---
name: arm-auto-pause-rules
description: Use when setting up or reviewing paid campaigns that an AI agent can spend against. Arms auto-pause rules so ad sets that spend past an age and spend threshold with zero conversions are paused, and lists existing rules.
---

# Arm auto-pause rules

Write the stop rule before you need it. An ad set that keeps spending without a conversion should be paused automatically, not left to quietly burn budget.

## Instructions

1. **Agree on the rule with the human first.** Confirm the conversion event, the minimum age (how long the ad set must have been running), and the spend threshold. Do not invent thresholds — ask if they are missing.
2. **Write the rule before launch, or as soon as you inherit a live campaign.** The rule is: if an ad set (or equivalent) has zero conversions after the agreed age and spend threshold, pause it and notify the human.
3. **This is not a hard spend cap.** The rule pauses for zero conversions past a threshold; it does not cap total spend or pace budgets. Do not describe it as a spend cap.
4. **Apply the rule through the available ads API or MCP.** Then list the rules back to the human so they can see what is armed.
5. **When a rule fires,** notify the human, leave the ad set paused, and wait for review before re-enabling.

## Optional: Synter MCP

If Synter MCP is connected, use `set_campaign_guardrail` to arm the rule and `list_campaign_guardrails` to show what is already set. These auto-pause guardrails currently apply to Google Ads. On other platforms, implement the same logic with a scheduled check (age + spend + zero conversions → pause + notify). `set_spend_alert` can also notify on spend, but it is an alert, not a pause rule and not a hard spend cap.