Google Docs MCP server for AI agents

This MCP server connects Claude Desktop and other MCP clients to Google Docs and Drive, providing a powerful interface to read, edit, and manage your documents programmatically.

Installation

Prerequisites

Before getting started, make sure you have:

Node.js and npm (version 18+) from nodejs.org
Git for cloning the repository
A Google Account with access to the documents you want to interact with
Claude Desktop (optional) if you plan to use this server with Claude

Step 1: Google Cloud Project & Credentials

Create a Google Cloud Project:
- Go to the Google Cloud Console
- Create a new project or select an existing one
- Enable the Google Docs API and Google Drive API in the Library section
Configure OAuth Consent Screen:
- Go to "APIs & Services" -> "OAuth consent screen"
- Select "External" and click "CREATE"
- Enter app information (name, support email, developer contact)
- Add these scopes:
  - https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents
  - https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file
- Add your email as a test user
Create and Download Credentials:
- Go to "APIs & Services" -> "Credentials"
- Click "+ CREATE CREDENTIALS" and select "OAuth client ID"
- Choose "Desktop app" and give it a name
- Download the credentials JSON file
- Rename it to exactly credentials.json

Step 2: Get the Server Code

git clone https://github.com/a-bonus/google-docs-mcp.git mcp-googledocs-server
cd mcp-googledocs-server

Move your credentials.json file into this directory.

Step 3: Install Dependencies

npm install

Step 4: Build the Server Code

npm run build

Step 5: First Run & Google Authorization

Start the server:
```
node ./dist/server.js
```
The terminal will display a URL. Copy and paste it into your browser.
Log in with your Google account and grant permissions.
After approving, you'll be redirected to a page that can't load (this is normal).
Copy the code from the URL (between code= and &scope).
Paste this code back into your terminal and press Enter.
A token.json file will be created in your project directory.

Step 6: Configure Claude Desktop (Optional)

Find the absolute path to your server directory using pwd (macOS/Linux) or cd (Windows).
Locate Claude's configuration file:
- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/mcp_config.json
- Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\mcp_config.json
- Linux: ~/.config/Claude/mcp_config.json

Edit the mcp_config.json file to include:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-docs-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/PATH/TO/YOUR/CLONED/REPO/mcp-googledocs-server/dist/server.js"
      ],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

(Replace /PATH/TO/YOUR/CLONED/REPO with your actual path)

Save the file and restart Claude Desktop.

Usage

Basic Document Operations

To work with Google Docs, you'll need the document ID (the long string between /d/ and /edit in the document URL):

Read a document:

Use the google-docs-mcp server to read the document with ID YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID

Append to a document:

Append 'This was added by Claude!' to document YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID

Insert text at a specific position:

Insert text 'New content here' at index 100 in document YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID

Delete content:

Delete content from range 50-100 in document YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID

Working with Tabs

For documents with multiple tabs:

List all tabs:

List all tabs in document YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID using the listDocumentTabs tool

Read from a specific tab:

Read the content from tab TAB_ID in document YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID

Write to a specific tab:

Append 'New content' to tab TAB_ID in document YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID

Formatting and Styling

Apply text styling:

Use applyTextStyle to make the text 'Important Section' bold and red (#FF0000) in document YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID

Format paragraphs:

Use applyParagraphStyle to center-align the paragraph containing 'Title Here' in document YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID

Document Structure

Create a table:

Insert a 3x4 table at index 500 in document YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID

Insert an image from URL:

Insert an image from https://example.com/logo.png at index 100 in document YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID

Upload and insert local image:

Upload and insert the image at /Users/myname/Pictures/chart.png at index 200 in document YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID

Comment Management

List comments:

List all comments in document YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID

Add a comment:

Add a comment 'This needs revision' to document YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID

Reply to a comment:

Reply 'Fixed as requested' to comment COMMENT_ID in document YOUR_GOOGLE_DOC_ID

Google Drive File Management

List documents:

List my recent Google Docs using the getRecentGoogleDocs tool

Search for documents:

Search for Google Docs containing 'project proposal' using the searchGoogleDocs tool

Create a new document:

Create a new Google Doc named 'Meeting Notes' using the createDocument tool

Folder operations:

Create a new folder named 'Project Files' in Google Drive

List the contents of folder FOLDER_ID in Google Drive

Troubleshooting

Authentication issues:
- Ensure you've correctly set up Google Cloud credentials
- Check that your credentials.json file is in the right location
- Verify that you added your email as a test user
Claude integration problems:
- Verify the path in mcp_config.json is correct and absolute
- Ensure you built the server with npm run build
- Check Claude's logs for detailed error messages
Tab-related errors:
- Use listDocumentTabs to verify the tab IDs
- Single-tab documents don't require tab IDs

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "google-docs-mcp" '{"command":"node","args":["/PATH/TO/YOUR/CLONED/REPO/mcp-googledocs-server/dist/server.js"],"env":[]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "google-docs-mcp": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/PATH/TO/YOUR/CLONED/REPO/mcp-googledocs-server/dist/server.js"
            ],
            "env": []
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "google-docs-mcp": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/PATH/TO/YOUR/CLONED/REPO/mcp-googledocs-server/dist/server.js"
            ],
            "env": []
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect