gdrive-mcp

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that exposes a Google Drive folder over Streamable HTTP, built to run on Vercel and hosted on GitHub.

It provides two tools:

Tool	Description
list_files	List files/folders inside the configured Drive folder (optional search)
read_file	Read text content, auto-exporting Google Docs/Sheets/Slides

Architecture

• server.ts — Node.js HTTP server entrypoint (Streamable HTTP MCP endpoint).
• src/mcp.ts — MCP server definition + tools.
• src/drive.ts — Google Drive client using a service account.

Authentication is read-only (drive.readonly) via a Google service account.

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1. Google Cloud setup (service account)

1. Go to Google Cloud Console and create a project.
2. Enable the Google Drive API: APIs & Services → Library → search "Google Drive API" → Enable.
3. Create a service account: IAM & Admin → Service Accounts → Create Service Account.
4. Create a JSON key for it: open the service account → Keys → Add Key → Create New Key → JSON. Download the file.
5. Note the service account email (looks like name@project.iam.gserviceaccount.com).
6. Share the Drive folder with that email:
   • Open your folder in Google Drive → right-click → Share.
   • Paste the service account email, give it Viewer access.
7. Copy the folder ID (the part after /folders/ in the URL).

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2. Local setup

git clone <your-repo-url>
cd gdrive-mcp
npm install

Create a .env file (copy .env.example):

DRIVE_FOLDER_ID=1XM-0CtgvW3PGDekC8qLa2ghxRyvTfjwD
GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY=<base64 of service-account.json>

Encode the service-account key to base64:

• Linux/macOS: base64 -w0 service-account.json
• PowerShell: [Convert]::ToBase64String([IO.File]::ReadAllBytes("service-account.json"))

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3. Deploy to Vercel

Option A — Vercel + GitHub (recommended)

1. Push this repo to GitHub.

2. In Vercel → Add New → Project → import the GitHub repo.

3. Add the environment variables (DRIVE_FOLDER_ID, GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY).

4. Deploy. The MCP endpoint will be:

   https://<your-project>.vercel.app
   

Option B — Vercel CLI

npm i -g vercel
vercel login
vercel env add DRIVE_FOLDER_ID
vercel env add GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY
vercel --prod

---

4. Push to GitHub (first time)

git init
git add .
git commit -m "Add gdrive-mcp server"
git branch -M main
git remote add origin https://github.com/<you>/gdrive-mcp.git
git push -u origin main

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5. Connect an MCP client

Point your client at the deployed URL with the Streamable HTTP transport. Example claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gdrive": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://<your-project>.vercel.app"
    }
  }
}

For clients that use the generic MCP config format:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gdrive": {
      "url": "https://<your-project>.vercel.app"
    }
  }
}

The endpoint is stateless, so each request creates a fresh transport — ideal for serverless. Access is controlled by Google Drive sharing on the service account.

Environment variables

Variable	Required	Description
DRIVE_FOLDER_ID	Yes	Google Drive folder ID
GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY	Yes	Base64-encoded service-account JSON key