Google Docs/Sheets MCP Server

A remote MCP server that lets Claude actually edit your existing Google Docs and Sheets — not just read them or create new ones.

Tools it exposes:

• docs_search, docs_read, docs_replace_text, docs_append_text, docs_insert_text_at, docs_create

• sheets_search, sheets_read, sheets_update_cells, sheets_append_rows, sheets_create

This server acts as your Google account only (whichever account you authorize in Step 2). It's meant for personal or single-team use, not as a multi-tenant public service.

Step 1 — Create a Google Cloud OAuth client

1. Go to https://console.cloud.google.com/ and create a project (or use an existing one).

2. Go to APIs & Services → Library and enable:

   • Google Docs API

   • Google Sheets API

   • Google Drive API

3. Go to APIs & Services → OAuth consent screen. Choose External, fill in the required fields, and add yourself as a test user. (You don't need to publish the app — test mode works fine for personal use.)

4. Go to APIs & Services → Credentials → Create Credentials → OAuth client ID.

   • Application type: Desktop app

   • Save the generated Client ID and Client Secret.

Step 2 — Get a refresh token (run this on your own computer)

cd gdocs-mcp-server
npm install

GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id \
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret \
npm run get-token

This opens a URL for you to visit — log in and approve access. The script prints a GOOGLE_REFRESH_TOKEN value in your terminal. Save it; you'll need it in Step 3.

Step 3 — Deploy the server

Pick any host that runs a persistent Node.js process and gives you a public HTTPS URL. Render.com is a straightforward free option:

1. Push this folder to a GitHub repo (or use Render's "public Git repo" deploy).

2. On Render: New → Web Service, connect the repo.

3. Build command: npm install

4. Start command: npm start

5. Add environment variables (from Environment tab):

   • GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID

   • GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET

   • GOOGLE_REFRESH_TOKEN (from Step 2)

   • MCP_ACCESS_TOKEN — make up a long random secret (e.g. run openssl rand -hex 32 locally)

6. Deploy. Render will give you a URL like https://your-app.onrender.com.

Your MCP endpoint is then: https://your-app.onrender.com/mcp

(Railway, Fly.io, or a small VPS all work the same way — the only requirement is a public HTTPS URL and the same environment variables.)

Step 4 — Connect it to Claude

1. In Claude, go to Settings → Connectors.

2. Click "+" → Add custom connector.

3. Paste in your server URL: https://your-app.onrender.com/mcp

4. Click Advanced settings → under Request headers, add:

   • Header name: Authorization

   • Header value: Bearer YOUR_MCP_ACCESS_TOKEN (the same secret from Step 3)

5. Click Add, then Connect.

6. In any chat, use the "+" button → Connectors → toggle this one on.

You can now ask Claude things like "update cell B2 in my Q3 budget sheet to 5000" or "replace 'draft' with 'final' throughout my proposal doc" and it will actually make the change.

Testing locally before you deploy

cp .env.example .env
# fill in .env with your values
npm install
npm start

The server listens on http://localhost:3000/mcp. You won't be able to point Claude's hosted product at localhost directly (it needs a public URL), but this is useful for catching errors before you deploy.

Notes and limitations

• This server edits Docs/Sheets as whichever Google account you authorized in Step 2 — anyone using this connector acts as that account.

• docs_replace_text replaces plain text only; it won't preserve rich formatting differences between the old and new text.

• Sheets values are written with USER_ENTERED input, so formulas like =SUM(A1:A10) are interpreted, not stored as literal text.

• If you ever want to revoke access, go to https://myaccount.google.com/permissions and remove the app.