google-workspace

name	google-workspace
description	Interact with Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides via MCP. Use when the user asks about Google Docs, Sheets, Drive files, or any Google Workspace task.

Google Workspace

Use the google-workspace MCP server to interact with Google Drive, Docs, and Sheets.

Reading a Google Doc

Always use get_file_content — it exports the doc as plain text directly:

mcporter call 'google-workspace.get_file_content(file_id: "DOCUMENT_ID")'

The document ID is the long string in the URL between /d/ and /edit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/<DOCUMENT_ID>/edit

Do NOT use read_document for reading docs. It returns the raw Google Docs API JSON with all formatting/styling metadata, which is enormous and requires manual parsing to extract text.

Available Tools

Google Drive

Tool	Purpose
search_files	Search Drive by name, type, or full-text query (uses Google Drive query syntax)
get_file_metadata	Get detailed metadata for a file
get_file_content	Best way to read files. Exports Workspace files (Docs, Sheets, Slides) as text. Other files return a download link.
list_folder_contents	List files in a folder (default: root)
create_file	Create a new file with content

Google Docs

Tool	Purpose
read_document	Raw Google Docs API JSON — avoid for reading content, use get_file_content instead. Only use if you need structural/formatting metadata.
create_document	Create a new doc with optional initial text
append_text	Append text to end of a doc
replace_text	Find and replace text (all occurrences)
insert_text	Insert text at a specific character index (1-based)
delete_range	Delete content between two character positions

Google Sheets

Tool	Purpose
read_sheet	Read a cell range (A1 notation, e.g. Sheet1!A1:D10)
write_sheet	Write values to a cell range
append_rows	Append rows after last row with data
create_spreadsheet	Create a new spreadsheet
get_spreadsheet_metadata	Get sheet names and properties

Utility

Tool	Purpose
ping	Health check — verify server is reachable and authenticated

Examples

# Read a Google Doc (the right way)
mcporter call 'google-workspace.get_file_content(file_id: "1aBcDeFgHiJkLmNoPqRsTuVwXyZ")'

# Search Drive
mcporter call 'google-workspace.search_files(query: "name contains '\''quarterly report'\''", max_results: 10)'

# List root folder
mcporter call 'google-workspace.list_folder_contents()'

# Read a sheet range
mcporter call 'google-workspace.read_sheet(spreadsheet_id: "1aBcDeFg", range: "Sheet1!A1:D10")'

# Create a new doc
mcporter call 'google-workspace.create_document(title: "Meeting Notes", body: "# Agenda\n\n- Item 1\n- Item 2")'

# Find and replace in a doc
mcporter call 'google-workspace.replace_text(document_id: "1aBcDeFg", find_text: "old text", replace_with: "new text")'

# Append to a doc
mcporter call 'google-workspace.append_text(document_id: "1aBcDeFg", text: "\n\nNew section content here")'

Gotchas

• Use get_file_content to read docs, not read_document. The latter returns raw API JSON with all formatting metadata (hundreds of KB for a simple doc).
• Document ID extraction: Given https://docs.google.com/document/d/198U1idr1pKY.../edit, the ID is 198U1idr1pKY....
• Spreadsheet ID extraction: Same pattern — between /d/ and /edit in the Sheets URL.
• insert_text / delete_range indices are 1-based — use read_document first to determine correct positions (this is the one valid use case for read_document).
• replace_text replaces ALL occurrences — include enough surrounding context in find_text to target a single match.
• Authentication may require mcporter auth google-workspace on first use. If the server returns "Session not found" errors, re-auth and retry.