Installation

Choose your preferred installation method and IDE below.

Get Your Google Access Token

Before configuring any IDE, you need a Google OAuth access token:

Go to the OAuth 2.0 Playground
Select the scopes you need:
- Gmail API — https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly
- Calendar API — https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.readonly
- Drive API — https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly
- Sheets API — https://www.googleapis.com/auth/spreadsheets.readonly
Click Authorize APIs and sign in with your Google account
Click Exchange authorization code for tokens
Copy the Access Token

caution

OAuth Playground tokens expire after 1 hour. You will need to refresh the token periodically. Phase 2 will add automatic token refresh via service accounts and OAuth browser flow.

caution

Never commit your Google access token to version control. Always use environment variables or IDE-specific secret management.

Option A: Via npx (Recommended)

No installation needed. Your IDE will run the server on demand:

npx -y @vineethnkrishnan/google-workspace-mcp

This is the simplest method — just reference it in your IDE config below.

Option B: Global Install

npm install -g @vineethnkrishnan/google-workspace-mcp

Then use google-workspace-mcp as the command in your IDE config (instead of npx).

Option C: From Source

git clone https://github.com/vineethkrishnan/mcp-pool.git
cd mcp-pool
npm install
npm run build

Then use node /absolute/path/to/mcp-pool/packages/google-workspace/build/index.js as the command.

IDE Configuration

Claude Desktop

Config file location:

OS	Path
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
Linux	`~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`

Quick access: Settings > Developer > Edit Config

Using npx:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-workspace": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@vineethnkrishnan/google-workspace-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ya29.a0..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Using global install:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-workspace": {
      "command": "google-workspace-mcp",
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ya29.a0..."
      }
    }
  }
}

From source:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-workspace": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-pool/packages/google-workspace/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ya29.a0..."
      }
    }
  }
}

tip

Restart Claude Desktop completely after editing the config. Changes are not picked up automatically.

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

Config file location:

Scope	Path
Workspace	`.vscode/mcp.json` (in your project root)
User (macOS)	`~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/mcp.json`
User (Windows)	`%APPDATA%\Code\User\mcp.json`
User (Linux)	`~/.config/Code/User/mcp.json`

Quick access: Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P) > MCP: Open User Configuration

warning

VS Code uses "servers" as the root key, not "mcpServers".

Workspace config (.vscode/mcp.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "google-workspace": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@vineethnkrishnan/google-workspace-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN": "${input:google-token}"
      }
    }
  },
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "google-token",
      "description": "Google OAuth Access Token",
      "type": "password"
    }
  ]
}

The inputs feature prompts you for the token securely — it never gets stored in the file.

User config (without inputs):

{
  "servers": {
    "google-workspace": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@vineethnkrishnan/google-workspace-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ya29.a0..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Config file location:

Scope	Path
Global	`~/.cursor/mcp.json`
Project	`.cursor/mcp.json` (in your project root)

Quick access: Settings > Cursor Settings > MCP

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-workspace": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@vineethnkrishnan/google-workspace-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ya29.a0..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Project-level config (.cursor/mcp.json) takes precedence over global config.

Windsurf (Codeium)

Config file location:

OS	Path
macOS / Linux	`~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json`
Windows	`%USERPROFILE%\.codeium\windsurf\mcp_config.json`

Quick access: Settings > Advanced Settings > Cascade section

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-workspace": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@vineethnkrishnan/google-workspace-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ya29.a0..."
      }
    }
  }
}

tip

Make sure MCP is enabled in Windsurf: Settings > Advanced > Cascade > Enable MCP.

JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ, WebStorm, PyCharm, etc.)

JetBrains IDEs (2025.2+) support MCP servers through the settings UI.

Setup:

Open Settings/Preferences > Tools > AI Assistant > MCP Servers
Click + Add to add a new server
Configure:
- Name: google-workspace
- Command: npx
- Arguments: -y @vineethnkrishnan/google-workspace-mcp
- Environment Variables: GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN=ya29.a0...
Click OK and restart the AI Assistant

Alternative — manual config file:

Create or edit ~/.config/JetBrains/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-workspace": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@vineethnkrishnan/google-workspace-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ya29.a0..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code (CLI)

Option 1 — CLI command (recommended):

claude mcp add google-workspace \
  --scope user \
  -e GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN=ya29.a0... \
  -- npx -y @vineethnkrishnan/google-workspace-mcp

Scope options:

--scope user — available in all your projects
--scope local — current project only (default)
--scope project — shared with team via .mcp.json

Option 2 — manual config:

Edit ~/.claude.json (user scope) or .mcp.json (project scope):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-workspace": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@vineethnkrishnan/google-workspace-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ya29.a0..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Verify it's working:

claude mcp list

Verify Installation

After configuring your IDE, test the connection by asking your AI assistant:

"List my recent Gmail messages."

If the server is working, you'll get a response with your recent emails. If not, check:

Access token is valid and not expired — OAuth Playground tokens expire after 1 hour
Required scopes are granted — ensure you authorized the Gmail, Calendar, Drive, and/or Sheets scopes
Node.js >= 20 — run node --version
Config file syntax — validate your JSON (no trailing commas)
Restart your IDE — most IDEs require a full restart after config changes

Security Recommendations

Use read-only scopes (*.readonly) for all Google APIs
OAuth Playground tokens are short-lived (1 hour) which limits exposure
Never share config files containing access tokens
Add config files with secrets to .gitignore
Phase 2 will support service accounts for production use with automatic token refresh

Get Your Google Access Token​

Option A: Via npx (Recommended)​

Option B: Global Install​

Option C: From Source​

IDE Configuration​

Claude Desktop​

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)​

Cursor​

Windsurf (Codeium)​

JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ, WebStorm, PyCharm, etc.)​

Claude Code (CLI)​

Verify Installation​

Security Recommendations​

Get Your Google Access Token

Option A: Via npx (Recommended)

Option B: Global Install

Option C: From Source

IDE Configuration

Claude Desktop

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

Cursor

Windsurf (Codeium)

JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ, WebStorm, PyCharm, etc.)

Claude Code (CLI)

Verify Installation

Security Recommendations