Google Chat MCP

Google Chat MCP is a free MCP server that gives your AI agent five tools for Google Chat. Your agent can list the spaces and direct messages you belong to, read the messages in a space, and see who its members are. It can also make changes, such as sending a message to a space, with a confirmation step for anything destructive. It is its own VS Code extension, it runs on your machine, and it uses your own Google account.

There is no server to host and no config file to edit. You install the extension, sign in to Google once, and the tools appear in every agent it finds: VS Code Copilot, Claude Code, Cursor, OpenAI Codex, Google Gemini, Windsurf, Continue.dev, and Cline.

What you can ask

  • “Which Chat spaces am I in?”
  • “What was said in the release space today?”
  • “Find the message where the client sent the new logo”
  • “Who is in the support space?”
  • “Post the release notes in the release space”
  • “Reply in that thread that the fix is deployed”

The five Google Chat MCP tools

Tool What it does What you can pass
chat_list_spaces List the spaces, group chats, and direct messages you belong to A filter by space type and a page size
chat_get_space Get the details of one space The space
chat_list_messages List messages in a space, oldest first unless you ask for newest The space, a time filter, order, up to 1,000 messages
chat_get_message Get one message The message name
chat_list_members List the members of a space The space and a page size

The Google Chat admin tool

Changes go through one tool, chat_admin, with named actions.

Action What it does
send_message Send a message to a space, in a thread if you name one
update_message Edit a message you sent
delete_message Delete a message (needs confirmation)
create_space Create a space

Destructive actions need explicit confirmation

delete_message only runs with confirm: true. Without it the server changes nothing and returns a warning, so the agent has to ask you first. Reading never needs it.

Three things people use it for

Catching up after time away

Ask what happened in a space since a date. The agent reads the messages and gives you the decisions and the open questions, which saves you scrolling back.

Pulling a requirement out of a thread

A lot of requirements arrive in chat. Ask the agent to find the message with the detail and it carries on with the work from there.

Writing up an incident

After an outage, ask for the incident space’s messages in order. The agent turns them into a timeline for the report.

Set it up in five steps

A setup wizard opens the first time you launch the extension. OAuth is the usual choice.

  1. Create a project in the Google Cloud Console, or pick one you already have.
  2. Enable the Google Chat API under APIs and Services.
  3. Create an OAuth client ID of type Desktop app.
  4. Paste the client ID and secret into the wizard.
  5. Sign in to Google in the browser window that opens, and authorize.

If your consent screen is set to External, add yourself as a test user first. The wizard also accepts Application Default Credentials from the gcloud CLI and a service account key.

Two things are particular to Chat. The Google Chat API works with Google Workspace accounts and not with personal Gmail accounts. Your Google Cloud project also needs a Chat app configured, under APIs and Services, Google Chat API, Configuration. A name and an avatar are enough for reading.

Using Google Chat MCP with Claude Code, Cursor and other agents

You do not add a server entry by hand. The extension writes the registration for each agent it finds: ~/.claude.json for Claude Code, ~/.cursor/mcp.json for Cursor, ~/.codex/config.toml for OpenAI Codex, ~/.gemini/settings.json for Gemini, and the matching files for Windsurf, Continue.dev, and Cline. VS Code Copilot picks it up through the VS Code API.

Open a new session in any of them and the tools are in the tool list. To limit which agents get them, switch the others off in VS Code settings under googleChatMcp.agents. The command “Google Chat MCP: Remove from All Agents” takes every registration back out.

Limits

  • It needs a Google Workspace account. Personal Gmail accounts cannot use the Chat API.
  • It sees the spaces your account belongs to. It cannot read a space you are not in.
  • Attachments are listed with a message. Their contents are not read.

Common questions

Is Google Chat MCP free?

Yes. The extension is free and MIT licensed.

Does it work with a personal Gmail account?

No. Google offers the Chat API to Workspace accounts only.

Is this Google’s official Chat MCP server?

No. Google lists its own Chat MCP server in Developer Preview. This is an independent extension that is released, installs from the extension stores, and registers with eight agents.

Does it work with Claude Code and Cursor?

Yes. Both are registered automatically, along with Copilot and five other agents.

Where does my data go?

Nowhere except Google. The MCP server runs on your own machine and calls Google’s API with your credentials. There is no telemetry, and the sign-in token is kept in VS Code’s encrypted secret storage.

Install it

Google Chat MCP is free and MIT licensed.

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