LinkedIn Ads

Go to developer.linkedin.com and click Create app. Provide your app name (e.g., 'Bubble Ads Dashboard'), associate it with a LinkedIn Company Page (required for Marketing API), and upload a logo. After creating the app, navigate to the Products tab within your Developer App and find 'Marketing Developer Platform'. Click Request access. LinkedIn reviews these requests manually — your own ad account will be automatically added to the app's allowed accounts in Development mode, so you can test immediately. Wait for the approval email before using production-level scopes with other accounts. While waiting, note your App Client ID and App Client Secret from the Auth tab — you will need these for the OAuth flow. Also confirm which scopes to request: r_ads (read ad accounts and campaigns), r_ads_reporting (read analytics), and optionally rw_ads (create and modify campaigns) if you need write access. These scopes are configured during the OAuth authorization URL construction in Step 2.

LinkedIn uses a 3-legged OAuth 2.0 Authorization Code flow, meaning you (or your users) must explicitly authorize the application. Construct the authorization URL as follows: https://www.linkedin.com/oauth/v2/authorization?response_type=code&client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID&redirect_uri=YOUR_REDIRECT_URI&scope=r_ads%20r_ads_reporting&state=RANDOM_STRING. Open this URL in your browser while logged into your LinkedIn account that has access to the ad accounts you want to query. After authorizing, LinkedIn redirects to YOUR_REDIRECT_URI with a code= query parameter. Copy that authorization code — it expires in a few minutes. Exchange it for tokens: send a POST request to https://www.linkedin.com/oauth/v2/accessToken with Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded and body parameters grant_type=authorization_code, code=YOUR_AUTH_CODE, redirect_uri=YOUR_REDIRECT_URI, client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID, client_secret=YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET. The response includes an access_token (valid 60 days) and a refresh_token (valid longer). Store both in a Bubble App Config Data Type — the access token goes into the API Connector group header now, and the refresh token is kept in your database for the automated renewal workflow in Step 6.

1// Step 1: Direct user (or yourself) to authorization URL:
2// https://www.linkedin.com/oauth/v2/authorization
3//   ?response_type=code
4//   &client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID
5//   &redirect_uri=https://yourapp.bubbleapps.io/linkedin-callback
6//   &scope=r_ads%20r_ads_reporting
7//   &state=random_string_123
8
9// Step 2: Exchange authorization code for tokens
10// POST https://www.linkedin.com/oauth/v2/accessToken
11// Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
12
13grant_type=authorization_code
14&code=THE_CODE_FROM_REDIRECT
15&redirect_uri=https://yourapp.bubbleapps.io/linkedin-callback
16&client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID
17&client_secret=YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET
18
19// Response:
20{
21  "access_token": "AQX...",
22  "expires_in": 5184000,
23  "refresh_token": "AQW...",
24  "refresh_token_expires_in": 31536000
25}

In your Bubble editor, open the Plugins tab and click Add plugins. Search for API Connector (by Bubble) and install it. Click API Connector, then Add another API. Name the group LinkedIn Ads. Set the base URL to https://api.linkedin.com. LinkedIn Marketing API v2 requires four headers at the group level. Add them one by one: First — key Authorization, value Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN, check Private. This keeps your OAuth token server-side and never exposes it to the browser. Second — key LinkedIn-Version, value 202401 (or the current YYYYMM version; check developer.linkedin.com for the latest stable version). This is mandatory — omitting it returns a 400 error. Third — key X-Restli-Protocol-Version, value 2.0.0. This is required by LinkedIn's REST.li framework. Fourth — key Content-Type, value application/json. Only the Authorization header needs to be Private; the others are non-sensitive and can remain visible. Click Expand to add your first API call.

1// API Connector group: LinkedIn Ads
2// Base URL: https://api.linkedin.com
3
4// Shared headers (add all four):
5{
6  "Authorization": "Bearer AQX_YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN",  // <-- mark Private
7  "LinkedIn-Version": "202401",                       // <-- mandatory, not Private
8  "X-Restli-Protocol-Version": "2.0.0",              // <-- mandatory, not Private
9  "Content-Type": "application/json"                  // <-- not Private
10}

Add a call named Get Ad Accounts. Set the method to GET and the endpoint to /v2/adAccountsV2 with the URL parameter q=search. Click Initialize call — Bubble makes a live request to LinkedIn. When initialization succeeds, Bubble detects the response fields including the account ID (a plain number like 123456) and the account URN (urn:li:sponsoredAccount:123456). LinkedIn uses URNs as the canonical identifier for every entity. Here is the critical concept that breaks most first-timer Bubble integrations: when you pass a URN as a URL parameter value (as required by analytics and campaign calls), you must URL-encode it. The colon characters in urn:li:sponsoredAccount:123456 become %3A, producing urn%3Ali%3AsponsoredAccount%3A123456. In Bubble, this is handled automatically by using the :URL encode operator on your dynamic expression. For example, if you store the account URN in a text field and bind it to the search.account.values[0] URL parameter, your Bubble dynamic expression should read: Input AdAccount URN's value :URL encode. Failing to URL-encode the URN returns a 400 with no clear error message, or an empty result set — one of the most common LinkedIn Ads integration failures in Bubble.

1// GET /v2/adAccountsV2
2// Full URL: https://api.linkedin.com/v2/adAccountsV2?q=search
3
4// Expected response:
5{
6  "elements": [
7    {
8      "id": 123456,
9      "name": "My Company Ads",
10      "status": "ACTIVE",
11      "currency": "USD",
12      "$URN": "urn:li:sponsoredAccount:123456"
13    }
14  ]
15}
16
17// URN encoding example:
18// Raw:     urn:li:sponsoredAccount:123456
19// Encoded: urn%3Ali%3AsponsoredAccount%3A123456
20
21// In Bubble dynamic expression:
22// [Input AdAccount URN's value :URL encode]

Add a second call named Get Campaigns. Set the method to GET and endpoint to /v2/adCampaignsV2. Add the URL parameter search.account.values[0] and bind its value to your stored account URN with :URL encode applied. Also add q=search as a URL parameter. Initialize this call — Bubble detects campaign fields including id, name, status, dailyBudget, and campaign URNs. Add a third call named Get Campaign Analytics. Set the method to GET and endpoint to /v2/adAnalyticsV2. Add these URL parameters: pivots[0]=CAMPAIGN (the grouping dimension), dateRange.start.day, dateRange.start.month, dateRange.start.year, dateRange.end.day, dateRange.end.month, dateRange.end.year, and campaigns[0] set to the URL-encoded campaign URN. LinkedIn's analytics endpoint splits date range into separate day, month, and year fields — not a single date string. In your Bubble workflow, bind each date part separately: for a date picker input, use :extract day, :extract month, :extract year operators. Initialize the analytics call with hardcoded test date values (e.g., dateRange.start.day=1, month=1, year=2024, end day=31, month=1, year=2024) and a known campaign URN. When initialize succeeds, bind the results — spend, costInLocalCurrency, clicks, impressions — to a Repeating Group displaying your campaign analytics. For lead gen form integrations, add a fourth call: GET /v2/leadGenerationForms/{formUrn}/submissions using the form's URN from LinkedIn Campaign Manager.

1// GET /v2/adCampaignsV2
2// URL params:
3// q=search
4// search.account.values[0]=urn%3Ali%3AsponsoredAccount%3A123456  <-- URL-encoded!
5
6// GET /v2/adAnalyticsV2
7// URL params:
8// pivots[0]=CAMPAIGN
9// dateRange.start.day=1
10// dateRange.start.month=1
11// dateRange.start.year=2024
12// dateRange.end.day=31
13// dateRange.end.month=1
14// dateRange.end.year=2024
15// campaigns[0]=urn%3Ali%3AsponsoredCampaign%3A987654  <-- URL-encoded campaign URN!
16
17// Expected analytics response:
18{
19  "elements": [
20    {
21      "pivotValue": "urn:li:sponsoredCampaign:987654",
22      "dateRange": { "start": {...}, "end": {...} },
23      "costInLocalCurrency": "245.50",
24      "clicks": 312,
25      "impressions": 18420
26    }
27  ]
28}

LinkedIn OAuth tokens expire in 60 days — shorter than most ad platforms. For a production Bubble dashboard, automated token refresh is essential. On a paid Bubble plan, go to Settings → API and enable 'This app exposes a Workflow API'. Navigate to Backend Workflows and create a new workflow named 'Refresh LinkedIn Token'. In your API Connector, add a new call named Refresh Token to a separate group (or the LinkedIn Ads group), set to POST at https://www.linkedin.com/oauth/v2/accessToken with Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded (set at the call level, overriding the group's application/json Content-Type). Add body parameters: grant_type=refresh_token and refresh_token=YOUR_STORED_REFRESH_TOKEN (dynamic, from App Config). In the Backend Workflow, add two actions: (1) Make API call → Refresh Token, passing the stored refresh_token; (2) Make changes to Thing → App Config record, setting the access_token field to the new access_token from the response. Set up a recurring event to run this workflow every 50 days — 10 days before the 60-day expiry — giving you a buffer if the refresh fails. Update your API Connector Authorization header to pull its value dynamically from the App Config's access_token field rather than a hardcoded string. If you need help structuring this refresh loop alongside the campaign analytics dashboard, RapidDev has built hundreds of Bubble integrations — free scoping call at rapidevelopers.com/contact.

1// POST https://www.linkedin.com/oauth/v2/accessToken
2// Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
3// (Override at call level — group Content-Type is application/json)
4
5// Body (form-encoded, use dynamic values in Bubble):
6grant_type=refresh_token
7&refresh_token=AQW_YOUR_STORED_REFRESH_TOKEN
8&client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID
9&client_secret=YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET
10
11// Response:
12{
13  "access_token": "AQX_NEW_TOKEN_HERE",
14  "expires_in": 5184000
15}
16
17// Backend Workflow: Refresh LinkedIn Token
18// Trigger: Recurring event every 50 days
19// Action 1: Make API call → Refresh Token
20// Action 2: Make changes to App Config → access_token = Result Step 1's access_token