Google Drive Rag

google-drive-rag-mcp MCP server

A local MCP server that lets LLMs (Claude, etc.) securely search and read files within a single, designated Google Drive folder.

Overview

• Scoped to specified folders — never accesses files outside TARGET_FOLDER_IDS
• Authenticated via Google Service Account (no personal OAuth required)
• Read-only access (drive.readonly, documents.readonly)
• Built with FastMCP on Python 3.11+

Use Cases

• Research: Ask Claude to find and summarize documents stored in a shared Google Drive folder
• Team knowledge base: Search internal documents, reports, or meeting notes by keyword
• Study notes: Retrieve lecture notes or course materials from a Drive folder and ask questions about them
• Document Q&A: "What does the report from last month say about X?" — Claude reads and answers

MCP Tools

Tool	Description
list_files(query)	List files in the target folder, optionally filtered by name
read_file(file_id)	Read text content of a supported file
search_content(query)	Search inside file contents; returns matching files with context snippets

Supported File Formats

Format	MIME Type	How it's read
Google Docs	application/vnd.google-apps.document	Exported as plain text
Google Sheets	application/vnd.google-apps.spreadsheet	Exported as CSV
PDF	application/pdf	Text extracted via PyMuPDF
Plain text	text/*	Read directly

MCP Setup

Step 1 — Create a GCP Project and Enable APIs

1. Open Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project (or select an existing one)
3. Navigate to APIs & Services > Library
4. Search for and enable the following APIs:
   • Google Drive API
   • Google Docs API

Step 2 — Create a Service Account and Download the JSON Key

1. Navigate to APIs & Services > Credentials
2. Click Create Credentials > Service Account
3. Enter a name (e.g., drive-rag-reader) and click Done
4. Click the created service account, go to the Keys tab
5. Click Add Key > Create new key, select JSON, and download the file
6. Save the file to a secure location (e.g., ~/.config/gcp/drive-rag-key.json)

Note: Never commit this file to Git. It is excluded by .gitignore.

Step 3 — Share the Target Google Drive Folder

1. Open Google Drive
2. Right-click the target folder and select Share
3. Enter the service account email address (e.g., [email protected])
   • Found in GCP Console > IAM & Admin > Service Accounts
4. Set the role to Viewer and click Send

The folder ID is the last part of the folder URL:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/THIS_IS_THE_FOLDER_ID

Tip — Multiple folders: You can share a parent folder with the service account and set individual subfolders in TARGET_FOLDER_IDS. Access to subfolders is inherited from the parent.

Parent Folder        ← Share with the service account (Viewer)
├── Project A        ← Add this folder ID to TARGET_FOLDER_IDS
└── Project B        ← Add this folder ID to TARGET_FOLDER_IDS

.env example:

TARGET_FOLDER_IDS=project_a_folder_id,project_b_folder_id

Step 4 — Local Setup and Launch

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/your-username/google-drive-rag-mcp.git
cd google-drive-rag-mcp

# 2. Install dependencies
uv sync

# 3. Configure environment variables
cp .env.example .env

Edit .env:

GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/path/to/your/service-account-key.json
TARGET_FOLDER_IDS=folder_id_1,folder_id_2

Step 5 — Connect to Claude

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-drive-rag": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "python", "main.py"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/google-drive-rag-mcp",
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS": "/path/to/your/service-account-key.json",
        "TARGET_FOLDER_IDS": "folder_id_1,folder_id_2"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop to apply the changes.

Claude Code

claude mcp add google-drive-rag \
  -e GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/path/to/your/service-account-key.json \
  -e TARGET_FOLDER_IDS=folder_id_1,folder_id_2 \
  -- uv run python /path/to/google-drive-rag-mcp/main.py

To make it available across all projects, add --scope user:

claude mcp add --scope user google-drive-rag \
  -e GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/path/to/your/service-account-key.json \
  -e TARGET_FOLDER_IDS=folder_id_1,folder_id_2 \
  -- uv run python /path/to/google-drive-rag-mcp/main.py

Verify the registration:

claude mcp list

This command only needs to be run once. The configuration is saved and loaded automatically on every Claude Code startup.

Re-run it only if you:

• Change environment variables (folder IDs or credentials path)
• Move main.py to a different path
• Need to reset the registration (claude mcp remove google-drive-rag)

Team Deployment

This server uses a Google Service Account for authentication. For team deployments, issue a separate service account per member rather than sharing a single key.

Why separate accounts?

• Auditability: Google Drive audit logs identify each service account individually.
• Access revocation: Remove a member's access by deleting their service account only — no need to rotate a shared key or update everyone's configuration.
• Least privilege: Each account can be scoped to only the folders that member needs.

Setup

1. Create one service account per team member in GCP (e.g. [email protected])
2. Share the target Google Drive folder with each service account (Viewer)
3. Each member configures their own .env with their personal JSON key path

Note: The .env file alone is not sufficient for access — the service account JSON key file is the actual credential and must be kept secret by each individual.

Development

• Run the server

uv run python main.py

• Start the MCP server

uv run python main.py

License

License: MIT

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Author

Asami.K