Google Drive MCP vs MCP Obsidian
A side-by-side look at the Google Drive MCP and MCP Obsidian 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 MCP for file systems work as a local process; choose MCP Obsidian for knowledge & memory 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 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.
Choose MCP Obsidian when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Knowledge & Memory domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You want tools like
read_note, write_note, patch_note.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | File Systems | Knowledge & Memory |
| Quality signal | 61/100 · Good | 73/100 · Great |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | No auth required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Free |
| Required env vars | GOOGLE_DRIVE_CLIENT_IDGOOGLE_DRIVE_CLIENT_SECRETGOOGLE_DRIVE_REFRESH_TOKEN | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 1,703 |
| Directory activity | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 11 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 21 | 18 |
| Full listing | View Google Drive MCP | View MCP Obsidian |
Tools & capabilities
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
MCP Obsidian tools 18
read_noteRead a note from the Obsidian vaultwrite_noteWrite a note to the Obsidian vaultpatch_noteEfficiently update part of a note by replacing a specific string. This is more efficient than rewriting the entire note for small changes.list_directoryList files and directories in the vault (includes non-note filenames, while read/write tools remain note-only)delete_noteDelete a note from the Obsidian vault (requires confirmation). Supports permanent delete, vault trash, or system trash.search_notesSearch for notes in the vault by content or frontmattermove_noteMove or rename a note in the vaultmove_fileMove or rename any file in the vault (binary-safe, file-only, requires confirmation)read_multiple_notesRead multiple notes in a batch (max 10 files)update_frontmatterUpdate frontmatter of a note without changing contentget_notes_infoGet metadata for notes without reading full contentget_frontmatterExtract frontmatter from a note without reading the content- +6 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 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"
}
}
}
}
MCP Obsidian
{
"mcpServers": {
"bitbonsai-mcp-obsidian": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@bitbonsai/mcpvault@latest"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Google Drive MCP is categorized under File Systems and uses a local stdio subprocess. MCP Obsidian belongs to Knowledge & Memory and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Google Drive MCP for file systems work and MCP Obsidian for knowledge & memory.
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 MCP has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. MCP Obsidian is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. 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-mcp and bitbonsai-mcp-obsidian as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Google Drive MCP has a quality signal of 61/100 (Good) with 3 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. MCP Obsidian has 73/100 (Great) with 11 views, 0 installs and 1,703 GitHub stars.