Google Workspace MCP: Full Suite Access

PocketPaw includes a one-click MCP preset that connects your agent to Drive, Gmail, Calendar, Sheets, Docs, Chat, and Admin through the Google Workspace CLI (gws).

Unlike the individual Gmail, Calendar, and Drive built-in tools, this preset uses the official gws CLI which dynamically discovers all Workspace APIs from Google’s Discovery Service — including Sheets, Chat, Admin, and any new APIs Google adds in the future.

Prerequisites

npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli

gws auth setup

gws auth login

gws drive files list --page-size 3

Install the Preset

From the Dashboard

1. Open the PocketPaw web dashboard
2. Go to MCP Servers in the sidebar
3. Open the Presets catalog
4. Find Google Workspace under the Productivity category
5. Click Install

No API keys or environment variables are needed — the preset uses your existing gws auth session.

From the Config File

Add to ~/.pocketpaw/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "google-workspace": {
      "command": "gws",
      "args": ["mcp"],
      "transport": "stdio"
    }
  }
}

Restart PocketPaw to pick up the change.

How It Works

When installed, PocketPaw spawns gws mcp as a subprocess over stdio. The gws CLI starts a Model Context Protocol server that exposes Google Workspace APIs as structured tools. The agent can then call any Workspace API through the MCP session.

PocketPaw Agent
  → MCP Manager (stdio)
    → gws mcp (subprocess)
      → Google Workspace APIs (Drive, Gmail, Calendar, Sheets, Docs, Chat, Admin)

Because gws reads Google’s Discovery Service at runtime, it automatically picks up new API endpoints and methods without needing an update.

Example Usage

Once installed, your agent can interact with any Google Workspace service:

User: Search my Drive for the Q4 budget spreadsheet
Agent: [calls gws drive.files.list] → Found "Q4 Budget 2026" in Shared Drives

User: Send an email to the team about tomorrow's standup
Agent: [calls gws gmail.users.messages.send] → Email sent to [email protected]

User: Create a calendar event for Friday at 2pm
Agent: [calls gws calendar.events.insert] → Created "Team Sync" on Friday 2:00–2:30 PM

User: Add a row to the expenses spreadsheet
Agent: [calls gws sheets.spreadsheets.values.append] → Added row to "Expenses 2026"

Filtering Services

By default, gws mcp exposes all Workspace services. You can limit it to specific services by modifying the args:

{
  "servers": {
    "google-workspace": {
      "command": "gws",
      "args": ["mcp", "-s", "drive,gmail,calendar"],
      "transport": "stdio"
    }
  }
}

Available services: drive, gmail, calendar, sheets, docs, chat, admin, or all (default).

Alternative Authentication

If you prefer not to use the interactive gws auth login flow, the gws CLI supports environment variables:

To pass these through PocketPaw, add them to the server’s env in ~/.pocketpaw/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "google-workspace": {
      "command": "gws",
      "args": ["mcp"],
      "transport": "stdio",
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CREDENTIALS_FILE": "/path/to/service-account.json"
      }
    }
  }
}

Health Check

PocketPaw includes an integration health check that verifies the gws binary is installed. If it’s missing, the health dashboard shows:

Google Workspace CLI — warning gws not found — Google Workspace MCP preset won’t work without it Fix: npm i -g @googleworkspace/cli

Troubleshooting

”gws: command not found”

The gws CLI isn’t in your PATH. Install it:

npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli

Then restart PocketPaw.

OAuth consent error

If you see an OAuth error during gws auth login:

1. Open the OAuth consent screen in your GCP project
2. Add your email as a test user
3. Ensure the client type is Desktop app (not Web)
4. Retry gws auth login

MCP server won’t connect

Verify gws mcp works standalone:

echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2024-11-05","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"test","version":"1.0.0"}}}' | gws mcp

You should get a JSON response with server capabilities. If not, check gws auth login status.

vs. Built-in Google Tools

Related