Google Docs MCP

Google Docs MCP is a free MCP server that gives your AI agent one tool for reading a Google Doc and one admin tool for editing it. You can have the agent read a spec, add a section to a document, or replace a term throughout it. It is its own VS Code extension, it runs on your machine, and it talks to 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 Docs 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

  • “Read the project proposal doc”
  • “Summarise the requirements in this document”
  • “Add today’s meeting notes to the end of the team doc”
  • “Replace every ‘v1’ with ‘v2’ in the release plan”
  • “Create a document called Launch notes”
  • “Does the spec say anything about rate limits?”

The Google Docs MCP read tool

Tool What it does What you can pass
docs_read Read the full text of a Google Doc The document ID

It returns the document’s title and its text as plain text, in reading order. That is what an agent needs to summarise a document, answer a question about it, or write code against a spec.

The Docs admin tool

Anything that writes to a document goes through one admin tool with named actions.

Action What it does
create Create a new document with the title you give
append_text Add text to the end of the document
insert_text Insert text at a position, the start of the document by default
replace_text Find and replace throughout the document, case sensitive unless you say otherwise
delete_content Delete a range of the document (needs confirmation)

Deleting content needs explicit confirmation

delete_content only runs with confirm: true. The agent is told this up front, so it has to ask you before it removes text. Reading, appending, inserting, and replacing do not need it. Google Docs keeps its own version history as well, so an edit you did not want can be rolled back there.

Three things people use it for

Coding from a spec

Product specs and client briefs usually arrive as a Google Doc. Give the agent the link and ask it to build what the document describes. It reads the text itself, so nothing gets lost in a copy and paste.

Notes that write themselves

Keep one running document for a project. At the end of a session, ask the agent to append what changed and what is still open. append_text adds it at the bottom and leaves the rest alone.

One rename across a long document

When a product, a version, or a person’s title changes, replace_text updates every occurrence in a single call.

Finding the document ID

The tools need the document ID, which is the long string in the document’s address between /d/ and /edit. You can paste the full address and the agent will pick the ID out. To ask by name instead, install Google Drive MCP as well. It finds the file and hands its ID to the Docs tools.

Set it up in five steps

A setup wizard opens the first time you launch the extension. Most people pick OAuth, which works with a personal Google account and with a Google Workspace account.

  1. Create a project in the Google Cloud Console, or pick one you already have.
  2. Enable the Google Docs 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. Developers who already use the gcloud CLI can pick Application Default Credentials instead, and Workspace admins can use a service account key.

Using Google Docs 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 Docs tools are in the tool list. If you only want some agents to have them, switch the others off in VS Code settings under gdocsMcp.agents. The command “Google Docs MCP: Remove from All Agents” takes every registration back out.

How it compares with Google’s own Docs MCP server

Google now offers a remote Google Docs MCP server as part of its Workspace MCP servers. It is in Developer Preview, so you need to join the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program and set it up through a Google Cloud project and the gcloud CLI.

Google Docs MCP (this extension) Google’s Docs MCP server
Availability Released, installs from the extension stores Developer Preview
Where it runs On your machine Remote, hosted by Google
Read a document Yes, docs_read Yes, read_doc
Edit a document Five named actions One tool, update_doc
Create a document Yes Not listed for Docs
Agent setup Automatic for eight agents You configure each MCP client

Google’s list was read from its developer documentation on November 12, 2026, and a preview can change.

Limits

  • docs_read returns plain text from the document’s paragraphs. Text inside tables, images, and comments is not included.
  • The edit actions add and replace plain text. They do not set headings, bold, or other formatting.
  • It works on Google Docs files. A Word file stored in Drive has to be converted to Docs first.

Common questions

Is Google Docs MCP free?

Yes. The extension is free and MIT licensed.

Does it work with Claude Code and Cursor?

Yes. Both are registered automatically, along with Copilot and five other agents. It is a local server for coding agents, so it is not a connector for the Claude web app.

Can it read a document someone shared with me?

Yes. The tools can open any document your signed-in Google account can open.

Will the agent overwrite my document?

Appending and inserting only add text. Replacing changes the matches and nothing else. Only delete_content removes text, and it needs your confirmation.

Where does my document text go?

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

Use it without VS Code

Google Docs MCP is also on npm, for Claude Code, Cursor, or any other MCP client. It needs Node.js 22 or newer.

npx -y @renzo.johnson/google-docs-mcp

In Claude Code, one command adds it:

claude mcp add google-docs-mcp -- npx -y @renzo.johnson/google-docs-mcp

Outside VS Code there is no setup wizard, so the server takes your Google sign-in from the environment. It uses the first one it finds: an OAuth client ID, secret, and refresh token in GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID, GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET, and GOOGLE_OAUTH_REFRESH_TOKEN; a key file named in GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS; or the gcloud CLI’s Application Default Credentials. The npm package page has the config block for Claude Code and Cursor.

Install it

Google Docs MCP is free and MIT licensed. It is its own extension, with only the Docs tools. If you want Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, and Sheets in one install, use Google Workspace MCP instead. Install one or the other, because both register the same Docs tools.

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