Google Workspace MCP Server

Full natural language control over Google Calendar, Drive, Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Tasks, Contacts, and Chat through all MCP clients, AI assistants and developer tools.

Includes a full featured CLI & Code Mode for use with tools like Claude Code and Codex!

The most feature-complete Google Workspace MCP server, it can do things that Google's own tooling and the built in integrations with Claude and ChatGPT can't even dream of. With Remote OAuth2.1 multi-user support, fine-grained editing tools and the most extensive coverage of any Google Workspace tool in existance, Workspace MCP is in a different class. Offering native OAuth 2.1, stateless mode and external auth server support, it's also the only Workspace MCP you can host for your whole organization centrally & securely!

Support for all free Google accounts & Google Workspace plans (Starter, Standard, Plus, Enterprise, Non Profit) with expanded app options like Chat & Spaces.

Interested in a private, managed cloud instance? That can be arranged.

⚡ Start
_{Quick Start · Prerequisites

Google Cloud · Credentials}

🧰 Tools
_{All Tools · Tool Tiers

CLI · Start Server}

🔌 Connect
_{Quick Start · Claude Desktop

Claude Code · VS Code · LM Studio}

🚀 Deploy
_{OAuth 2.1 · Stateless

External OAuth · Reverse Proxy}

📐 Develop
_{Architecture · Dev Setup

Security · License}

See it in action:

Overview

Workspace MCP is the single most complete MCP server, the only that integrates all major Google Workspace services with AI assistants and all agent platforms. The entire toolset is available for CLI usage supporting both local and remote instances.

Features

12 services — Gmail · Drive · Calendar · Docs · Sheets · Slides · Forms · Chat · Apps Script · Tasks · Contacts · Search

📧 Gmail — Complete email management, end-to-end coverage
📁 Drive — File operations with sharing, permissions, Office files, PDFs & images
📅 Calendar — Full event management with advanced features
📝 Docs — Deep, fine-grained editing, formatting & comments
📊 Sheets — Flexible cell management, formatting & conditional rules
🖼️ Slides — Presentation creation, updates & content manipulation
📋 Forms — Creation, publish settings & response management
💬 Chat — Space management, messaging & reactions

⚡ Apps Script — Cross-application workflow automation
_{Projects · deployments · versions · execution · debugging}

✅ Tasks — Task & list management with hierarchy
👤 Contacts — People API with groups & batch operations
🔍 Custom Search — Programmable Search Engine integration

🔐 Authentication & Security
_{OAuth 2.0 & 2.1 · auto token refresh · multi-user bearer tokens · transport-aware callbacks · CORS proxy}

Security & Compliance

For Security Teams

This server sends no data anywhere except Google's APIs, on behalf of the authenticated user, using your own OAuth client credentials. There is no telemetry, no usage reporting, no analytics, no license server, and no SaaS dependency. The entire data path is: your infrastructure → Google APIs.

Fully open source — every line is auditable in this repo
Your OAuth client, your GCP project — credentials never leave your environment
You control the scopes — read-only, granular per-service permissions, or full access
You control the network — deploy behind your reverse proxy, in your VPC, on your own terms
No third-party services — no intermediary servers, no token relays, no hosted backends
Stateless mode — zero disk writes for locked-down container environments
Sensitive path blocking — local file reads default to the managed attachment directory, and validate_file_path() still blocks .env* files plus common home-directory credential stores such as ~/.ssh/ and ~/.aws/ even if ALLOWED_FILE_DIRS is broadened

Full dependency tree in pyproject.toml, pinned in uv.lock.

For Legal & Procurement

This project is MIT licensed — not "open core," not "source available," not "free with a CLA." There is no dual licensing, no commercial tier gating features, and no contributor license agreement.

Use commercially without restriction — build products, sell services, deploy internally
Fork, embed, redistribute — MIT requires only attribution
No CLA — contributions remain under MIT
No telemetry to disclose — nothing to flag in a privacy review
No network effects — the server never contacts any endpoint you didn't configure
Standard dependency licenses — MIT, Apache 2.0, and BSD throughout the dependency chain; no copyleft, no AGPL

The license is 21 lines and says what it means.

Quick Start

Set credentials → pick a launch command → connect your client

💡 New to Workspace MCP? Check out the Interactive Quick Start Guide → with step-by-step setup, screenshots, and troubleshooting tips!

Confidential Client Quick Start

hljs language-bash

# 1. Credentials
export GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID="..."
export GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET="..."

# 2. Launch — pick a tier
uvx workspace-mcp --tool-tier core       # essential tools
uvx workspace-mcp --tool-tier extended   # core + management ops
uvx workspace-mcp --tool-tier complete   # everything

# Or cherry-pick services
uv run main.py --tools gmail drive calendar

Secretless / Public OAuth 2.1 (PKCE) Quick Start

hljs language-bash

# 1. Credentials
export MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true
export GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID="..."
export WORKSPACE_MCP_PORT=8000
export GOOGLE_OAUTH_REDIRECT_URI="http://localhost:${WORKSPACE_MCP_PORT}/oauth2callback"
export OAUTHLIB_INSECURE_TRANSPORT=1
# Leave GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET unset for public PKCE clients
export FASTMCP_SERVER_AUTH_GOOGLE_JWT_SIGNING_KEY="$(openssl rand -hex 32)"

# 2. Launch — OAuth 2.1 requires HTTP transport
uvx workspace-mcp --transport streamable-http --tool-tier core
uvx workspace-mcp --transport streamable-http --tool-tier extended
uvx workspace-mcp --transport streamable-http --tool-tier complete

# Or cherry-pick services
uv run main.py --transport streamable-http --tools gmail drive calendar

_{Credential setup → · All launch options → · Tier details →}

Environment Variable Reference

_{Variable Purpose
🔐 Authentication
GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID required OAuth client ID from Google Cloud
GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET OAuth client secret for confidential clients; optional for public OAuth 2.1 PKCE clients
OAUTHLIB_INSECURE_TRANSPORT required* Set to 1 for development — allows http:// redirect
USER_GOOGLE_EMAIL Default email for single-user auth
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET_PATH Custom path to client_secret.json
GOOGLE_MCP_CREDENTIALS_DIR Credential directory — default ~/.google_workspace_mcp/credentials
🖥️ Server
WORKSPACE_MCP_BASE_URI Base server URI (no port) — default http://localhost
WORKSPACE_MCP_PORT Listening port — default 8000. Also controls the stdio-mode OAuth callback port. The PORT env var takes precedence if set.
WORKSPACE_MCP_HOST Bind host — default 0.0.0.0 for OAuth 2.1 HTTP, 127.0.0.1 for legacy streamable HTTP.
WORKSPACE_MCP_TRANSPORT stdio or streamable-http; used when --transport is not passed
WORKSPACE_MCP_HTTP_PORT Advanced legacy-stdio sidecar /mcp port for local workspace-cli access. Disabled when empty. Binds to 127.0.0.1 only and is accessible to local processes.
WORKSPACE_EXTERNAL_URL External URL for reverse proxy setups
WORKSPACE_ATTACHMENT_DIR Downloaded attachments dir and default trusted local attachment directory — default ~/.workspace-mcp/attachments/
WORKSPACE_MCP_URL Remote MCP endpoint URL for CLI
ALLOWED_FILE_DIRS Colon-separated allowlist for local file reads
🧰 Tool Selection
WORKSPACE_MCP_TOOLS Comma-separated services, e.g. gmail,drive,calendar; empty means all services
WORKSPACE_MCP_TOOL_TIER core, extended, or complete; empty means all tools
WORKSPACE_MCP_READ_ONLY true, 1, or yes to request read-only scopes and filter write tools
WORKSPACE_MCP_PERMISSIONS Space-separated service:level entries, e.g. gmail:send drive:readonly; mutually exclusive with tools and read-only
🔑 OAuth 2.1 & Multi-User
MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21 true to enable OAuth 2.1 multi-user support. Required for remote or shared HTTP endpoints (--transport streamable-http); optional for local-only legacy HTTP, which binds to 127.0.0.1 by default.
EXTERNAL_OAUTH21_PROVIDER true for external OAuth flow with bearer tokens
WORKSPACE_MCP_STATELESS_MODE true for stateless container-friendly operation
WORKSPACE_MCP_LOG_DIR Directory for mcp_server_debug.log — defaults to ~/.google_workspace_mcp/logs
GOOGLE_OAUTH_REDIRECT_URI Override OAuth callback URL — default auto-constructed
OAUTH_CUSTOM_REDIRECT_URIS Comma-separated additional redirect URIs
OAUTH_ALLOWED_ORIGINS Comma-separated additional CORS origins
WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_STORAGE_BACKEND memory, disk, or valkey — see storage backends
FASTMCP_SERVER_AUTH_GOOGLE_JWT_SIGNING_KEY Custom encryption key for OAuth proxy storage; required for public OAuth 2.1 clients when GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET is omitted
WORKSPACE_MCP_ALLOWED_CLIENT_REDIRECT_URIS Comma-separated allowlist of redirect URIs that dynamically-registered OAuth clients may use. Default is unset (any URI permitted, per DCR). Supports FastMCP's glob patterns (*, *.example.com)
🗄️ Credential Store
WORKSPACE_MCP_CREDENTIAL_STORE_BACKEND local_directory (default) or gcs — see credential store system
WORKSPACE_MCP_CREDENTIALS_DIR Directory for the local_directory backend
GOOGLE_MCP_CREDENTIALS_DIR Backward-compatible alias for WORKSPACE_MCP_CREDENTIALS_DIR
WORKSPACE_MCP_GCS_BUCKET Required when backend is gcs — GCS bucket name
WORKSPACE_MCP_GCS_PREFIX Optional object-name prefix for the gcs backend
WORKSPACE_MCP_GCS_REQUIRE_CMEK true to require a bucket default KMS key at startup (fails fast if unset)
🔧 Service Account
GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILE Path to service account JSON key file (domain-wide delegation)
GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_JSON Inline service account JSON key (alternative to file)
DWD_ALLOWED_DOMAINS Comma-separated domain allowlist for per-request impersonation (optional)
🔍 Custom Search
GOOGLE_PSE_API_KEY API key for Programmable Search Engine
GOOGLE_PSE_ENGINE_ID Search Engine ID for PSE
*Required for development only. Claude Desktop stores credentials securely in the OS keychain — set them once in the extension pane.}

Quick Start — Connect Claude to Google Workspace

The recommended setup is to run an instance and connect Claude to it via a Connector. Full instructions at workspacemcp.com/quick-start.

Prerequisites

Python 3.10+ · uv/uvx · Google Cloud Project with OAuth 2.0 credentials

If you want the GCS credential store backend, install the optional dependency first:

hljs language-bash

uv sync --extra gcs
# or
pip install "workspace-mcp[gcs]"

Configuration

Google Cloud Setup

Create Project — Open Console → → Create new project
Create OAuth Credentials — APIs & Services → Credentials → Create Credentials → OAuth Client ID
- Choose Desktop Application for a public PKCE client (no redirect URIs needed) or Web Application for a confidential client
- Download and note your Client ID and, if issued, Client Secret
Enable APIs — APIs & Services → Library, then enable each service:

Calendar Drive Gmail Docs
Sheets Slides Forms Tasks
Chat People Custom Search Apps Script
Set Credentials — see Environment Variable Reference above, or:
hljs language-bash
```
export GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"
export GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET="your-secret"
```
For public OAuth 2.1 PKCE clients, omit GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET and set FASTMCP_SERVER_AUTH_GOOGLE_JWT_SIGNING_KEY instead.

_{Full OAuth documentation → · Credential setup details →}

Google Custom Search Setup

◆ Custom Search Configuration _{^{← Enable web search capabilities}}

1. Create Search Engine

hljs language-text

programmablesearchengine.google.com
/controlpanel/create

→ Configure sites or entire web
→ Note your Engine ID (cx)

_{Open Control Panel →}

2. Get API Key

hljs language-text

developers.google.com
/custom-search/v1/overview

→ Create/select project
→ Enable Custom Search API
→ Create credentials (API Key)

_{Get API Key →}

3. Set Variables

hljs language-bash

export GOOGLE_PSE_API_KEY=\
  "your-api-key"
export GOOGLE_PSE_ENGINE_ID=\
  "your-engine-id"

_{Configure in environment}

≡ Quick Setup Guide _{^{← Step-by-step instructions}}

Complete Setup Process:

Create Search Engine - Visit the Control Panel
- Choose "Search the entire web" or specify sites
- Copy the Search Engine ID (looks like: 017643444788157684527:6ivsjbpxpqw)
Enable API & Get Key - Visit Google Developers Console
- Enable "Custom Search API" in your project
- Create credentials → API Key
- Restrict key to Custom Search API (recommended)

Configure Environment - Add to your shell or .env:

hljs language-bash

export GOOGLE_PSE_API_KEY="AIzaSy..."
export GOOGLE_PSE_ENGINE_ID="01764344478..."

≡ Full Documentation →

Start the Server

📌 Transport Mode Guidance: Use streamable HTTP mode (--transport streamable-http) for all modern MCP clients including Claude Code, VS Code MCP, and MCP Inspector. For Claude Desktop, run an instance and connect via a Connector. Stdio mode is a legacy fallback. For deployments, prefer OAuth 2.1 with stateless mode (MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true, WORKSPACE_MCP_STATELESS_MODE=true) unless you need local attachment or credential storage.

OAuth state safety: Legacy stdio starts a local-only OAuth callback server. In single-user mode only, it may recover a missing Google state parameter by consuming the most recent pending local OAuth state. This fallback is intentionally disabled outside single-user mode because it can cross session boundaries. Do not enable or emulate this behavior in streamable HTTP, hosted, or multi-user deployments; those modes must require an explicit state match.

▶ Launch Commands _{^{← Choose your startup mode}}

▶ Legacy Mode

hljs language-bash

uv run main.py

_{⚠️ Stdio mode (incomplete MCP clients only)}

◆ HTTP Mode (Recommended)

hljs language-bash

export MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true
export GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID="..."
uv run main.py \
  --transport streamable-http

_{✅ Full MCP spec compliance & OAuth 2.1}

@ Single User

hljs language-bash

uv run main.py \
  --single-user

_{Simplified authentication} _{⚠️ Cannot be used with OAuth 2.1 mode}

◆ Advanced Options _{^{← Tool selection, tiers & Docker}}

▶ Selective Tool Loading

hljs language-bash

# Load specific services only
uv run main.py --tools gmail drive calendar
uv run main.py --tools sheets docs

# Combine with other flags
uv run main.py --single-user --tools gmail

🔒 Read-Only Mode

hljs language-bash

# Requests only read-only scopes & disables write tools
uv run main.py --read-only

# Combine with specific tools or tiers
uv run main.py --tools gmail drive --read-only
uv run main.py --tool-tier core --read-only

Read-only mode provides secure, restricted access by:

Requesting only *.readonly OAuth scopes (e.g., gmail.readonly, drive.readonly)
Automatically filtering out tools that require write permissions at startup
Allowing read operations: list, get, search, and export across all services

🔐 Granular Permissions

hljs language-bash

# Per-service permission levels
uv run main.py --permissions gmail:organize drive:readonly

# Combine permissions with tier filtering
uv run main.py --permissions gmail:send drive:full --tool-tier core

Granular permissions mode provides service-by-service scope control:

Format: service:level (one entry per service)
Gmail levels: readonly, organize, drafts, send, full (cumulative)
Tasks levels: readonly, manage, full (cumulative; manage allows create/update/move but denies delete and clear_completed)
Other services currently support: readonly, full
--permissions and --read-only are mutually exclusive
--permissions cannot be combined with --tools; enabled services are determined by the --permissions entries (optionally filtered by --tool-tier)
With --tool-tier, only tier-matched tools are enabled and only services that have tools in the selected tier are imported

The WORKSPACE_MCP_TOOLS, WORKSPACE_MCP_TOOL_TIER, WORKSPACE_MCP_READ_ONLY, and WORKSPACE_MCP_PERMISSIONS environment variables provide the same controls for plugin and container installs. Empty strings are ignored. Non-empty malformed values fail closed at startup. Explicit CLI flags take precedence over mutually exclusive env vars.

Advanced legacy stdio sidecar

hljs language-bash

# Optional bridge only for local legacy stdio sessions
WORKSPACE_MCP_HTTP_PORT=8001 uv run main.py
workspace-cli --url http://127.0.0.1:8001/mcp list

The sidecar is disabled unless WORKSPACE_MCP_HTTP_PORT is set. It only exists to bridge local workspace-cli calls into a legacy stdio server. Do not use it for normal Claude Code, VS Code, hosted, or multi-user deployments; use streamable HTTP with OAuth 2.1 instead. When enabled, it validates ports in the 1..65535 range, binds to 127.0.0.1, and logs a warning if the port is already in use while keeping stdio running.

★ Tool Tiers

hljs language-bash

uv run main.py --tool-tier core      # ● Essential tools only
uv run main.py --tool-tier extended  # ◐ Core + additional
uv run main.py --tool-tier complete  # ○ All available tools

◆ Docker Deployment

hljs language-bash

docker build -t workspace-mcp .
docker run -p 8000:8000 -v $(pwd):/app \
  -e MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true \
  -e GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID="..." \
  workspace-mcp --transport streamable-http

# With tool selection via environment variables
docker run -e TOOL_TIER=core workspace-mcp
docker run -e TOOLS="gmail drive calendar" workspace-mcp

Available Services: gmail • drive • calendar • docs • sheets • forms • tasks • contacts • chat • search

CLI

The workspace-cli command lists tools and calls them against a running server — with encrypted, disk-backed OAuth token caching so you only authenticate once. On first run it opens a browser for Google consent; subsequent runs reuse the cached tokens automatically.

Tokens are stored encrypted at ~/.workspace-mcp/cli-tokens/ using a Fernet key auto-generated at ~/.workspace-mcp/.cli-encryption-key.

To use workspace-cli globally, you'll want to start in this repo and run uv tool install .

Once complete, you'll have workspace-cli available globally via workspace-cli

Note: there is a public (but abandoned) pypi package with the same name - do not use uvx, as it will pull the wrong thing.

▶ workspace-cli Commands _{^{← Persistent OAuth, no re-auth on every call}}

▶ List Tools

hljs language-bash

uv run workspace-cli list
uv run workspace-cli --url https://custom.server/mcp list

# Or, if installed globally:
workspace-cli list
workspace-cli --url https://custom.server/mcp list

_{View all available tools}

◆ Call a Tool

hljs language-bash

uv run workspace-cli call search_gmail_messages \
  query="is:unread" max_results=5

_{Execute a tool with key=value arguments}

Set URL for remote endpoints with --url or the WORKSPACE_MCP_URL environment variable.

≡ Advanced: FastMCP CLI _{^{← inspect, install, discover}}

The upstream FastMCP CLI is also bundled and provides additional commands for schema inspection, client installation, and editor discovery. Note that fastmcp uses in-memory token storage, so each invocation may re-trigger the OAuth flow.

hljs language-bash

fastmcp inspect fastmcp_server.py                        # print tools, resources, prompts
fastmcp install claude-code fastmcp_server.py             # one-command client setup
fastmcp install cursor fastmcp_server.py
fastmcp discover                                          # find servers configured in editors

See fastmcp --help or the FastMCP CLI docs for the full command reference.

Tool Tiers

The server organizes tools into three progressive tiers for simplified deployment. Choose a tier that matches your usage needs and API quota requirements.

Available Tiers

● Core (--tool-tier core) Essential tools for everyday tasks. Perfect for light usage with minimal API quotas. Includes search, read, create, and basic modify operations across all services.

● Extended (--tool-tier extended) Core functionality plus management tools. Adds labels, folders, batch operations, and advanced search. Ideal for regular usage with moderate API needs.

● Complete (--tool-tier complete) Full API access including comments, headers/footers, publishing settings, and administrative functions. For power users needing maximum functionality.

Important Notes

▶ Start with core and upgrade as needed ▶ Tiers are cumulative – each includes all previous ▶ Mix and match with --tools for specific services ▶ Configuration in core/tool_tiers.yaml ▶ Authentication included in all tiers

Usage Examples

hljs language-bash

# Basic tier selection
uv run main.py --tool-tier core                            # Start with essential tools only
uv run main.py --tool-tier extended                        # Expand to include management features
uv run main.py --tool-tier complete                        # Enable all available functionality

# Selective service loading with tiers
uv run main.py --tools gmail drive --tool-tier core        # Core tools for specific services
uv run main.py --tools gmail --tool-tier extended          # Extended Gmail functionality only
uv run main.py --tools docs sheets --tool-tier complete    # Full access to Docs and Sheets

# Combine tier selection with granular permission levels
uv run main.py --permissions gmail:organize drive:full --tool-tier core

📋 Credential Configuration

🔑 OAuth Credentials Setup _{^{← Essential for all installations}}

🚀 Environment Variables

hljs language-bash

export GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID=\
  "your-client-id"
export GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET=\
  "your-secret"

_{Best for production}

📁 File-based

hljs language-bash

# Download & place in project root
client_secret.json

# Or specify custom path
export GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET_PATH=\
  /path/to/secret.json

_{Traditional method}

⚡ .env File

hljs language-bash

cp .env.oauth21 .env
# Edit .env with credentials

_{Best for development}

📖 Credential Loading Details _{^{← Understanding priority & best practices}}

Loading Priority

Environment variables (export VAR=value)
.env file in project root (warning - if you run via uvx rather than uv run from the repo directory, you are spawning a standalone process not associated with your clone of the repo and it will not find your .env file without specifying it directly)
client_secret.json via GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET_PATH
Default client_secret.json in project root

Why Environment Variables?

✅ Docker/K8s ready - Native container support
✅ Cloud platforms - Heroku, Railway, Vercel
✅ CI/CD pipelines - GitHub Actions, Jenkins
✅ No secrets in git - Keep credentials secure
✅ Easy rotation - Update without code changes

🧰 Available Tools

Note: All tools support automatic authentication via @require_google_service() decorators with 30-minute service caching.

📖 Looking for detailed parameters? Visit the Complete Documentation → for comprehensive tool reference, examples, and API guides!

📅 Google Calendar _{calendar_tools.py}

_Tool	_Tier	_Description
_{list_calendars}	_Core	_{List accessible calendars}
_{get_events}	_Core	_{Retrieve events with time range filtering}
_{manage_event}	_Core	_{Create, update, or delete calendar events}
_{create_calendar}	_Extended	_{Create a new secondary Google Calendar}
_{query_freebusy}	_Extended	_{Query free/busy information for calendars}
_{manage_out_of_office}	_Extended	_{Create, list, update, or delete Out of Office events}
_{manage_focus_time}	_Extended	_{Create, list, update, or delete Focus Time events}

📁 Google Drive _{drive_tools.py}

_Tool	_Tier	_Description
_{search_drive_files}	_Core	_{Search files with query syntax}
_{get_drive_file_content}	_Core	_{Read file content (Office, PDF, image)}
_{get_drive_file_download_url}	_Core	_{Download Drive files to local disk}
_{create_drive_file}	_Core	_{Create files or fetch from URLs}
_{create_drive_folder}	_Core	_{Create empty folders in Drive or shared drives}
_{import_to_google_doc}	_Core	_{Import files (MD, DOCX, HTML, etc.) as Google Docs}
_{import_to_google_slides}	_Core	_{Import presentation files (PPTX, PPT, ODP) as Google Slides}
_{import_to_google_sheets}	_Core	_{Import spreadsheet files (XLSX, CSV, TSV, etc.) as Google Sheets}
_{get_drive_shareable_link}	_Core	_{Get shareable links for a file}
_{list_drive_items}	_Extended	_{List folder contents or shared drives}
_{copy_drive_file}	_Extended	_{Copy existing files (templates) with optional renaming}
_{update_drive_file}	_Extended	_{Update metadata, move files, or replace Google Apps content}
_{manage_drive_access}	_Extended	_{Grant, update, revoke permissions, and transfer ownership}
_{set_drive_file_permissions}	_Extended	_{Set link sharing and file-level sharing settings}
_{get_drive_file_permissions}	_Complete	_{Get file metadata, parents, and permissions}
_{check_drive_file_public_access}	_Complete	_{Check public sharing status}

📧 Gmail _{gmail_tools.py}

_Tool	_Tier	_Description
_{search_gmail_messages}	_Core	_{Search with Gmail operators}
_{get_gmail_message_content}	_Core	_{Retrieve message content}
_{get_gmail_messages_content_batch}	_Core	_{Batch retrieve message content}
_{send_gmail_message}	_Core	_{Send emails}
_{get_gmail_thread_content}	_Extended	_{Get full thread content}
_{modify_gmail_message_labels}	_Extended	_{Modify message labels}
_{list_gmail_labels}	_Extended	_{List available labels}
_{list_gmail_filters}	_Extended	_{List Gmail filters}
_{manage_gmail_label}	_Extended	_{Create/update/delete labels}
_{manage_gmail_filter}	_Extended	_{Create or delete Gmail filters}
_{draft_gmail_message}	_Extended	_{Create drafts}
_{get_gmail_threads_content_batch}	_Complete	_{Batch retrieve thread content}
_{batch_modify_gmail_message_labels}	_Complete	_{Batch modify labels}
_{start_google_auth}	_Complete	_{Legacy OAuth 2.0 auth (disabled when OAuth 2.1 is enabled)}

📎 Email Attachments _{^{← Send emails with files}}

Both send_gmail_message and draft_gmail_message support attachments via two methods:

Option 1: File Path (local server only)

hljs language-python

attachments=[{"path": "/path/to/report.pdf"}]

Reads file from disk, auto-detects MIME type. Optional filename override.

Option 2: Base64 Content (works everywhere)

hljs language-python

attachments=[{
    "filename": "report.pdf",
    "content": "JVBERi0xLjQK...",  # base64-encoded
    "mime_type": "application/pdf"   # optional
}]

⚠️ Centrally Hosted Servers: When the MCP server runs remotely (cloud, shared instance), it cannot access your local filesystem. Use Option 2 with base64-encoded content. Your MCP client must encode files before sending.

📥 Downloaded Attachment Storage _{^{← Where downloaded files are saved}}

When downloading Gmail attachments (get_gmail_attachment_content) or Drive files (get_drive_file_download_url), files are saved to a persistent local directory rather than a temporary folder in the working directory.

Default location: ~/.workspace-mcp/attachments/

Files are saved with their original filename plus a short UUID suffix for uniqueness (e.g., invoice_a1b2c3d4.pdf). In stdio mode, the tool returns the absolute file path for direct filesystem access. In HTTP mode, it returns a download URL via the /attachments/{file_id} endpoint.

To customize the storage directory:

hljs language-bash

export WORKSPACE_ATTACHMENT_DIR="/path/to/custom/dir"

Saved files expire after 1 hour and are cleaned up automatically.

📝 Google Docs _{docs_tools.py}

_Tool	_Tier	_Description
_{get_doc_content}	_Core	_{Extract document text}
_{create_doc}	_Core	_{Create new documents}
_{modify_doc_text}	_Core	_{Insert, replace, and richly format text with tab/segment targeting, append-to-segment support, advanced typography, and link management}
_{search_docs}	_Extended	_{Find documents by name}
_{find_and_replace_doc}	_Extended	_{Find and replace text}
_{list_docs_in_folder}	_Extended	_{List docs in folder}
_{insert_doc_elements}	_Extended	_{Add tables, lists, page breaks}
_{update_paragraph_style}	_Extended	_{Apply advanced paragraph styling including headings, spacing, direction, pagination controls, shading, and bulleted/numbered/checkbox lists with nesting}
_{get_doc_as_markdown}	_Extended	_{Export document as formatted Markdown with optional comments}
_{insert_doc_image}	_Complete	_{Insert images from Drive/URLs}
_{update_doc_headers_footers}	_Complete	_{Create or update headers and footers with correct segment-aware writes}
_{batch_update_doc}	_Complete	_{Execute atomic multi-step Docs API operations including named ranges, section breaks, document/section layout, header/footer creation, segment-aware inserts, images, tables, and rich formatting}
_{inspect_doc_structure}	_Complete	_{Analyze document structure, including safe insertion points, tables, section breaks, headers/footers, and named ranges}
_{export_doc_to_pdf}	_Extended	_{Export document to PDF}
_{create_table_with_data}	_Complete	_{Create data tables}
_{debug_table_structure}	_Complete	_{Debug table issues}
_{list_document_comments}	_Complete	_{List all document comments}
_{manage_document_comment}	_Complete	_{Create, reply to, or resolve comments}
_{manage_doc_tab}	_Complete	_{Create, rename, delete, or populate tabs from markdown}

📊 Google Sheets _{sheets_tools.py}

_Tool	_Tier	_Description
_{read_sheet_values}	_Core	_{Read cell ranges}
_{modify_sheet_values}	_Core	_{Write/update/clear cells}
_{create_spreadsheet}	_Core	_{Create new spreadsheets}
_{list_spreadsheets}	_Extended	_{List accessible spreadsheets}
_{get_spreadsheet_info}	_Extended	_{Get spreadsheet metadata}
_{format_sheet_range}	_Extended	_{Apply colors, number formats, text wrapping, alignment, bold/italic, font size}
_{list_sheet_tables}	_Extended	_{List structured tables with IDs, names, ranges, and columns}
_{create_sheet}	_Complete	_{Add sheets to existing files}
_{move_sheet_rows}	_Complete	_{Move rows between sheets within a spreadsheet}
_{append_table_rows}	_Complete	_{Append rows to a structured table, auto-extending the table range}
_{list_spreadsheet_comments}	_Complete	_{List all spreadsheet comments}
_{manage_spreadsheet_comment}	_Complete	_{Create, reply to, or resolve comments}
_{manage_conditional_formatting}	_Complete	_{Add, update, or delete conditional formatting rules}

🖼️ Google Slides _{slides_tools.py}

_Tool	_Tier	_Description
_{create_presentation}	_Core	_{Create new presentations}
_{get_presentation}	_Core	_{Retrieve presentation details}
_{batch_update_presentation}	_Extended	_{Apply multiple updates}
_{get_page}	_Extended	_{Get specific slide information}
_{get_page_thumbnail}	_Extended	_{Generate slide thumbnails}
_{list_presentation_comments}	_Complete	_{List all presentation comments}
_{manage_presentation_comment}	_Complete	_{Create, reply to, or resolve comments}

📋 Google Forms _{forms_tools.py}

_Tool	_Tier	_Description
_{create_form}	_Core	_{Create new forms}
_{get_form}	_Core	_{Retrieve form details & URLs}
_{set_publish_settings}	_Complete	_{Configure form settings}
_{get_form_response}	_Complete	_{Get individual responses}
_{list_form_responses}	_Extended	_{List all responses with pagination}
_{batch_update_form}	_Complete	_{Apply batch updates (questions, settings)}

✓ Google Tasks _{tasks_tools.py}

_Tool	_Tier	_Description
_{list_tasks}	_Core	_{List tasks with filtering}
_{get_task}	_Core	_{Retrieve task details}
_{manage_task}	_Core	_{Create, update, delete, or move tasks}
_{list_task_lists}	_Complete	_{List task lists}
_{get_task_list}	_Complete	_{Get task list details}
_{manage_task_list}	_Complete	_{Create, update, delete task lists, or clear completed tasks}

👤 Google Contacts _{contacts_tools.py}

_Tool	_Tier	_Description
_{search_contacts}	_Core	_{Search contacts by name, email, phone}
_{get_contact}	_Core	_{Retrieve detailed contact info}
_{list_contacts}	_Core	_{List contacts with pagination}
_{manage_contact}	_Core	_{Create, update, or delete contacts}
_{list_contact_groups}	_Extended	_{List contact groups/labels}
_{get_contact_group}	_Extended	_{Get group details with members}
_{manage_contacts_batch}	_Complete	_{Batch create, update, or delete contacts}
_{manage_contact_group}	_Complete	_{Create, update, delete groups, or modify membership}

💬 Google Chat _{chat_tools.py}

_Tool	_Tier	_Description
_{list_spaces}	_Extended	_{List chat spaces/rooms}
_{get_messages}	_Core	_{Retrieve space messages}
_{send_message}	_Core	_{Send messages to spaces}
_{search_messages}	_Core	_{Search across chat history}
_{create_reaction}	_Core	_{Add emoji reaction to a message}
_{download_chat_attachment}	_Extended	_{Download attachment from a chat message}

🔍 Google Custom Search _{search_tools.py}

_Tool	_Tier	_Description
_{search_custom}	_Core	_{Perform web searches (supports site restrictions via sites parameter)}
_{get_search_engine_info}	_Complete	_{Retrieve search engine metadata}

⚡ Google Apps Script _{apps_script_tools.py}

_Tool	_Tier	_Description
_{list_script_projects}	_Core	_{List accessible Apps Script projects}
_{get_script_project}	_Core	_{Get complete project with all files}
_{get_script_content}	_Core	_{Retrieve specific file content}
_{create_script_project}	_Core	_{Create new standalone or bound project}
_{update_script_content}	_Core	_{Update or create script files}
_{run_script_function}	_Core	_{Execute function with parameters}
_{list_deployments}	_Extended	_{List all project deployments}
_{manage_deployment}	_Extended	_{Create, update, or delete script deployments}
_{list_script_processes}	_Extended	_{View recent executions and status}

_{Tool Tier Legend:

● Core — Essential tools for basic functionality · Minimal API usage · Getting started

● Extended — Core + additional features · Regular usage · Expanded capabilities

● Complete — All available tools including advanced features · Power users · Full API access}

Connect to Claude Desktop

The recommended way to use Google Workspace MCP with Claude Desktop is to run a server instance and connect Claude to it via a Connector. This provides proper OAuth flow, multi-user support, and the best experience.

See the Quick Start Guide for setup instructions.

📝 Legacy: Manual stdio configuration _{^{← For clients without Connector support}}

⚠️ Note: Stdio mode is a legacy fallback for clients that don't support Connectors. Prefer the Connector-based approach above.

OAuth callback caveat: The legacy stdio callback path includes a local recovery fallback for rare Google redirects that omit the state parameter, but only when --single-user is active. That recovery can only be safe in a single-user local process; in HTTP or hosted multi-user scenarios it could consume another user's pending OAuth state. There is no environment variable to enable this globally.

Open Claude Desktop Settings → Developer → Edit Config
- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
- Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Add the server configuration:

hljs language-json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google_workspace": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["workspace-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
        "GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-secret",
        "OAUTHLIB_INSECURE_TRANSPORT": "1"
      }
    }
  }
}

Connect to LM Studio

Add a new MCP server in LM Studio (Settings → MCP Servers) using the same JSON format:

hljs language-json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google_workspace": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["workspace-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
        "GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-secret",
        "OAUTHLIB_INSECURE_TRANSPORT": "1",
      }
    }
  }
}

2. Advanced / Cross-Platform Installation

If you’re developing, deploying to servers, or using another MCP-capable client, keep reading.

Instant CLI (uvx)

⚡ Quick Start with uvx _{^{← No installation required!}}

hljs language-bash

# Requires Python 3.10+ and uvx
# First, set credentials (see Credential Configuration above)
uvx workspace-mcp --tool-tier core  # or --tools gmail drive calendar

Note: Configure OAuth credentials before running. Supports environment variables, .env file, or client_secret.json.

Local Development Setup

🛠️ Developer Workflow _{^{← Install deps, lint, and test}}

hljs language-bash

# Install everything needed for linting, tests, and release tooling
uv sync --group dev

# Run the same linter that git hooks invoke automatically
uv run ruff check .

# Execute the full test suite (async fixtures require pytest-asyncio)
uv run pytest

uv sync --group test installs only the testing stack if you need a slimmer environment.
MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID=... uv run main.py --transport streamable-http launches the HTTP server with your checked-out code for manual verification.
Ruff is part of the dev group because pre-push hooks call ruff check automatically—run it locally before committing to avoid hook failures.

OAuth 2.1 Support (Multi-User Bearer Token Authentication)

The server includes OAuth 2.1 support for bearer token authentication, enabling multi-user session management. OAuth 2.1 automatically reuses your existing GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID and, for confidential clients, GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET credentials - no additional Google-side configuration needed. Public PKCE clients are also supported: if you omit GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET, set FASTMCP_SERVER_AUTH_GOOGLE_JWT_SIGNING_KEY explicitly.

When to use OAuth 2.1:

Multiple users accessing the same MCP server instance
Need for bearer token authentication instead of passing user emails
Building web applications or APIs on top of the MCP server
Production environments requiring secure session management
Browser-based clients requiring CORS support

⚠️ Important: Mutually exclusive authentication modes

OAuth 2.1 mode (MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true) cannot be used together with --single-user or service account mode:

Single-user mode: For legacy clients that pass user emails in tool calls
OAuth 2.1 mode: For modern multi-user scenarios with bearer token authentication
Service account mode: For headless/server-to-server use via domain-wide delegation

Choose one authentication method - combining incompatible modes will result in a startup error.

Enabling OAuth 2.1: To enable OAuth 2.1, set the MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21 environment variable to true.

hljs language-bash

# OAuth 2.1 requires HTTP transport mode
export MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true
uv run main.py --transport streamable-http

If MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21 is not set to true, the server uses legacy authentication. In streamable-http mode, legacy authentication binds to 127.0.0.1 by default to keep cached Google credentials local. Set WORKSPACE_MCP_HOST explicitly only for trusted networks; use OAuth 2.1 for remote or shared HTTP deployments.

Streamable HTTP requests with an Origin header are checked against loopback origins, WORKSPACE_EXTERNAL_URL, and OAUTH_ALLOWED_ORIGINS to reduce DNS-rebinding risk. Non-browser MCP clients that omit Origin are unaffected.

vscode-webview origins: Origins with the vscode-webview:// scheme are scoped per-extension using the authority component (e.g. vscode-webview://publisher.extension). Adding a vscode-webview URI to OAUTH_ALLOWED_ORIGINS permits only the specific extension identified by that authority; other extensions are rejected.

🔐 How the FastMCP GoogleProvider handles OAuth _{^{← Advanced OAuth 2.1 details}}

FastMCP ships a native GoogleProvider that we now rely on directly. It solves the two tricky parts of using Google OAuth with MCP clients:

Dynamic Client Registration: Google still doesn't support OAuth 2.1 DCR, but the FastMCP provider exposes the full DCR surface and forwards registrations to Google using your fixed credentials. MCP clients register as usual and the provider hands them your Google client ID and, when configured, client secret under the hood.
CORS & Browser Compatibility: The provider includes an OAuth proxy that serves all discovery, authorization, and token endpoints with proper CORS headers. We no longer maintain custom /oauth2/* routes—the provider handles the upstream exchanges securely and advertises the correct metadata to clients.

The result is a leaner server that still enables any OAuth 2.1 compliant client (including browser-based ones) to authenticate through Google without bespoke code.

Restricting DCR client redirect URIs:

By default, any client going through Dynamic Client Registration can declare any redirect_uri. For publicly-exposed deployments, this is a phishing vector — an attacker can register a client with a redirect_uri they control and harvest authorization codes from tricked users. Set WORKSPACE_MCP_ALLOWED_CLIENT_REDIRECT_URIS to a comma-separated allowlist of permitted URIs:

hljs language-bash

# Public deployment — restrict to Claude's hosted OAuth callbacks
export WORKSPACE_MCP_ALLOWED_CLIENT_REDIRECT_URIS="https://claude.ai/api/mcp/auth_callback,https://claude.com/api/mcp/auth_callback"

# Add Claude Code CLI (loopback redirects on ephemeral ports)
export WORKSPACE_MCP_ALLOWED_CLIENT_REDIRECT_URIS="https://claude.ai/api/mcp/auth_callback,https://claude.com/api/mcp/auth_callback,http://localhost:*/callback,http://127.0.0.1:*/callback"

Patterns use FastMCP's matcher: * wildcards any port or path component; *.example.com matches subdomains. Leaving the variable unset preserves the default DCR behaviour (any URI accepted), which is appropriate for local development but unsafe for public deployments.

Stateless Mode (Container-Friendly)

The server supports a stateless mode designed for containerized environments where file system writes should be avoided:

Enabling Stateless Mode:

hljs language-bash

# Stateless mode requires OAuth 2.1 to be enabled
export MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true
export GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID="..."
export WORKSPACE_MCP_STATELESS_MODE=true
uv run main.py --transport streamable-http

Key Features:

No file system writes: Credentials are never written to disk
No debug logs: File-based logging is completely disabled
Memory-only sessions: All tokens stored in memory via OAuth 2.1 session store
Container-ready: Perfect for Docker, Kubernetes, and serverless deployments
Token per request: Each request must include a valid Bearer token

Requirements:

Must be used with MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true
Incompatible with single-user mode
Clients must handle OAuth flow and send valid tokens with each request

This mode is ideal for:

Cloud deployments where persistent storage is unavailable
Multi-tenant environments requiring strict isolation
Containerized applications with read-only filesystems
Serverless functions and ephemeral compute environments

MCP Inspector: No additional configuration needed with desktop OAuth client.

Claude Code: No additional configuration needed with desktop OAuth client.

OAuth Proxy Storage Backends

The server supports pluggable storage backends for OAuth proxy state management via FastMCP 2.13.0+. Choose a backend based on your deployment needs.

Available Backends:

Backend	Best For	Persistence	Multi-Server
Memory	Development, testing	❌	❌
Disk	Single-server production	✅	❌
Valkey/Redis	Distributed production	✅	✅

Configuration:

hljs language-bash

# Memory storage (fast, no persistence)
export WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_STORAGE_BACKEND=memory

# Disk storage (persists across restarts)
export WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_STORAGE_BACKEND=disk
export WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_DISK_DIRECTORY=~/.fastmcp/oauth-proxy

# Valkey/Redis storage (distributed, multi-server)
export WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_STORAGE_BACKEND=valkey
export WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_VALKEY_HOST=redis.example.com
export WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_VALKEY_PORT=6379

Disk support requires workspace-mcp[disk] (or py-key-value-aio[disk]) when installing from source. The official Docker image includes the disk extra by default. Valkey support is optional. Install workspace-mcp[valkey] (or py-key-value-aio[valkey]) only if you enable the Valkey backend. Windows: building valkey-glide from source requires MSVC C++ build tools with C11 support. If you see aws-lc-sys C11 errors, set CFLAGS=/std:c11.

🔐 Valkey/Redis Configuration Options

Variable	Default	Description
`WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_VALKEY_HOST`	localhost	Valkey/Redis host
`WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_VALKEY_PORT`	6379	Port (6380 auto-enables TLS)
`WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_VALKEY_DB`	0	Database number
`WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_VALKEY_USE_TLS`	auto	Enable TLS (auto if port 6380)
`WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_VALKEY_USERNAME`	-	Authentication username
`WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_VALKEY_PASSWORD`	-	Authentication password
`WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_VALKEY_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS`	5000	Request timeout for remote hosts
`WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_VALKEY_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT_MS`	10000	Connection timeout for remote hosts

Encryption: Disk and Valkey storage are encrypted with Fernet. The encryption key is derived from FASTMCP_SERVER_AUTH_GOOGLE_JWT_SIGNING_KEY if set, otherwise from GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET. Public OAuth 2.1 client setups without a client secret must set FASTMCP_SERVER_AUTH_GOOGLE_JWT_SIGNING_KEY.

External OAuth 2.1 Provider Mode

The server supports an external OAuth 2.1 provider mode for scenarios where authentication is handled by an external system. In this mode, the MCP server does not manage the OAuth flow itself but expects valid bearer tokens in the Authorization header of tool calls.

Enabling External OAuth 2.1 Provider Mode:

hljs language-bash

# External OAuth provider mode requires OAuth 2.1 to be enabled
export MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true
export GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID="..."
export EXTERNAL_OAUTH21_PROVIDER=true
uv run main.py --transport streamable-http

How It Works:

Protocol-level auth enabled: All MCP requests (including initialize and tools/list) require a valid Bearer token, following the standard OAuth 2.1 flow. Unauthenticated requests receive a 401 with resource metadata pointing to Google's authorization server.
External OAuth flow: Your external system handles the OAuth flow and obtains Google access tokens (ya29.*)
Token validation: Server validates bearer tokens by calling Google's userinfo API
Multi-user support: Each request is authenticated independently based on its bearer token
Resource metadata discovery: The server serves /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource (RFC 9728) advertising Google as the authorization server and the required scopes

Key Features:

No local OAuth flow: Server does not provide /authorize, /token, or /register endpoints — only resource metadata
Bearer token only: All authentication via Authorization: Bearer <token> headers
Stateless by design: Works seamlessly with WORKSPACE_MCP_STATELESS_MODE=true
External identity providers: Integrate with your existing authentication infrastructure

Requirements:

Must be used with MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true
OAuth client ID still required for token validation; client secret is optional for public clients (GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID, optional GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET)
External system must obtain valid Google OAuth access tokens (ya29.*)
Each tool call request must include valid bearer token

Use Cases:

Integrating with existing authentication systems
Custom OAuth flows managed by your application
API gateways that handle authentication upstream
Multi-tenant SaaS applications with centralized auth
Mobile or web apps with their own OAuth implementation

Service Account Mode (Domain-Wide Delegation)

WARNING: This mode uses Google Workspace domain-wide delegation, which grants the service account the ability to impersonate any user in your domain for the configured scopes. This is powerful and dangerous — do not use this unless you fully understand the security implications. A misconfigured service account with broad scopes can read, modify, and delete data across every user in your organization. Only use this in tightly controlled environments where you know exactly what you're doing.

Service account mode allows the server to authenticate using a Google Cloud service account with domain-wide delegation instead of interactive OAuth flows. The service account impersonates a single configured domain user for all API calls.

When to use service account mode:

Headless or unattended environments where no browser is available for OAuth consent
Server-to-server integrations that need to act on behalf of a specific domain user
CI/CD pipelines or automation scripts
Environments where you cannot or do not want to manage per-user OAuth tokens

Enabling Service Account Mode:

hljs language-bash

# Option 1: Key file on disk
export GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILE="/path/to/service-account-key.json"
export USER_GOOGLE_EMAIL="user@yourdomain.com"
uv run main.py

# Option 2: Inline JSON key (e.g., from a secret manager)
export GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_JSON='{"type":"service_account","project_id":"...","private_key":"...","client_email":"..."}'
export USER_GOOGLE_EMAIL="user@yourdomain.com"
uv run main.py

Prerequisites:

A Google Cloud service account with a JSON key
Domain-wide delegation enabled for the service account in your Google Workspace Admin Console (Security → API controls → Domain-wide delegation)
The required OAuth scopes authorized for the service account's client ID in the Admin Console
USER_GOOGLE_EMAIL set to the domain user the service account will impersonate

Incompatibilities:

Cannot be combined with --single-user mode
Cannot be combined with MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true
Only one key source may be provided — set either GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILE or GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_JSON, not both

Key Behaviors:

The OAuth callback server is not started (no interactive auth needed)
Credentials directory permission checks are skipped
When a tool call supplies user_google_email, service account mode uses that email as the domain-wide delegation impersonation subject.
USER_GOOGLE_EMAIL is still required and serves as the fallback when no caller email is provided.
The service account key is validated at startup (checks for required fields and correct type)

Per-Request Impersonation:

The caller-supplied user_google_email on each tool call is used as the DWD impersonation subject instead of the static USER_GOOGLE_EMAIL. This lets a single server instance act on behalf of multiple domain users.

hljs language-bash

# Optional: restrict which domains may be impersonated
export DWD_ALLOWED_DOMAINS="corp.com,subsidiary.io"

If DWD_ALLOWED_DOMAINS is set, only emails whose domain appears in the comma-separated list are accepted; all others raise an authentication error.
If DWD_ALLOWED_DOMAINS is unset, any email accepted by the service account's delegation scope is allowed.

VS Code MCP Client Support

✅ Recommended: VS Code MCP extension properly supports the full MCP specification. Always use HTTP transport mode for proper OAuth 2.1 authentication.

🆚 VS Code Configuration _{^{← Setup for VS Code MCP extension}}

hljs language-json

{
    "servers": {
        "google-workspace": {
            "url": "http://localhost:8000/mcp/",
            "type": "http"
        }
    }
}

Note: Make sure to start the server with --transport streamable-http when using VS Code MCP. For remote or shared HTTP endpoints, see the OAuth 2.1 note in the HTTP Mode section.

Origin validation: VS Code webview clients send a vscode-webview://<extension-id> origin, which is rejected by default. Add the specific origin to OAUTH_ALLOWED_ORIGINS (e.g. OAUTH_ALLOWED_ORIGINS=vscode-webview://your.extension-id) to permit it. Connections to a localhost/127.0.0.1 URL are allowed without extra configuration.

Claude Code MCP Client Support

✅ Recommended: Claude Code is a modern MCP client that properly supports the full MCP specification. Always use HTTP transport mode with Claude Code for proper OAuth 2.1 authentication and multi-user support.

🆚 Claude Code Configuration _{^{← Setup for Claude Code MCP support}}

hljs language-bash

# Start the server in HTTP mode first
export MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true
export GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID="..."
uv run main.py --transport streamable-http

# Then add to Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http workspace-mcp http://localhost:8000/mcp

# Optional: install the bundled Claude skill for better Workspace tool routing
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
ln -s "$(pwd)/skills/managing-google-workspace" ~/.claude/skills/managing-google-workspace

Or copy skills/managing-google-workspace into ~/.claude/skills/managing-google-workspace if you prefer not to symlink it.

Reverse Proxy Setup

If you're running the MCP server behind a reverse proxy (nginx, Apache, Cloudflare, etc.), you have two configuration options:

Problem: When behind a reverse proxy, the server constructs OAuth URLs using internal ports (e.g., http://localhost:8000) but external clients need the public URL (e.g., https://your-domain.com).

Solution 1: Set WORKSPACE_EXTERNAL_URL for all OAuth endpoints:

hljs language-bash

# This configures all OAuth endpoints to use your external URL
export WORKSPACE_EXTERNAL_URL="https://your-domain.com"

Solution 2: Set GOOGLE_OAUTH_REDIRECT_URI for just the callback:

hljs language-bash

# This only overrides the OAuth callback URL
export GOOGLE_OAUTH_REDIRECT_URI="https://your-domain.com/oauth2callback"

Important:

Use WORKSPACE_EXTERNAL_URL when all OAuth endpoints should use the external URL (recommended for reverse proxy setups)
Use GOOGLE_OAUTH_REDIRECT_URI when you only need to override the callback URL
The redirect URI must exactly match what's configured in your Google Cloud Console
Your reverse proxy must forward OAuth-related requests (/oauth2callback, /oauth2/*, /.well-known/*) to the MCP server

🚀 Advanced uvx Commands _{^{← More startup options}}

hljs language-bash

# Configure credentials first (see Credential Configuration section)

# Start with specific tools only
uvx workspace-mcp --tools gmail drive calendar tasks

# Start with tool tiers (recommended for most users)
uvx workspace-mcp --tool-tier core      # Essential tools
uvx workspace-mcp --tool-tier extended  # Core + additional features
uvx workspace-mcp --tool-tier complete  # All tools

# Start in HTTP mode for debugging
export MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true
export GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID="..."
uvx workspace-mcp --transport streamable-http

Requires Python 3.10+ and uvx. The package is available on PyPI.

Development Installation

For development or customization:

hljs language-bash

git clone https://github.com/taylorwilsdon/google_workspace_mcp.git
cd google_workspace_mcp
uv run main.py

Development Installation (For Contributors):

🔧 Developer Setup JSON _{^{← For contributors & customization}}

hljs language-json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google_workspace": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/repo/google_workspace_mcp",
        "main.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
        "GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-secret",
        "OAUTHLIB_INSECURE_TRANSPORT": "1"
      }
    }
  }
}

HTTP Mode (For debugging or web interfaces)

If you need to use HTTP mode with Claude Desktop:

hljs language-json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google_workspace": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-remote", "http://localhost:8000/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Note: Make sure to start the server with --transport streamable-http when using HTTP mode. For remote or shared HTTP endpoints, also enable OAuth 2.1 with MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21=true and GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID.

First-Time Authentication

Legacy local authentication uses the Google OAuth consent flow. In stdio mode, the server tries to open the browser automatically so long Google OAuth URLs do not wrap in terminals or get corrupted during copy/paste, which improves reliability of the redirect flow.

In stdio mode, the server starts a local callback listener and tries to open the Google authorization page in your browser automatically.
If the browser cannot be opened, the tool response includes the authorization URL to open manually.
In streamable-http / OAuth 2.1 mode, use your MCP client's OAuth flow instead; the server does not try to open a browser on the host running the HTTP service.
When a legacy local auth tool call provides user_google_email, the server adds that value as login_hint on the Google authorization URL so Google can pre-select the account on the consent screen. This applies to the stdio flow whether the server opens the browser or returns the URL; streamable-http / OAuth 2.1 flows still rely on the MCP client's OAuth flow.

Example:

hljs language-text

user_google_email="alex@example.com"
Authorization URL: https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth?...&login_hint=alex%40example.com

When calling a tool:

If an opened browser page appears, complete Google authorization there.
If no browser opens, open the returned authorization URL manually and complete Google authorization there.
After successful authorization, the callback page displays the authenticated email address.
Retry the original tool call with that email as user_google_email; the server needs this value to associate the stored Google credentials with the tool request, so the original request is not authorized until it is retried.
Server completes authentication using the stored Google credentials.

◆ Development

Project Structure

hljs language-graphql

google_workspace_mcp/
├── auth/              # Authentication system with decorators
├── core/              # MCP server and utilities
├── g{service}/        # Service-specific tools
├── main.py            # Server entry point
├── client_secret.json # OAuth credentials (not committed)
└── pyproject.toml     # Dependencies

Adding New Tools

hljs language-python

from auth.service_decorator import require_google_service

@require_google_service("drive", "drive_read")  # Service + scope group
async def your_new_tool(service, param1: str, param2: int = 10):
    """Tool description"""
    # service is automatically injected and cached
    result = service.files().list().execute()
    return result  # Return native Python objects

Architecture Highlights

Service Caching: 30-minute TTL reduces authentication overhead
Scope Management: Centralized in SCOPE_GROUPS for easy maintenance
Error Handling: Native exceptions instead of manual error construction
Multi-Service Support: @require_multiple_services() for complex tools

Credential Store System

The server includes an abstract credential store API with pluggable backends for managing Google OAuth credentials:

Features:

Abstract Interface: CredentialStore base class defines standard operations (get, store, delete, list users)
Local File Storage: LocalDirectoryCredentialStore — plaintext JSON files protected by filesystem permissions (0o600 / 0o700)
GCS-Backed Storage: GCSCredentialStore — stores each user's credentials as an object in a Google Cloud Storage bucket. Supports atomic read-modify-write via generation preconditions, first-class Cloud IAM / Audit Logs integration, and transparent bucket-level CMEK encryption at rest
Configurable Storage: Environment variables select backend and location
Multi-User Support: Store and manage credentials for multiple Google accounts
Automatic Directory Creation: Storage directory is created automatically if it doesn't exist (local backend)

Configuration:

hljs language-bash

# Install the optional dependency if you plan to use the GCS backend:
# uv sync --extra gcs
# or: pip install "workspace-mcp[gcs]"
#
# Select backend (default: local_directory). Supported: local_directory, gcs
export WORKSPACE_MCP_CREDENTIAL_STORE_BACKEND="gcs"

# --- local_directory options ---
export WORKSPACE_MCP_CREDENTIALS_DIR="/path/to/credentials"
# Backward-compatible alias:
export GOOGLE_MCP_CREDENTIALS_DIR="/path/to/credentials"

# Default directory locations (if no directory env var is set):
# - ~/.google_workspace_mcp/credentials (if home directory accessible)
# - ./.credentials (fallback)

# --- gcs options ---
export WORKSPACE_MCP_GCS_BUCKET="my-workspace-mcp-tokens"   # required
export WORKSPACE_MCP_GCS_PREFIX="credentials/"              # optional
export WORKSPACE_MCP_GCS_REQUIRE_CMEK="true"                # optional; see below

Backend selection:

local_directory (default): Plaintext JSON records. Suitable for local development and single-user stdio mode. Existing pre-URL-encoding local credential filenames remain readable during migration; new writes use the URL-encoded filename mapping unless a legacy file already exists for that user.
gcs: Stores credentials as objects in a GCS bucket using the JSON API. Authenticates via Application Default Credentials — on Cloud Run this means the runtime service account needs roles/storage.objectUser (or equivalent) on the bucket. Does not support list_users() — designed for multi-user OAuth 2.1 mode where users are looked up individually by email.

CMEK enforcement (gcs backend):

By default GCS encrypts objects with Google-managed keys. For customer-managed encryption, set a default KMS key on the bucket (e.g. via Terraform's google_storage_bucket.encryption.default_kms_key_name). All credentials written to the bucket will inherit the key transparently — no application-level key to manage.

To guard against accidentally deploying against a bucket without CMEK, set WORKSPACE_MCP_GCS_REQUIRE_CMEK=true. The store will verify the bucket has a default KMS key at startup and refuse to initialize otherwise. Note that this check reads bucket metadata, so the runtime service account additionally needs storage.buckets.get — grant roles/storage.bucketViewer on the bucket (or a custom role containing storage.buckets.get) in addition to the object-level role. roles/storage.objectUser alone covers only object operations.

Usage Example:

hljs language-python

from auth.credential_store import get_credential_store, LocalDirectoryCredentialStore

# Get the global credential store instance
store = get_credential_store()

# Store credentials for a user
store.store_credential("user@example.com", credentials)

# Retrieve credentials
creds = store.get_credential("user@example.com")

# List all users with stored credentials (local_directory backend only;
# GCSCredentialStore intentionally does not support enumeration — use the
# upstream identity provider to enumerate users instead).
if isinstance(store, LocalDirectoryCredentialStore):
    users = store.list_users()

The credential store automatically handles credential serialization, expiry parsing, and provides error handling for storage operations.

⊠ Security

Prompt Injection: This MCP server has the capability to retrieve your email, calendar events and drive files. Those emails, events and files could potentially contain prompt injections - i.e. hidden white text that tells it to forward your emails to a different address. You should exercise caution and in general, only connect trusted data to an LLM!
Credentials: Never commit .env, client_secret.json or the .credentials/ directory to source control!
OAuth Callback: Uses http://localhost:8000/oauth2callback for development (requires OAUTHLIB_INSECURE_TRANSPORT=1). If another process is already using port 8000, set WORKSPACE_MCP_PORT to a free port to avoid conflicts — e.g. export WORKSPACE_MCP_PORT=8123. If you use a web/confidential OAuth client (not the recommended Desktop client), also update the redirect URI in Google Cloud Console to match the new port (e.g. http://localhost:8123/oauth2callback); Desktop and PKCE clients do not require this.
Transport-Aware Callbacks: Stdio mode starts a minimal HTTP server only for OAuth, ensuring callbacks work in all modes
Production: Use HTTPS & OAuth 2.1 and configure accordingly
Scope Minimization: Tools request only necessary permissions
Local File Access Control: Tools that read local files (e.g., attachments, file:// uploads) are restricted to the managed attachment directory by default. Override this with the ALLOWED_FILE_DIRS environment variable if you intentionally need broader access:
hljs language-bash
```
# Colon-separated list of directories (semicolon on Windows) from which local file reads are permitted
export ALLOWED_FILE_DIRS="/home/user/documents:/data/shared"
```
The managed attachment directory is controlled by WORKSPACE_ATTACHMENT_DIR and remains allowed even when ALLOWED_FILE_DIRS is set. Regardless of the allowlist, access to sensitive paths (.env, .ssh/, .aws/, /etc/shadow, credential files, etc.) is always blocked.
Indirect Prompt Injection: In agentic clients, email bodies, documents, and calendar events can contain malicious instructions that try to coerce the model into exfiltrating local files. Do not broaden ALLOWED_FILE_DIRS unless you trust the client, the model behavior, and the data sources it can read.

≡ License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Validations:

Variable		Purpose
🔐 Authentication
`GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID`	required	OAuth client ID from Google Cloud
`GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET`		OAuth client secret for confidential clients; optional for public OAuth 2.1 PKCE clients
`OAUTHLIB_INSECURE_TRANSPORT`	required*	Set to `1` for development — allows `http://` redirect
`USER_GOOGLE_EMAIL`		Default email for single-user auth
`GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET_PATH`		Custom path to `client_secret.json`
`GOOGLE_MCP_CREDENTIALS_DIR`		Credential directory — default `~/.google_workspace_mcp/credentials`
🖥️ Server
`WORKSPACE_MCP_BASE_URI`		Base server URI (no port) — default `http://localhost`
`WORKSPACE_MCP_PORT`		Listening port — default `8000`. Also controls the stdio-mode OAuth callback port. The `PORT` env var takes precedence if set.
`WORKSPACE_MCP_HOST`		Bind host — default `0.0.0.0` for OAuth 2.1 HTTP, `127.0.0.1` for legacy streamable HTTP.
`WORKSPACE_MCP_TRANSPORT`		`stdio` or `streamable-http`; used when `--transport` is not passed
`WORKSPACE_MCP_HTTP_PORT`		Advanced legacy-stdio sidecar `/mcp` port for local `workspace-cli` access. Disabled when empty. Binds to `127.0.0.1` only and is accessible to local processes.
`WORKSPACE_EXTERNAL_URL`		External URL for reverse proxy setups
`WORKSPACE_ATTACHMENT_DIR`		Downloaded attachments dir and default trusted local attachment directory — default `~/.workspace-mcp/attachments/`
`WORKSPACE_MCP_URL`		Remote MCP endpoint URL for CLI
`ALLOWED_FILE_DIRS`		Colon-separated allowlist for local file reads
🧰 Tool Selection
`WORKSPACE_MCP_TOOLS`		Comma-separated services, e.g. `gmail,drive,calendar`; empty means all services
`WORKSPACE_MCP_TOOL_TIER`		`core`, `extended`, or `complete`; empty means all tools
`WORKSPACE_MCP_READ_ONLY`		`true`, `1`, or `yes` to request read-only scopes and filter write tools
`WORKSPACE_MCP_PERMISSIONS`		Space-separated `service:level` entries, e.g. `gmail:send drive:readonly`; mutually exclusive with tools and read-only
🔑 OAuth 2.1 & Multi-User
`MCP_ENABLE_OAUTH21`		`true` to enable OAuth 2.1 multi-user support. Required for remote or shared HTTP endpoints (`--transport streamable-http`); optional for local-only legacy HTTP, which binds to `127.0.0.1` by default.
`EXTERNAL_OAUTH21_PROVIDER`		`true` for external OAuth flow with bearer tokens
`WORKSPACE_MCP_STATELESS_MODE`		`true` for stateless container-friendly operation
`WORKSPACE_MCP_LOG_DIR`		Directory for `mcp_server_debug.log` — defaults to `~/.google_workspace_mcp/logs`
`GOOGLE_OAUTH_REDIRECT_URI`		Override OAuth callback URL — default auto-constructed
`OAUTH_CUSTOM_REDIRECT_URIS`		Comma-separated additional redirect URIs
`OAUTH_ALLOWED_ORIGINS`		Comma-separated additional CORS origins
`WORKSPACE_MCP_OAUTH_PROXY_STORAGE_BACKEND`		`memory`, `disk`, or `valkey` — see storage backends
`FASTMCP_SERVER_AUTH_GOOGLE_JWT_SIGNING_KEY`		Custom encryption key for OAuth proxy storage; required for public OAuth 2.1 clients when `GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET` is omitted
`WORKSPACE_MCP_ALLOWED_CLIENT_REDIRECT_URIS`		Comma-separated allowlist of redirect URIs that dynamically-registered OAuth clients may use. Default is unset (any URI permitted, per DCR). Supports FastMCP's glob patterns (``, `.example.com`)
🗄️ Credential Store
`WORKSPACE_MCP_CREDENTIAL_STORE_BACKEND`		`local_directory` (default) or `gcs` — see credential store system
`WORKSPACE_MCP_CREDENTIALS_DIR`		Directory for the `local_directory` backend
`GOOGLE_MCP_CREDENTIALS_DIR`		Backward-compatible alias for `WORKSPACE_MCP_CREDENTIALS_DIR`
`WORKSPACE_MCP_GCS_BUCKET`		Required when backend is `gcs` — GCS bucket name
`WORKSPACE_MCP_GCS_PREFIX`		Optional object-name prefix for the `gcs` backend
`WORKSPACE_MCP_GCS_REQUIRE_CMEK`		`true` to require a bucket default KMS key at startup (fails fast if unset)
🔧 Service Account
`GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILE`		Path to service account JSON key file (domain-wide delegation)
`GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_JSON`		Inline service account JSON key (alternative to file)
`DWD_ALLOWED_DOMAINS`		Comma-separated domain allowlist for per-request impersonation (optional)
🔍 Custom Search
`GOOGLE_PSE_API_KEY`		API key for Programmable Search Engine
`GOOGLE_PSE_ENGINE_ID`		Search Engine ID for PSE


Calendar	Drive	Gmail	Docs
Sheets	Slides	Forms	Tasks
Chat	People	Custom Search	Apps Script

Google Workspace MCP

Google Workspace MCP Server

Support for all free Google accounts & Google Workspace plans (Starter, Standard, Plus, Enterprise, Non Profit) with expanded app options like Chat & Spaces. Interested in a private, managed cloud instance? That can be arranged.

Overview

Features

Security & Compliance

Quick Start

Quick Start — Connect Claude to Google Workspace

Prerequisites

Configuration

Google Custom Search Setup

Start the Server

CLI

Tool Tiers

Available Tiers

Important Notes

Usage Examples

📋 Credential Configuration

🧰 Available Tools

📅 Google Calendar calendar_tools.py

📁 Google Drive drive_tools.py

📧 Gmail gmail_tools.py

📝 Google Docs docs_tools.py

📊 Google Sheets sheets_tools.py

🖼️ Google Slides slides_tools.py

📋 Google Forms forms_tools.py

✓ Google Tasks tasks_tools.py

👤 Google Contacts contacts_tools.py

💬 Google Chat chat_tools.py

🔍 Google Custom Search search_tools.py

⚡ Google Apps Script apps_script_tools.py

Connect to Claude Desktop

Connect to LM Studio

2. Advanced / Cross-Platform Installation

Instant CLI (uvx)

Local Development Setup

OAuth 2.1 Support (Multi-User Bearer Token Authentication)

Stateless Mode (Container-Friendly)

OAuth Proxy Storage Backends

External OAuth 2.1 Provider Mode

Service Account Mode (Domain-Wide Delegation)

VS Code MCP Client Support

Claude Code MCP Client Support

Reverse Proxy Setup

Development Installation

HTTP Mode (For debugging or web interfaces)

First-Time Authentication

◆ Development

Project Structure

Adding New Tools

Architecture Highlights

Credential Store System

⊠ Security

≡ License

Similar Packages

Tags

Original Author

Publisher

Support for all free Google accounts & Google Workspace plans (Starter, Standard, Plus, Enterprise, Non Profit) with expanded app options like Chat & Spaces.

Interested in a private, managed cloud instance? That can be arranged.

📅 Google Calendar _{calendar_tools.py}

📁 Google Drive _{drive_tools.py}

📧 Gmail _{gmail_tools.py}

📝 Google Docs _{docs_tools.py}

📊 Google Sheets _{sheets_tools.py}

🖼️ Google Slides _{slides_tools.py}

📋 Google Forms _{forms_tools.py}

✓ Google Tasks _{tasks_tools.py}

👤 Google Contacts _{contacts_tools.py}

💬 Google Chat _{chat_tools.py}

🔍 Google Custom Search _{search_tools.py}

⚡ Google Apps Script _{apps_script_tools.py}