Google Docs & Drive

This comprehensive server uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and thefastmcplibrary to provide tools for reading, writing, formatting, structuring Google Documents, and managing your entire Google Drive. It acts as a powerful bridge, allowing AI assistants like Claude to interact with your documents and files programmatically with advanced capabilities.

- Read Documents:Read content withreadGoogleDoc(plain text, JSON structure, or markdown)
- Append to Documents:Add text to documents withappendToGoogleDoc
- Insert Text:Place text at specific positions withinsertText
- Delete Content:Remove content from a document withdeleteRange

- Text Formatting:Apply rich styling withapplyTextStyle(bold, italic, colors, etc.)
- Paragraph Formatting:Control paragraph layout withapplyParagraphStyle(alignment, spacing, etc.)
- Find & Format:Format by text content usingformatMatchingText(legacy support)

- Tables:Create tables withinsertTable
- Page Breaks:Insert page breaks withinsertPageBreak
- Experimental Features:Tools likefixListFormattingfor automatic list detection

- Document Discovery:Find and list documents withlistGoogleDocs,searchGoogleDocs,getRecentGoogleDocs
- Document Information:Get detailed metadata withgetDocumentInfo
- Folder Management:Create folders (createFolder), list contents (listFolderContents), get info (getFolderInfo)
- File Operations:Move (moveFile), copy (copyFile), rename (renameFile), delete (deleteFile)
- Document Creation:Create new docs (createDocument) or from templates (createFromTemplate)
- 🚀 Shared Drive Support:Full support for Google Workspace shared drives! All operations now work seamlessly with shared drives

Follow these steps carefully to get your own instance of the server running.

Step 1: Google Cloud Project & Credentials (The Important Bit!)

- If you don't have a project, click the project dropdown near the top and select "NEW PROJECT". Give it a name (e.g., "My MCP Docs Server") and click "CREATE".

- If you have existing projects, you can select one or create a new one.

- In the search bar at the top, type "APIs & Services" and select "Library".

- Search for "Google Docs API" and click on it. Then click the "ENABLE" button.
- Search for "Google Drive API" and click on it. Then click the "ENABLE" button (this is often needed for finding files or permissions).

- On the left menu, click "APIs & Services" -> "OAuth consent screen".

- Choose User Type: Select "External" and click "CREATE".
- Fill in App Information:
- App name:Give it a name users will see (e.g., "Claude Docs MCP Access"). -User support email:Select your email address. -Developer contact information:Enter your email address.
- Click "SAVE AND CONTINUE".
- Scopes:Click "ADD OR REMOVE SCOPES". Search for and add the following scopes:
- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents(Allows reading/writing docs) -https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file(Allows access to specific files opened/created by the app) - Click "UPDATE".
- Click "SAVE AND CONTINUE".
- Test Users:Click "ADD USERS". Enter the same Google email address you are logged in with. Click "ADD". This allowsyouto use the app while it's in "testing" mode.
- Click "SAVE AND CONTINUE". Review the summary and click "BACK TO DASHBOARD".

- On the left menu, click "APIs & Services" -> "Credentials".

- Click "+ CREATE CREDENTIALS" at the top and choose "OAuth client ID".
- Application type:Select "Desktop app" from the dropdown.
- Name:Give it a name (e.g., "MCP Docs Desktop Client").
- Click "CREATE".

- Save this file. It will likely be named something likeclient_secret_....json.

- IMPORTANT:Rename the downloaded file to exactlycredentials.json.
- Clone the Repository:Open your terminal/command prompt and run:

git clone https://github.com/jasonWong-serviceDirect/google-docs-mcp-shared.git mcp-googledocs-server

Your server needs some helper libraries specified in thepackage.jsonfile.
- In your terminal (make sure you are inside themcp-googledocs-serverdirectory), run:

npm install

The server is written in TypeScript (.ts), but we need to compile it into JavaScript (.js) that Node.js can run directly.

Step 5: First Run & Google Authorization (One Time Only)

Now you need to run the server once manually to grant it permission to access your Google account data. This will create atoken.jsonfile that saves your permission grant.
- In your terminal, run thecompiledserver usingnode:

node ./dist/server.js

- Status messages (like "Attempting to authorize...").

- An "Authorize this app by visiting this url:" message followed by a longhttps://accounts.google.com/...URL.

- Copy the entire long URL from the terminal.

- Paste the URL into your web browser and press Enter.
- Log in with thesame Google accountyou added as a Test User in Step 1.4.
- Google will show a screen asking for permission for your app ("Claude Docs MCP Access" or similar) to access Google Docs/Drive. Review and click "Allow" or "Grant".

- After clicking Allow, your browser will likely try to redirect tohttp://localhostand show a"This site can't be reached" error.THIS IS NORMAL!

- Lookcarefullyat the URL in your browser's address bar. It will look likehttp://localhost/?code=4/0Axxxxxxxxxxxxxx&scope=...
- Copy the long string of charactersbetweencode=and the&scopepart. This is your single-use authorization code.

- "Authentication successful!"

- "Token stored to.../token.json"
- It will then finish starting and likely print "Awaiting MCP client connection via stdio..." or similar, and then exit (or you can pressCtrl+Cto stop it).

Step 6: Configure Claude Desktop (Optional)

If you want to use this server with Claude Desktop, you need to tell Claude how to run it.
- Find Your Absolute Path:You need the full path to the server code.

- In your terminal, make sure you are still inside themcp-googledocs-serverdirectory.

- Run thepwdcommand (on macOS/Linux) orcd(on Windows, just displays the path).
- Copy the full path (e.g.,/Users/yourname/projects/mcp-googledocs-serverorC:\Users\yourname\projects\mcp-googledocs-server).

- macOS:~/Library/Application Support/Claude/mcp_config.json(You might need to use Finder's "Go" -> "Go to Folder..." menu and paste~/Library/Application Support/Claude/)

- Windows:%APPDATA%\Claude\mcp_config.json(Paste%APPDATA%\Claudeinto File Explorer's address bar)
- Linux:~/.config/Claude/mcp_config.json
- If theClaudefolder ormcp_config.jsonfile doesn't exist, create them.