{"id":1392,"date":"2025-10-08T12:49:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T10:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/?p=1392"},"modified":"2025-10-09T09:05:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T07:05:47","slug":"when-gpt-returns-invalid-code-how-to-fix-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/when-gpt-returns-invalid-code-how-to-fix-it","title":{"rendered":"When GPT returns invalid code: how to fix it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Long-time member of the list and script fanatic Alberto Esteves Correia (name shared with permission) asked:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;Some people think GPT will do everything for them, even if they know nothing about programming or scripting.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>When GPT returns invalid code, how to get out of it?&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s true: most LLMs still hallucinate a lot when it comes to Google Ads Scripts and often return code that is broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here&#8217;s how to fix that and learn some things along the way (works for any LLM):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">1. Assign ChatGPT the role of a Google Ads Script developer tasked with debugging the code.<br>2. Copy-paste the code. Then, ask ChatGPT to explain the code that shows the issue.<br>3. Copy-paste the error. Then, ask ChatGPT to explain the error message.<br>4. Ask ChatGPT to fix the code and explain the fix.<br>5. If a new error message pops up: rinse and repeat steps 2, 3, and 4.<br>6. If the same error message pops up:\u00a0<br>\u00a0 6.1: Ask ChatGPT to find supporting documentation on the Google Ads Scripts Developer documentation site.<br>\u00a0 6.2: Copy-paste the documentation into ChatGPT.<br>\u00a0 6.3: Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4.<br><br>If all that doesn&#8217;t work, post your issue on the Google Ads Scripts Developer Forum: <a href=\"https:\/\/groups.google.com\/g\/adwords-scripts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/groups.google.com\/g\/adwords-scripts<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Want to learn the exact prompts I use to get the most out of ChatGPT script development?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sign up for my next 5-Day ChatGPT and Google Ads Scripts Challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Link:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/5-day-chatgpt-and-google-ads-scripts-challenge-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/5-day-chatgpt-and-google-ads-scripts-challenge-2025\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8211; Nils<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Long-time member of the list and script fanatic Alberto Esteves Correia (name shared with permission) asked: &#8220;Some people think GPT will do everything for them, even if they know nothing about programming or scripting. When GPT returns invalid code, how to get out of it?&#8221; It&#8217;s true: most LLMs still hallucinate a lot when it &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/when-gpt-returns-invalid-code-how-to-fix-it\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;When GPT returns invalid code: how to fix it&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-google-ads"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>When GPT returns invalid code: how to fix it - Nils Rooijmans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/when-gpt-returns-invalid-code-how-to-fix-it\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When GPT returns invalid code: how to fix it - Nils Rooijmans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Long-time member of the list and script fanatic Alberto Esteves Correia (name shared with permission) asked: &#8220;Some people think GPT will do everything for them, even if they know nothing about programming or scripting. 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