Google Drive vs Google Drive MCP
A side-by-side look at the Google Drive 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 Google Drive 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 Google Drive when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the File Systems domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID, GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET, REDIRECT_URI, AUTH_MODE, GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILE, TOKEN_STORE_URI, DCR_STORE_URI.
Choose Google Drive MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the File Systems domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
search, createTextFile, updateTextFile.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | File Systems | File Systems |
| Quality signal | 44/100 · Fair | 68/100 · Great |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | GOOGLE_CLIENT_IDGOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRETREDIRECT_URIAUTH_MODEGOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILETOKEN_STORE_URIDCR_STORE_URI | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 1 | 228 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | 130 |
| Full listing | View Google Drive | View Google Drive MCP |
Tools & capabilities
Google Drive tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Google Drive MCP tools 130
searchSearch for files in Google Drive. Results are sorted most-recently-modified first by default; use orderBy for a different order. Set rawQuery=true to pass a raw Google Drive API query supporting operators like modifiedTime, createdTime, mimeType, name contains, etc.createTextFileCreate a new text or markdown fileupdateTextFileUpdate an existing text or markdown filereadTextFileRead content of a text file (any text/* MIME type, e.g. text/plain, text/markdown, text/csv). For Google Docs, use readGoogleDoc.createFolderCreate a new folder in Google DrivelistFolderList contents of a folder (defaults to root)listSharedDrivesList available Google Shared DrivesdeleteItemMove a file or folder to trash (can be restored from Google Drive trash)renameItemRename a file or foldermoveItemMove a file or foldercopyFileCreates a copy of a Google Drive file or documentuploadFileUpload a file (any type: image, audio, video, PDF, etc.) to Google Drive, either from a local path on the server or from base64-encoded content. When fileId is provided, uploads the content as a new version of that existing file (in-place update) instead of creating a new file.- +118 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.
Google Drive
{
"mcpServers": {
"google-drive-2": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@mcp-z/cli"
],
"env": {
"GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID": "YOUR_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID_HERE",
"GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET": "YOUR_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET_HERE",
"REDIRECT_URI": "YOUR_REDIRECT_URI_HERE",
"AUTH_MODE": "YOUR_AUTH_MODE_HERE",
"GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILE": "YOUR_GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILE_HERE",
"TOKEN_STORE_URI": "YOUR_TOKEN_STORE_URI_HERE",
"DCR_STORE_URI": "YOUR_DCR_STORE_URI_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Google Drive MCP
{
"mcpServers": {
"google-drive-mcp-2": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@piotr-agier/google-drive-mcp"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Google Drive 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 Google Drive 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.
Google Drive 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 google-drive-2 and google-drive-mcp-2 as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Google Drive has a quality signal of 44/100 (Fair) with 1 views, 0 installs and 1 GitHub stars. Google Drive MCP has 68/100 (Great) with 2 views, 0 installs and 228 GitHub stars.