MCP Google Server

A generic, reusable Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets any MCP-compatible AI agent draft and send Gmail emails and append content to Google Docs — without the agent needing to understand Google's APIs.

AI Agent  ──MCP──►  mcp-google-server  ──────►  Gmail API
                                         └───►  Google Docs API

Features

Related MCP server: Generic MCP Server for Google Workspace

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+

• A Google Cloud project with the Gmail API and Google Docs API enabled

• OAuth 2.0 credentials (Desktop app type)

Setup

1. Clone and install dependencies

git clone <your-repo-url> mcp-google-server
cd mcp-google-server
npm install

2. Create a Google Cloud project and enable APIs

1. Go to the Google Cloud Console

2. Create a new project (or select an existing one)

3. Enable the following APIs:

   • Gmail API

   • Google Docs API

3. Create OAuth 2.0 credentials

1. Go to APIs & Services → Credentials

2. Click Create Credentials → OAuth 2.0 Client IDs

3. Application type: Desktop app

4. Download the JSON file

4. Configure environment variables

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with your credentials:

GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id.apps.googleusercontent.com
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret
GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URI=http://localhost:3000/oauth/callback
GOOGLE_TOKEN_PATH=./tokens.json
LOG_LEVEL=info

⚠️ Never commit .env or tokens.json — they are already in .gitignore.

5. Authorize with Google

Run the one-time OAuth consent flow:

npm run auth

This will:

1. Print an authorization URL

2. Wait for you to open it in your browser and approve access

3. Ask you to paste the authorization code

4. Store tokens in tokens.json

6. Start the MCP server

npm run dev          # Development (with tsx, no build needed)
npm run build && npm start   # Production

The server communicates over stdio and is now ready for MCP clients to connect.

Connecting an MCP Client

Claude Desktop

Add the following to your Claude Desktop config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-google-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
        "GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-client-secret",
        "GOOGLE_TOKEN_PATH": "/absolute/path/to/tokens.json"
      }
    }
  }
}

Generic MCP Client (stdio)

node dist/index.js

The server exposes three discoverable tools over stdin/stdout using the MCP protocol.

Tool Documentation

gmail_create_draft

Creates a Gmail draft. Does not send the email.

Success response:

{
  "success": true,
  "draft_id": "1234567890abcdef",
  "message": "Draft created successfully."
}

Error response:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "AUTHENTICATION_REQUIRED",
    "message": "No Google credentials found. Run `npm run auth` to authorize the server."
  }
}

gmail_send_email

Sends an email immediately. ⚠️ This is an irreversible external action.

Success response:

{
  "success": true,
  "message_id": "18abc123def456",
  "thread_id": "18abc123def456",
  "message": "Email sent successfully."
}

google_docs_append

Appends text to the end of an existing Google Doc. Existing content is preserved.

Finding the document ID: In the Google Docs URL https://docs.google.com/document/d/DOCUMENT_ID/edit, the DOCUMENT_ID is the long alphanumeric string.

Success response:

{
  "success": true,
  "document_id": "1AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYz",
  "message": "Content appended successfully."
}

Error codes:

Development

npm run dev          # Start with hot reload
npm test             # Run all tests
npm run test:watch   # Watch mode
npm run test:coverage # Coverage report
npm run lint         # Type-check without emitting
npm run build        # Compile to dist/

Project Structure

src/
├── index.ts                    # Entry point
├── server/
│   ├── mcp-server.ts           # MCP server setup
│   └── tool-registry.ts        # Tool registration
├── tools/
│   ├── gmail/                  # Gmail tool handlers + schemas
│   └── google-docs/            # Docs tool handlers + schemas
├── services/                   # Google API wrappers
├── validation/                 # Input validation (Zod)
├── errors/                     # Error codes, McpError, error handler
├── logging/                    # Pino logger with redaction
├── config/                     # Environment config
└── types/                      # TypeScript types

Adding a New Google Service

1. Create src/tools/<service>/schemas.ts — Zod input schema

2. Create src/services/<service>.service.ts — API wrapper

3. Create src/tools/<service>/<tool>.tool.ts — thin handler

4. Register in src/server/tool-registry.ts

5. Add the required OAuth scope to src/config/config.ts

No changes needed to the core server, transport, or auth layers.

Security

• Least-privilege OAuth scopes: only gmail.compose, gmail.send, and documents

• No secrets in code: all credentials via environment variables

• Tokens not logged: Pino redacts access_token, refresh_token, client_secret

• Token file permissions: stored with 0o600 (owner read/write only)

• No stack traces to clients: errors are translated to structured codes before returning

License

MIT