a refresh.

Generating new creatives? This section scores existing banners. To create fresh ad creatives (text-free key visuals + composed banners) from a brief, use the creative-generate skill — it drives the image providers and the HTML/CSS composer, and reuses this exact 7-dimension rubric in its art-direction loop.

Applies only to creatives that have an image. A text-only search ad (Google RSA / ETA, or any ad with no image_url / thumbnail_url) has nothing to view — skip this entire section for it and evaluate it with the copy + RSA-asset ratings + performance audit from step 3 alone. Do not emit a visual score, an empty rubric, or an "image not found" finding for a text ad.

Getting the image in front of you (surface-dependent)

1. Collect each creative's image reference: image_url (or thumbnail_url for video — you evaluate the still frame only, not motion) from meta_ads_creatives_list; for a Performance Max asset group, the url of each image entry from google_ads_asset_group_assets_list — that is the one Google read that says which asset group serves an image, so "the images of this asset group" is directly enumerable (pass campaign_id when you have no asset_group_id); for any other Google image, the full-size serving url from google_ads_image_assets_list. In BYOD mode use the URL column from creatives.csv when present. What Google will not give you: google_ads_image_assets_list is account-wide — outside a P-MAX asset group it does not say which ad serves an asset. A Responsive Display Ad is the one other case with a link: google_ads_ads_list returns its marketing_images / square_marketing_images / logo_images as asset resource names, which you match by id against google_ads_image_assets_list to get a URL. And no Google read returns video assets at all. For any image you cannot reach, score the copy and metrics, say plainly that the picture could not be retrieved, and ask the operator to paste it into chat if they want it graded — never a guessed visual score, and never an offer to change an asset mureo has no write tool for (see Apply or draft).
2. On Claude Code (has Read/Bash): download the image to the scratch directory (curl -sL "<image_url>" -o <scratch>/creative_<id>.jpg) and Read that file — the Read tool renders the pixels so you can actually see the banner. Only fetch URLs on the ad platform's own CDN (*.fbcdn.net / *.cdninstagram.com / googleusercontent.com / gstatic.com / googlesyndication.com — the last is where a P-MAX asset group's image url points); refuse arbitrary hosts (SSRF hygiene). Delete the temp files when done.
3. On Desktop / Cowork (MCP-only, no Read/Bash): you generally cannot fetch and view an arbitrary URL yourself. Present the image_url to the operator and ask them to paste/drop the image into chat so you can see it; if they can't, do the copy/metrics audit only and tell them the pixel-level score needs the Code surface (or the future ImageContent tool). Never invent a visual score for an image you have not actually seen.

Scoring rubric

Once you can see the banner, score each dimension 1–5 (5 = excellent):

• Overall = the simple average, but any dimension scoring ≤ 2 is a must-fix and caps the verdict at "Needs work" regardless of the average.
• Output a per-creative table of the 7 scores + overall + the top 3 concrete fixes (specific and actionable, e.g. "increase headline contrast; the white text on a light-sky background fails legibility at feed size").

Comparison mode (2+ banners)

Score each banner with the same rubric, then produce a ranking with a one-line justification per rank. Name the winner, and for the runners-up call out the single strongest element worth borrowing into the winner. Tie the recommendation back to Persona / USP / performance data from step 3 — a visually strong banner that already has low CTR still loses.

Fold the visual verdict into the step 6 recommendations and the step 8 presentation (a low visual score is itself a reason to refresh).

IMPORTANT: Every headline/description must have a clear rationale tied to Persona, USP, or LP content. Never generate generic ad copy. Consult past action_log — if previous creative refreshes have evaluated outcomes, reference what worked.