Cairn vs Google Drive MCP
A side-by-side look at the Cairn and Google Drive MCP 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 MCP for file systems as a local process. 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 MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the File Systems domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
GOOGLE_DRIVE_CLIENT_ID, GOOGLE_DRIVE_CLIENT_SECRET, GOOGLE_DRIVE_REFRESH_TOKEN. - You want tools like
auth_status, setup_instructions, set_client.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | File Systems | File Systems |
| Quality signal | 56/100 · Good | 61/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | GOOGLE_DRIVE_CLIENT_IDGOOGLE_DRIVE_CLIENT_SECRETGOOGLE_DRIVE_REFRESH_TOKEN |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 2 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 48 | 21 |
| Full listing | View Cairn | View Google Drive MCP |
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 MCP tools 21
auth_statusShows whether this server is connected to Google: token presence and source (env variables or a stored in-chat login), expiry, the Google account email, granted vs missing OAuth scopes, where the credentials file lives and where the OAuth client comes from. Makes no network calls and never returns the token itself. Call it first when other tools report the server is not connected.setup_instructionsStep-by-step checklist for connecting this server to Google: creating a Google Cloud project and a Desktop-app OAuth client, publishing the consent screen (mandatory — Testing-mode refresh tokens die after 7 days), downloading the client JSON and handing its PATH to set_client. Works without any credentials; the checklist shortens to 'enable the API + log in' when an OAuth client is already configured (one client serves the whole mcp-google-* line). Never asks the user to paste secrets into the chat.set_clientSaves the OAuth client credentials from the JSON file downloaded from Google Cloud Console ('Download JSON' on a Desktop-app client). Pass the file PATH — the secret must never be pasted into the chat. The client is stored once in the shared ~/.config/mcp-google-auth/client.json (owner-only) and reused by every mcp-google-* server; tokens stay per-server. After this, call start_login.start_loginFirst step of connecting from the chat, without editing config files or restarting the client. Returns authorizeUrl — show it to the user as a clickable link and ask them to open it in the browser ON THIS MACHINE, pick the Google account and approve access. A one-shot listener on 127.0.0.1 catches Google's redirect; the code is exchanged locally and never passes through the chat. Does not open the browser itself. The attempt lives 10 minutes; when the browser shows the success page, call finish_login.finish_loginSecond step: confirms the browser consent finished, saves the tokens to an owner-only file and verifies the login with a read-only identity call, returning the account email and the granted scopes. After success every tool works immediately — no client restart. If the user granted only part of the requested permissions, the login is still saved and missingScopes lists what will not work. Logging in under a different Google account replaces the previous login (its refresh token is revoked best-effort) and the response carries previousAccountEmail so the change never goes unnoticed.logoutRevokes the stored token at Google (oauth2.googleapis.com/revoke) and deletes the local credentials file. Tokens supplied via env variables are NOT touched — remove them from the MCP client config manually; envTokenStillSet in the response says whether any are still in effect.search_filesSearches and lists files and folders: id, name, mimeType, size, parents, driveId, modifiedTime, trashed, starred, webViewLink and shortcutDetails per file, plus nextPageToken. The convenience filters (name_contains, full_text_contains, mime_type, parent_id, only_folders) are AND-ed together and with the raw Drive `query` expression (q syntax, e.g. "modifiedTime > '2026-01-01T00:00:00'"). Trashed files are hidden unless include_trashed=true. Names are NOT unique in Drive — expect several hits and pick by id. parent_id lists a folder's direct children (use 'root' for My Drive's top level). Shared drives: pass drive_id to search one drive, or include_all_drives=true to search everything at once. Paginate with page_token; order_by e.g. 'modifiedTime desc,name'. incompleteSearch=true in the result means some corpora were skipped — narrow the search.list_shared_drivesLists the shared drives (formerly Team Drives) the authorized user is a member of: id, name, createdTime, plus nextPageToken. Use a drive's id as drive_id in search_files to browse its contents, or as parent_id to list its root. name_contains filters by name. My Drive is not a shared drive and never appears here.get_fileReturns a file's metadata (never its content — that is download_file/export_file): id, name, mimeType, size, parents, driveId, createdTime/modifiedTime, trashed, starred, description, md5Checksum, webViewLink, webContentLink, exportLinks (for Google-native files), owners, lastModifyingUser, shortcutDetails (a shortcut's real target id/mimeType) and capabilities (canEdit/canShare/canTrash/canDelete/canDownload — check before mutating). Google-native files (mimeType application/vnd.google-apps.*) report no size and no md5Checksum. Pass fields to select a custom projection (Drive fields syntax) when the default set is too much or too little.create_folderCreates a folder (a Drive file with mimeType application/vnd.google-apps.folder) and returns its id, name, parents and webViewLink. parent_id places it inside a folder or a shared drive ('root' or omitted = My Drive top level). Drive allows several folders with the same name in the same parent — search_files first if the folder might already exist, and reuse its id instead of creating a duplicate.copy_fileCopies a file and returns the new copy's metadata (a fresh fileId — the original is untouched). name renames the copy (default: same name as the original, NOT 'Copy of ...'); parent_id places it in a folder (default: same parent as the original for My Drive files). Works on Google-native files (Docs/Sheets/Slides) and binaries alike, but folders cannot be copied — recreate the tree with create_folder + copy_file per file. Comments and permissions are not copied. Each retry would create another copy, so after an ambiguous failure check with search_files before calling again.move_fileMoves a file or folder into another folder (or shared drive) and returns id, name and the new parents. By default the file leaves all its current parents (a plain move); keep_existing_parents=true only adds the new parent — note that files in shared drives always have exactly one parent, so keeping old parents fails there. Moving between My Drive and a shared drive changes ownership rules and may be rejected by the drive's settings. The move costs one extra read (the current parents are fetched first).- +9 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 MCP
{
"mcpServers": {
"google-drive-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@a1-x-tech/mcp-google-drive@latest"
],
"env": {
"GOOGLE_DRIVE_CLIENT_ID": "YOUR_GOOGLE_DRIVE_CLIENT_ID_HERE",
"GOOGLE_DRIVE_CLIENT_SECRET": "YOUR_GOOGLE_DRIVE_CLIENT_SECRET_HERE",
"GOOGLE_DRIVE_REFRESH_TOKEN": "YOUR_GOOGLE_DRIVE_REFRESH_TOKEN_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Cairn is categorized under File Systems and uses a local stdio subprocess. Google Drive MCP belongs to File Systems and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Cairn for file systems work and Google Drive MCP 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.
Cairn has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Google Drive MCP 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-mcp 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 56/100 (Good) with 2 views, 0 installs and 2 GitHub stars. Google Drive MCP has 61/100 (Good) with 2 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.