Cairn vs Google Drive
A side-by-side look at the Cairn and Google Drive MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Cairn for file systems work as a local process; choose Google Drive for file systems. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Cairn when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the File Systems domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
list_dir, get_file_tree, read_detail.
Choose Google Drive when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the File Systems domain.
- You want tools like
get_account, get_file, list_folder.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | File Systems | File Systems |
| Quality signal | 59/100 · Good | 45/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Not confirmed yet |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | — |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 2 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 48 | 35 |
| Full listing | View Cairn | View Google Drive |
Tools & capabilities
Cairn tools 48
list_dirList files and folders directly under a workspace-relative directory.get_file_treeReturn the nested file/folder tree under a directory (default: whole workspace).read_detailRead a file. For .uni docs returns HTML content, flattened text, and tags; for text/.md files returns raw text plus any YAML frontmatter tags & metadata.search_filesFind files/folders whose name contains `query` (case-insensitive).grepSearch file contents for `pattern`; returns {path, line, text} matches.get_file_tagsReturn a document's tags — from a .uni's tags array or a text file's YAML frontmatter.get_tag_treeReturn {tag: [file paths]} aggregated across the workspace.find_by_metaFind documents whose metadata matches all `filters` (exact, not fuzzy). Reads .uni JSON fields and .md YAML frontmatter alike. Scalar fields match case-insensitively; `tags` (or any list field) matches when every requested value is present. Example: {"status": "to-read", "project": "amazon"}.list_tasksList tasks (documents with `category: task`), sorted by due date. A task is an ordinary frontmatter note with a lifecycle; this is the task view over it. `status` defaults to the open set (todo/doing/blocked) — pass "all" to include done, or a specific status / comma-separated list. `project` and `context` (e.g. "@errand") are exact case-insensitive filters; `due_before` (YYYY-MM-DD) keeps only tasks due before that date. Each result carries derived `overdue` and `today` flags relative to the current date.digest_workspaceReturn a token-efficient map of the workspace: one entry (title, date, tags, summary) per document, grouped by `folder`, `tag`, or a metadata field like `status`/`project`. Read this before loading individual files.list_templatesList available document templates (built-ins + workspace .cairn/templates).semantic_retrieveReturn the documents most relevant to `query`. Uses embeddings when an embedding endpoint is configured (env), else lexical scoring.- +36 more on the listing page
Google Drive tools 35
get_accountWho is signed in, storage used, whether this account has shared drives, and which of this server's tools are registeredget_fileEverything about one file: kind, location, link, size, owner, who can see it, who cannot download it, and what you may do with itlist_folderOne page of a folder's contents, or a budgeted tree of everything below itsearch_filesFind files across My Drive, files shared with you, and every shared drive, or under one folder at any depthread_fileThe text of a file: a Doc as markdown, a Sheet as csv, a Word, Excel or PowerPoint file (or its OpenDocument counterpart) read here as text, a log or source file as itself, windowed with a continuationextract_textThe text in a PDF or an image, read by Google's OCR through a temporary Google Doc copy that is deleted againdownload_fileWrite a file to the local directory, converting a Google document on the way out, checksum-verifiedcreate_fileA new empty Google file, or one written from text you have here, with optional conversionupload_fileSend a local file, in one request or in chunks that survive a dropped connectionupdate_contentReplace what is inside a file, keeping its id, its place and everything that points at it, and refusing to lose the comments Google Docs keeps in a Markdown filecreate_folderA new folder, refusing a duplicate name unless you allow itupdate_fileRename, describe, star, color, set properties, restrict downloads and re-sharing, or give a folder limited access- +23 more on the listing page
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Cairn
{
"mcpServers": {
"cairn-4": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"cairn-mcp-server"
]
}
}
}
Google Drive
No confirmed install command for Google Drive yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
Frequently asked questions
Cairn is categorized under File Systems and uses a local stdio subprocess. Google Drive belongs to File Systems and uses an install path we have not confirmed yet. Pick Cairn for file systems work and Google Drive for file systems.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client. Google Drive has no confirmed install command yet — follow its own setup instructions.
Cairn has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Google Drive has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add cairn-4 and google-drive-3 as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Cairn has a quality signal of 59/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 2 GitHub stars. Google Drive has 45/100 (Fair) with 1 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.