Google Workspace MCP

User-scope MCP google-workspace (package workspace-mcp, taylorwilsdon) gives all Claude agents read+edit access to Google Docs and Drive. This skill is the operational playbook for it.

For full setup history and rationale, see ~/brainlab/handbook/tools/google-workspace.md.

Quick state check

If something's off, first verify state:

# Is MCP registered?
claude mcp list | grep google-workspace

# Do credentials exist?
ls -la ~/.config/google-workspace-mcp/client_secret.json
ls -la ~/.config/google-workspace-mcp/credentials/zeyka666@gmail.com.json

# Token scopes + freshness
python3 -c "
import json
c = json.load(open('/Users/andrey/.config/google-workspace-mcp/credentials/zeyka666@gmail.com.json'))
print('scopes:', len(c.get('scopes', [])))
print('expiry:', c.get('expiry'))
print('has refresh_token:', bool(c.get('refresh_token')))"

Recipe 1 — Re-auth (most common task, every ~7 days while app is in Testing)

~/.config/google-workspace-mcp/reauth.sh

The script:

1. Kills any stale workspace-mcp HTTP server on :8000
2. Starts a fresh one (env vars baked in)
3. Calls start_google_auth and prints + opens the auth URL in Chrome incognito (also copies to clipboard)
4. Waits for ENTER in terminal after the user completes browser flow
5. Cleans up

Critical: user MUST open the auth URL in an incognito/private window under the correct Google account (Zeyka666@gmail.com). A regular window often returns invalid_client due to multi-account session caching — verified empirically that the URL works via curl even when the user's browser says otherwise.

Recipe 2 — Re-auth manually (when the script isn't enough)

# 1. Stop any stale server
pkill -f "workspace-mcp.*streamable-http"; sleep 1

# 2. Start bootstrap server
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET_PATH=/Users/andrey/.config/google-workspace-mcp/client_secret.json \
WORKSPACE_MCP_CREDENTIALS_DIR=/Users/andrey/.config/google-workspace-mcp/credentials \
USER_GOOGLE_EMAIL=Zeyka666@gmail.com \
WORKSPACE_MCP_PORT=8000 \
OAUTHLIB_INSECURE_TRANSPORT=1 \
nohup uvx --from workspace-mcp workspace-mcp --single-user --tools docs drive --transport streamable-http \
  > /tmp/wmcp.log 2>&1 &

sleep 5 && curl -s http://localhost:8000/health

# 3. Get fresh auth URL
uvx --from workspace-mcp workspace-cli --url http://localhost:8000/mcp \
  call start_google_auth service_name=docs user_google_email=Zeyka666@gmail.com

# 4. Hand the URL to user. They open it in INCOGNITO.
# 5. After "Authentication Successful" page → stop server:
pkill -f "workspace-mcp.*streamable-http"

Recipe 3 — Verify it works end-to-end

# Start HTTP server (as in Recipe 2 step 2)
# Then read a known doc:
uvx --from workspace-mcp workspace-cli --url http://localhost:8000/mcp \
  call get_doc_as_markdown \
    document_id=<DOC_ID> \
    user_google_email=Zeyka666@gmail.com
# Stop server.

<DOC_ID> is the path segment from a Google Docs URL: docs.google.com/document/d/<DOC_ID>/edit.

Recipe 4 — Drop full drive scope (if Production publish blocks it)

Full drive is a Google-classified restricted scope. If user publishes the app to Production unverified and gets blocked, downgrade scopes:

claude mcp remove google-workspace --scope user
claude mcp add -s user google-workspace \
  -e GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET_PATH=/Users/andrey/.config/google-workspace-mcp/client_secret.json \
  -e WORKSPACE_MCP_CREDENTIALS_DIR=/Users/andrey/.config/google-workspace-mcp/credentials \
  -e USER_GOOGLE_EMAIL=Zeyka666@gmail.com \
  -e WORKSPACE_MCP_PORT=8000 \
  -e OAUTHLIB_INSECURE_TRANSPORT=1 \
  -- uvx --from workspace-mcp workspace-mcp --single-user \
       --permissions docs:full drive:readonly --transport stdio

Then delete cached token (it has the now-too-broad scopes) and re-auth:

rm ~/.config/google-workspace-mcp/credentials/zeyka666@gmail.com.json
~/.config/google-workspace-mcp/reauth.sh

Recipe 5 — Add more services (Sheets, Gmail, Calendar)

claude mcp remove google-workspace --scope user
claude mcp add -s user google-workspace \
  -e GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET_PATH=/Users/andrey/.config/google-workspace-mcp/client_secret.json \
  -e WORKSPACE_MCP_CREDENTIALS_DIR=/Users/andrey/.config/google-workspace-mcp/credentials \
  -e USER_GOOGLE_EMAIL=Zeyka666@gmail.com \
  -e WORKSPACE_MCP_PORT=8000 \
  -e OAUTHLIB_INSECURE_TRANSPORT=1 \
  -- uvx --from workspace-mcp workspace-mcp --single-user \
       --tools docs drive sheets gmail calendar --transport stdio

Then re-auth — Google will request consent for the new scopes.

Known traps (don't repeat past mistakes)

1. Use Web application OAuth client type, NOT Desktop. Desktop type returns HTTP 400 because Google's loopback policy doesn't match http://localhost:8000/oauth2callback against the Desktop client's bare http://localhost registered URI. The workspace-mcp README incorrectly suggests Desktop is fine.
2. invalid_client in browser does not mean the client is broken. Always sanity-check with curl first:

   curl -sL -o /dev/null -w "HTTP %{http_code} → %{url_effective}\n" "<auth_url>"

   If curl gets HTTP 200 → ...signin/identifier..., the client is fine — it's a browser issue. Tell user to open in incognito.
3. Test users must be added in the new Google Auth Platform UI (Audience tab, not the old Credentials → OAuth consent screen). If "ineligible account" error on add, retry with lowercase or wait/refresh.
4. State expires. Each start_google_auth call returns a one-shot URL valid for ~5 minutes. Don't reuse old URLs from chat history.
5. Don't suggest "publish to Production" lightly. Drive (full) is a restricted scope — unverified Production may block the developer themselves. The 7-day Testing refresh limit is usually less friction than dealing with unverified Production restrictions or scope downgrades.

When user says "google docs not working" — triage order

1. Run quick state check (top of file). If credentials JSON missing → setup not done, point to Obsidian note.
2. Check token expiry. If expiry in the past → Recipe 1 (re-auth).
3. If MCP not in claude mcp list → reregister with Recipe 5 base command.
4. If browser returns invalid_client during re-auth → curl-check the URL, then tell user to use incognito.
5. If browser returns 400 → likely Desktop client type instead of Web; see Trap 1.
6. If browser returns "Access blocked: not a test user" → add user email in Audience tab of GCP Console.

File map

• ~/.config/google-workspace-mcp/client_secret.json — OAuth client credentials (Web app)
• ~/.config/google-workspace-mcp/credentials/zeyka666@gmail.com.json — refresh+access tokens
• ~/.config/google-workspace-mcp/reauth.sh — one-shot re-auth helper
• ~/.claude.json — MCP server registration (user scope, entry google-workspace)
• GCP project: claude-mcp-workspace (number 375915317046), owner Zeyka666@gmail.com
• Full setup notes: ~/brainlab/handbook/tools/google-workspace.md