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mcp-gsheets

MCP Google Sheets Server

CI Coverage License: MIT TypeScript Node code style: prettier

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Google Sheets API integration. Enables reading, writing, and managing Google Sheets documents directly from your MCP client (e.g., Claude Desktop).

🚀 Quick Start

1. Prerequisites

  • Node.js v18 or higher
  • Google Cloud Project with Sheets API enabled
  • Service Account with JSON key file

2. Installation

# Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/freema/mcp-gsheets.git # Or using SSH # git clone git@github.com:freema/mcp-gsheets.git cd mcp-gsheets # Install dependencies npm install # Build the project npm run build

3. Google Cloud Setup

  1. Go to Google Cloud Console
  2. Create a new project or select existing
  3. Enable Google Sheets API:
    • Navigate to "APIs & Services" → "Library"
    • Search for "Google Sheets API" and click "Enable"
  4. Create Service Account:
    • Go to "APIs & Services" → "Credentials"
    • Click "Create Credentials" → "Service Account"
    • Download the JSON key file
  5. Share your spreadsheets:
    • Open your Google Sheet
    • Click Share and add the service account email (from JSON file)
    • Grant "Editor" permissions

4. Configure MCP Client

Run the interactive setup script:

npm run setup

This will:

  • Guide you through the configuration
  • Automatically detect your Node.js installation (including nvm)
  • Find your Claude Desktop config
  • Create the proper JSON configuration
  • Optionally create a .env file for development
Manual Setup

If you prefer manual configuration, add to your Claude Desktop config:

  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
  • Linux: ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{ "mcpServers": { "mcp-gsheets": { "command": "node", "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-gsheets/dist/index.js"], "env": { "GOOGLE_PROJECT_ID": "your-project-id", "GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS": "/absolute/path/to/service-account-key.json" } } } }

Restart Claude Desktop after adding the configuration.

📦 Build & Development

Development Commands

# Development mode with hot reload npm run dev # Build for production npm run build # Type checking npm run typecheck # Clean build artifacts npm run clean # Run MCP inspector for debugging npm run inspector # Run MCP inspector in development mode npm run inspector:dev

Task Runner (Alternative)

If you have Task installed:

# Install dependencies task install # Build the project task build # Run in development mode task dev # Run linter task lint # Format code task fmt # Run all checks task check

Development Setup

  1. Create .env file for testing:
cp .env.example .env # Edit .env with your credentials: # GOOGLE_PROJECT_ID=your-project-id # GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/path/to/service-account.json # TEST_SPREADSHEET_ID=your-test-spreadsheet-id
  1. Run in development mode:
npm run dev # Watch mode with auto-reload

📋 Available Tools

Reading Data

  • sheets_get_values - Read from a range
  • sheets_batch_get_values - Read from multiple ranges
  • sheets_get_metadata - Get spreadsheet info
  • sheets_check_access - Check access permissions

Writing Data

  • sheets_update_values - Write to a range
  • sheets_batch_update_values - Write to multiple ranges
  • sheets_append_values - Append rows to a table
  • sheets_clear_values - Clear cell contents

Sheet Management

  • sheets_insert_sheet - Add new sheet
  • sheets_delete_sheet - Remove sheet
  • sheets_duplicate_sheet - Copy sheet
  • sheets_copy_to - Copy to another spreadsheet
  • sheets_update_sheet_properties - Update sheet settings

Cell Formatting

  • sheets_format_cells - Format cells (colors, fonts, alignment, number formats)
  • sheets_update_borders - Add or modify cell borders
  • sheets_merge_cells - Merge cells together
  • sheets_unmerge_cells - Unmerge previously merged cells
  • sheets_add_conditional_formatting - Add conditional formatting rules

🔧 Code Quality

Linting

# Run ESLint npm run lint # Fix auto-fixable issues npm run lint:fix

Formatting

# Check formatting with Prettier npm run format:check # Format code npm run format

Type Checking

# Run TypeScript type checking npm run typecheck

❗ Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Authentication failed"

  • Verify JSON key path is absolute and correct
  • Check GOOGLE_PROJECT_ID matches your project
  • Ensure Sheets API is enabled

"Permission denied"

  • Share spreadsheet with service account email
  • Service account needs "Editor" role
  • Check email in JSON file (client_email field)

"Spreadsheet not found"

  • Verify spreadsheet ID from URL
  • Format: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/[SPREADSHEET_ID]/edit

MCP Connection Issues

  • Ensure you're using the built version (dist/index.js)
  • Check that Node.js path is correct in Claude Desktop config
  • Look for errors in Claude Desktop logs
  • Use npm run inspector to debug

🔍 Finding IDs

Spreadsheet ID

From the URL:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms/edit ↑ This is the spreadsheet ID

Sheet ID

Use sheets_get_metadata to list all sheets with their IDs.

📝 Tips

  1. Always test with a copy of your data
  2. Use batch operations for better performance
  3. Set appropriate permissions (read-only vs edit)
  4. Check rate limits for large operations
  5. Use sheets_check_access to verify permissions before operations

🤝 Contributing

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
  3. Run tests and linting (npm run check)
  4. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
  5. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
  6. Open a Pull Request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

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