manager_link_error: INVALID_CHANGE

[Kateřina Henzlová]

Hi there!

We have implemented linking to the manager account according to this guide and it works just fine for most of our clients. However, sometimes, when trying to accept the pending link, this error is returned:

Failure message: errors {
  error_code {
    manager_link_error: INVALID_CHANGE
  }
  message: "The change for mutate link is invalid."
  location {
    field_path_elements {
      field_name: "operations"
      index: 0
    }
  }
}

It only happens to certain clients and the error is persistent. Do you have any insights on what the cause of this error could be? I will be happy to share an example privately if needed.

Thanks,

Katerina Henzlova

[Google Ads API Forum Advisor]

Hi Katerina,

Thank you for posting your concern.

To investigate the issue, could you provide the complete request and response logs with request ID and request header generated on your end?

You can provide it via Reply privately to author option. If this option is not available, then send it instead on this email address googleadsa...@google.com.

Regards,

Ernie John Blanca Tacata Google Ads API Team

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[Ionut Mihai]

Hello.

We have the exact same problem.

Trying to accept a manager invitation (or even trying to refuse it for that matter) results in "The change for mutate link is invalid."

There's no reason for this, accepting it from the interface works just fine. Also the client refresh token is set and is correct.

Any news on this?

Thank you.

Ionut Mihai

[Google Ads API Forum Advisor]

Hi Ionut,

Thank you for reaching out as well to our support team.

So our team can take a look at the issue you observed on your end, could you also send over your complete request and response logs, and the request-id? If you haven't yet, logging can be enabled by navigating to the Client libraries > Your client library (ex. Java) > Logging documentation, which you can access from this link.

You may then send the requested information via the Reply privately to author option. If this option is not available, you may send the details directly to our googleadsa...@google.com alias instead.

Best regards,

Peter Laurence Napa Oliquino Google Ads API Team

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[Kateřina Henzlová]

Hi there,

I sent the private reply almost 2 weeks ago. Shall I expect a reply here or via email?

Thanks for your help,

Katerina

[Google Ads API Forum Advisor]

Hi Katerina,

Thank you for the reply.

Upon checking on my end, the link that you are trying to accept at the client account level is currently in 'CANCELED' and this is the reason why the error occurred as it should be in 'PENDING' status. With this, you may try to create a new link using API and follow the instructions on this document.

Regards,

Ernie John Blanca Tacata Google Ads API Team

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[Kateřina Henzlová]

Hi Ernie,

Yes, the link is currently canceled. We cancel all pending links if the linking is not successful to avoid reaching the limit. Our flow works like this:

1. We create a pending link.
   
2. Then we fetch the pending link to get the manager link ID.
   
3. We try to accept the pending link.
   
4. If accepting the pending link fails, we set the link status to CANCELED.
   

I have sent an example with full logs of all requests, I hope it helps with the investigation.

Thanks and have a nice weekend,

Katerina

[Google Ads API Forum Advisor]

Hi Katerina,

Thank you for providing more details to your concern.

Upon checking the API logs for accepting link request, I can see that you are authenticating as a manager account because you've set the customer ID of the manager account in the login-customer-id. However, please note that according to this procedure, step 3, you need to authenticate as a client account. With this, try generating oauth2 credential using one of the user accounts that has direct access to the client account and use it in authentication, then set its customer ID in the login-customer-id and the customer_id.

Let me know how it goes after.

[Ionut Mihai]

Well I'm 100% sure I'm setting oauth2 with the user access token, yet I get the same error.

[Kateřina Henzlová]

Hi Ernie,

I believe this is not the problem. What is described in the procedure is the whole complex process of creating, fetching, and accepting the link which requires 2 accounts; the manager which creates and fetches the link, and the client which then accepts the created link. The terms "manager" and "client" are used for distinguishing between these two accounts. I'm quite sure it has nothing to do with direct or indirect access to the client account.

I'm sending another client as an example in the private reply. This time there's direct access. Thanks for looking into it.

Best,

Katerina

[Kateřina Henzlová]

Hi Ernie,

Do you have any updates on this issue? It happened 7 times in the last 30 days and I still don't know what could be wrong.

I appreciate your help.

Thanks,

Katerina

[Google Ads API Forum Advisor]

Hello Katerina,

Thanks for getting back to us.

Can you share to us the updated and complete API logs (request and response with request-id) so our team can further check?

Please send the requested details via the Reply privately to author option. If this option is not available, you may send the details directly to our googleadsa...@google.com alias instead.

Regards,

Mark Kevin Albios Google Ads API Team

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[Kateřina Henzlová]

Hello Mark,

Thanks for your reply. Can you please specify what you mean by updated API logs? I have sent the full API logs three times already. Will it help you with the investigation if I send more of them?

Regards,

Katerina

[Ionut Mihai]

Hello. Any news on this? It's been another month without any response.

[Kateřina Henzlová]

Hi there,

 

We have updated the API version but the issue still persists. Do you have any updates on this? I'm sending a recent example in the private message.

Thanks,

Katerina

[Google Ads API Forum Advisor]

Hi Katerina,

Thank you for providing more details to your concern.

Could you confirm if you already tried the suggestion below? You also mentioned that you will try this suggestion with the authentication of the user account that has direct access to the client account. With this, please confirm if the error persists with this setup. If yes, then please provide the updated request and response logs with request ID and request header generated on your end to further investigate.

You can provide it via Reply privately to author option. If this option is not available, then send it instead on this email address googleadsa...@google.com.

"Upon checking the API logs for accepting link request, I can see that you are authenticating as a manager account because you've set the customer ID of the manager account in the login-customer-id. However, please note that according to this procedure, step 3, you need to authenticate as a client account. With this, try generating oauth2 credential using one of the user accounts that has direct access to the client account and use it in authentication, then set its customer ID in the login-customer-id and the customer_id."

Regards,

Ernie John Google Ads API Team

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[Kateřina Henzlová]

Hi Ernie,

Thanks for getting back to me. I confirmed and sent an example with direct access on January 31st. I still think it's just confusion and the documentation says nothing about direct or indirect access. The issue occurs both for accounts with direct access and access through a manager account.

If you need fresher data, there's direct access in the example I sent yesterday.

Regards,

Katerina

[Kateřina Henzlová]

Hi Ernie,

Do you have any updates regarding this? The issue still persists and we have no idea why these accounts cannot be linked and there's no workaround.

Best regards,

Katerina

[Kateřina Henzlová]

Hi Ernie,

Do you have any updates regarding this? The issue still persists.

Best regards,

Katerina

[Google Ads API Forum Advisor]

Hi Katerina,

Thank you for the reply.

Since the issue persists, could you provide the complete updated API logs (request and response logs with request ID ) generated on your end so our team can further investigate this?

For you to provide the complete request and response logs with request ID and request header that generated on your end, note that this can be requested or provided to the developer handling the Google Ads API transactions when logging of the API requests has been enabled. If it hasn't been enabled yet, then advise to refer to the specific guide below:

• Java - https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/client-libs/java/logging
• .Net - https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/client-libs/dotnet/logging
• PHP - https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/client-libs/php/logging
• Python - https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/client-libs/python/logging
• Ruby - https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/client-libs/ruby/logging
• Perl - https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/client-libs/perl/logging

You may then send the requested information via the Reply privately to author option. If this option is not available, you may send the details directly to our googleadsa...@google.com alias instead.

Best regards,

Heidi Google Ads API Team

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[Kateřina Henzlová]

Hi Heidi,

Thanks for getting back to me. I have sent the requested API logs of all steps as a private reply. I hope it helps with the investigation.

Cheers,

Katerina Henzlova

[Google Ads API Forum Advisor]

Hi,

Thank you for providing more information on your concern. Allow me to raise this issue to the rest of my team. We will provide updates once available.

Best regards,

Jinky Google Ads API Team

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[Google Ads API Forum Advisor]

Hi Katerina,

Thank you for updating us with a useful solution. Since Katerina's reply didn't stay on this thread, let me repeat it here:

​​​​​​

Hi all,

 

I did my own research after all and it turned out that all the 6 users who encountered this issue in the last 30 days had only standard access to the account we wanted to link. I tried to lower the access role on my testing account and I got the same error. According to the documentation, users with standard access cannot accept and reject manager account link requests. So I guess that's it.

 

Thanks for your effort,

Katerina

Regards,

Aryeh Google Ads API Team

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