Provides tools for interacting with Google Drive, including file and folder management, searching, uploading and downloading content, sharing and permissions, shared drives, revisions, comments, approvals, and change tracking.
Click on "Deploy Server".
Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state.
In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@google-drive-mcp Find my sales report from last week in Drive"
That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed.
Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.
Google Drive as MCP tools. Find, organise, share and move files, and follow what changed.
A single Go binary that speaks Model Context Protocol over stdio. It runs as a subprocess of your client, on your own machine, one Google account per profile: find files and know where they live and who can see them, organise folders, move and copy, get content in and out, share without widening access by accident, follow what changed, and manage shared drives.
Drive is where the file lives, and most of what goes wrong with a file is about the boundary rather than the contents: where it sits, who can already see it, what widening a share would actually widen, and what changed since you last looked. This server works at that boundary and stops there — what is inside a Doc, Sheet or Slides deck belongs to servers built on those APIs, and this one says so rather than guessing through an export.
It runs as you, against a Google Cloud project you own, so nothing here is tied to any particular organisation or account. Every tool below is verified against a real Google Workspace account as well as against the in-memory Drive the tests use — the five that remove something for good included, which run inside a shared drive the live driver creates and destroys again. Four paths are not, because each needs a second account or an administrator to exercise: handing over ownership, opening a link-shared file that needs its resource key, a share an organisation's policy refuses, and applying a label. §17a of docs/architecture.md says what stands in for each.
Related MCP server: MCP Google Drive Server
go install github.com/mmedum/google-drive-mcp/cmd/google-drive-mcp@latestThat puts the binary in Go's bin directory, which is often not on your
PATH. If the next command says command not found, either use the full
path or add the directory once:
"$(go env GOPATH)/bin/google-drive-mcp" --version # check it landed
export PATH="$(go env GOPATH)/bin:$PATH" # or add it to your shell profileOr take a signed archive from the
latest release
— Linux, macOS and Windows, on amd64 and arm64 — and put the binary on
your PATH. Every archive carries the binary, LICENSE and this README.
Nothing about a release has to be taken on trust:
# --ignore-missing, because checksums.txt covers every archive and you
# will have downloaded one of them.
sha256sum -c checksums.txt --ignore-missing
# checksums.txt is signed with a keyless Sigstore certificate tied to the
# release workflow's identity; the bundle carries the signature and the
# certificate together.
cosign verify-blob checksums.txt --bundle checksums.txt.bundle \
--certificate-identity-regexp '^https://github.com/mmedum/google-drive-mcp' \
--certificate-oidc-issuer https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com
# And each archive carries build provenance naming the workflow and tag
# that produced it.
gh attestation verify google-drive-mcp_*.tar.gz --repo mmedum/google-drive-mcpEvery archive also ships an SBOM, so you can see what is inside a binary you did not build.
Every release also carries a .mcpb bundle. Open it and Claude Desktop
installs the server and asks for your OAuth client JSON — no config file
to edit. It covers macOS, Windows and Linux on both architectures each:
macOS through a universal binary, Windows through amd64, and Linux
through a small launcher that picks the right binary at start, because a
bundle manifest names a command per platform and has no key for the
architecture. Its SHA-256 is in the same signed checksums.txt.
The bundle does not log you in. Install the binary as well, run
google-drive-mcp login once, and the bundle picks up the same
credentials. Claude Code does not install .mcpb files, so it uses the
command below.
You need your own Google Cloud project and your own OAuth client. This
takes about five minutes, and google-drive-mcp doctor tells you which
step you missed.
Create a project at console.cloud.google.com.
Enable the Google Drive API for it, under APIs & Services → Library.
Configure the OAuth consent screen.
On a Google Workspace account, choose Internal. Refresh tokens do not expire.
On a personal account, choose External, leave it in Testing,
and add your own address as a test user. Google expires refresh
tokens for a Testing app after 7 days, so you will re-run
login about once a week.
Add the scopes this server asks for. Which ones depends on how you
run it, and login requests exactly the set your configuration needs
— so add the ones you will use, and re-run login if you turn a
feature on later. All of them are restricted scopes, which is fine for
an app only you use and never publish.
Scope | Requested when |
| always, unless read-only |
| instead of it, with |
| with |
| with |
| with |
google-drive-mcp doctor names any scope your token is missing, which
is what to run if a call comes back refused after you change a flag.
Create credentials → OAuth client ID → Desktop app, and download the JSON. A Web application client will not work: this server uses the loopback flow Google documents for desktop apps.
Put the JSON where the server looks, or point at it:
mkdir -p ~/.config/google-drive-mcp
cp ~/Downloads/client_secret_*.json ~/.config/google-drive-mcp/client_secret.jsonLog in and check:
google-drive-mcp login
google-drive-mcp doctorlogin opens a browser, receives the callback on 127.0.0.1 with PKCE,
and stores the refresh token in your OS keyring (Secret Service, Keychain
or Credential Manager). If no keyring is available it falls back to a
0600 file and says so. logout revokes the token at Google and deletes
it locally.
The callback goes to the remote host's loopback address and your browser
is local, so the port has to be forwarded. It is drawn at random and
printed only once login is already waiting, so read it out of the printed
URL — it appears percent-encoded there, as 127.0.0.1%3A<port> — and in a
second local terminal:
ssh -N -L <port>:127.0.0.1:<port> user@remote-hostThen open the URL in your local browser. If ssh says bind: Address already in use, cancel the login with Ctrl-C and start it again to draw
a different port.
Claude Code
claude mcp add google-drive -- google-drive-mcpClaude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json) and Cursor
(.cursor/mcp.json) take the same shape:
{
"mcpServers": {
"google-drive": {
"command": "google-drive-mcp",
"env": {
"GDRIVE_LOCAL_DIR": "/absolute/path/for/downloads"
}
}
}
}All three clients pass only command, args and env, which is why
every setting is an environment variable.
Every setting is a GDRIVE_* environment variable with a matching flag.
The full list, with defaults, is in
docs/configuration.md. The ones that change what
the server will do at all:
Variable | Default | Effect |
| unset | The one directory downloads are written to and uploads are read from. Unset means no file transfer at all. |
|
| Register only read tools, and ask for read-only scopes at login. |
|
|
|
|
| Register permanent delete, empty trash and the other tools with no way back. Each still needs |
Tool | What it does |
| Who is signed in, storage used, whether this account has shared drives, and which of this server's tools are registered |
| Everything about one file: kind, location, link, size, owner, who can see it, and what you may do with it |
| One page of a folder's contents, or a budgeted tree of everything below it |
| Find files across My Drive, files shared with you, and every shared drive |
| The text of a file: a Doc as markdown, a Sheet as csv, a log or source file as itself, windowed with a continuation |
| Write a file to the local directory, converting a Google document on the way out, checksum-verified |
| A new empty Google file, or one written from text you have here, with optional conversion |
| Send a local file, in one request or in chunks that survive a dropped connection |
| Replace what is inside a file, keeping its id, its place and everything that points at it |
| A new folder, refusing a duplicate name unless you allow it |
| Rename, describe, star, colour, set properties, or turn off copying and re-sharing |
| Move an item to another folder or shared drive, with a dry run |
| Copy a file, optionally asking Google to import it as a Doc, which reads the text out of a PDF or a scan; with |
| A pointer to one item from another folder |
| Move an item to the trash, which is reversible |
| Take an item out of the trash, and say where it went |
| Who can see an item, with the role, the expiry, and where each grant came from |
| Grant or change access, with who can see it before and after |
| Take access away, or kill the link that let anybody open it |
| The shared drives this account can see, with what it may do in each |
| Create, rename, hide, unhide or restrict a shared drive |
| A file's version history, with Google's own caveat about what it leaves out |
| Pin a version so Drive keeps it, or unpin it again |
| What has changed since a point in time, with the token for next time |
| The threads on a file, with their replies and whether each is still open |
| Start a thread on any file, Google document or not |
| Answer a thread, resolve it, reopen it, or edit wording already in it |
| Who has asked to be let into a file, and what they asked for |
| Accept or deny one, with who could see the file before and after |
| The reviews on a file: who asked, who has to answer, and whether it is waiting on you |
| Ask people to review a file, answer one, withdraw it, comment on it, or change who is asked |
Three more are registered only when the deployer turns their feature on,
because each needs a scope the consent screen would otherwise not carry:
list_labels and manage_labels with GDRIVE_LABELS=true, and
list_activity with GDRIVE_ACTIVITY=true.
Tool | What it does |
| The Workspace labels this account can use, with each field and the values it takes |
| Put a label on a file, set or clear one of its fields, or take it off |
| What happened to a file, or to everything in a folder, and when |
Five more are registered only with GDRIVE_ENABLE_DESTRUCTIVE=true, and
each of those also needs confirm: true on the call itself:
delete_file, empty_trash, delete_drive, delete_revision and
delete_comment.
Three of the reads are also resources, for a client that attaches
them rather than calling a tool: gdrive://<id> is the file's text,
gdrive://<id>/meta is the description, and gdrive://<id>/children is
a folder's first page. A reference with a slash in it — a path, a URL —
has to be percent-encoded there, so pass an id.
Five things it does differently from the alternatives:
Shared drives work from the first call. Every request carries
supportsAllDrives, listings include items from all drives, and an
incomplete search says so instead of quietly returning less.
Ids are the contract. A name or path matching more than one item
comes back as [ambiguous] with every candidate listed. Nothing takes
the first match.
Location is always shown. Names are not unique in Drive, so every result says which folder, and which drive, a file sits in.
Files go one place only. Downloads land in GDRIVE_LOCAL_DIR and
uploads are read from it; unset, there is no file transfer at all. A
path outside it is refused, symlinks included.
Sharing shows its work. Every grant or revocation reports who could
see the file before and who can see it after. A public link needs
allow_anyone: true and an ownership transfer needs
transfer_ownership: true, on the call itself. No notification mail
goes out unless you ask for it, which is the opposite of the API's own
default.
Edit the content of a Google Doc, Sheet or Slides deck. It reads them through Google's export and says so. A comment made here sits on the file rather than on a passage of the document: pinning one to a place in a Doc is a Docs API feature, and this server does not use that API.
Widen access without being asked. Sharing tools check
capabilities.canShare first, show who can see a file before and
after, need allow_anyone: true for a public link, and send no
notification mail unless you ask for it. What may actually be shared is
decided by your organisation's own policy, which Google enforces on
every call.
Destroy anything without a way back, by default. Trash and restore are
the default surface; permanent deletion is gated behind
GDRIVE_ENABLE_DESTRUCTIVE=true and needs confirm: true on the
call, because a registered tool is one a model will reach for
eventually. There is no bulk delete and no bulk share: one item per
call, so every removal is a visible approval. Deleting the top of a
drive is refused outright.
Talk to anything but Google. Every URL is checked against an allowlist of Google's own hosts before credentials are attached. No telemetry, no update checks.
Write anything private into its logs. They carry truncated ids, counts, byte counts and latencies; never file names, paths, addresses, queries or content.
MCP client ──stdio──► google-drive-mcp
├── tools one handler per tool; shapes the reply
├── service the rules: addressing, sharing policy, confinement
├── model the server's view of a file, and what you may do to it
├── render the text a result is made of
├── gapi raw REST client for Drive, Drive Labels and Drive Activity
├── gdrive hand-written wire types, no generated client
├── ref ids, URLs and paths; resolves nothing over the network
└── auth refresh token → access tokendocs/architecture.md has the design, the package layout, the phase plan, and an evidence log recording which conventions were checked against Google's own reference and which turned out to be wrong. docs/security.md is what it touches and what limits it.
If something does not work, run google-drive-mcp doctor. It checks the
credentials, the granted scopes and what Google actually answers, and
names what is missing — most first-run trouble is an API that was never
enabled or a consent screen without you on it.
google-drive-mcp status shows the same setup without contacting Google,
and status --json prints it as one JSON object for a script that has to
decide whether this server is authorised before starting it —
credentials.resolved is the field to branch on. The shape is in
docs/configuration.md.
If that does not explain it,
open an issue. Never
paste a file id or URL, file contents, a client_secret.json or a token
into one; describe the shape instead. Security problems go through
SECURITY.md, privately.
Tool names, their arguments and the shape of their output are stable
within a major version. A change that needs you to do something — a new
scope, another login, a different command in your client config — is
marked Breaking: in CHANGELOG.md, which is what the
release notes are made from. A tool moving from the default surface to
behind a feature flag, or the other way, counts as breaking.
make build # the binary
make test # race detector, per-package coverage floor
make check # everything CI runs
make live # drive the binary against the signed-in account, redactedmake check is the definition of done: gofmt, go vet, golangci-lint,
race tests with a per-package coverage floor, govulncheck, a licence
check, a leak check over the working tree, pinned-version and error-class
gates, an API-coverage gate holding every method of all three APIs to a
recorded decision, a bundle-manifest gate holding the committed manifest
to the files the packer stages, a registry gate holding the published
entry to the rules the MCP registry enforces in code, a transcript gate refusing any way for a
program that drives a real account to reach a terminal except through the
redactor, a live-coverage gate holding every tool option to a decision
about whether the live driver drives it, an outcome gate refusing a
result sentence written from the request rather than from the response, a
stdio smoke test, a schema diff against the released tool surface, a
staleness gate that fails when this README, the docs or the changelog
drift from the code, and a parity gate asserting that make check and CI
run the same set of gates.
Conventions are in CONTRIBUTING.md; building, testing and releasing are in docs/development.md.
docs/architecture.md — the design, the evidence behind it, and the phase plan.
docs/configuration.md — every setting.
docs/security.md — what it touches and what limits it.
docs/development.md — building, testing, releasing.
Questions and bugs go in
issues; pull
requests are welcome. CONTRIBUTING.md covers the
ground rules and the pull request flow, and make check is what has to
pass.
SECURITY.md says how to report a vulnerability. Please do not open a public issue for one.
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md — Contributor Covenant 3.0.
Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE.
This server cannot be deployed
Manage files and folders directly from your workspace. Read and write files, list directories, cre…
Browse, upload, download, and share files in your S3-compatible buckets with delegated roles.
Search, read, preview, create, update, rename, arrange and trash sketches in your Google Drive.
