@mcp-z/mcp-sheets

MCP server for Google Sheets integration with OAuth authentication, spreadsheet management, batch operations, and advanced formatting

Requires Node.js >=20. The examples use npx, included with npm, to run this server and @mcp-z/cli.

Common uses

• Find spreadsheets and sheets
• Inspect workbook structure and metadata in selected cells
• Append and update data
• Apply formatting, validation, and charts

Transports

MCP supports stdio and HTTP.

Both the 2025 and 2026-07-28 protocol revisions are served, over either transport, from the same server. Your client negotiates whichever it speaks. A 2025 client keeps working with no change, and support for it is not being dropped. The 2026-07-28 revision is stateless, so a client speaking it sends no initialize handshake and carries no session id.

Stdio

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sheets": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mcp-z/mcp-sheets"]
    }
  }
}

HTTP

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sheets": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:9004/mcp",
      "start": {
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@mcp-z/mcp-sheets", "--port=9004"]
      }
    }
  }
}

start is an extension used by npx @mcp-z/cli up to launch HTTP servers for you. The HTTP endpoint is /mcp.

Create a Google Cloud app

1. Go to Google Cloud Console.
2. Create or select a project.
3. Enable the Google Sheets API and Google Drive API.
4. Create OAuth 2.0 credentials (Desktop app).
5. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret.
6. Select the credential type that matches your transport:

• For stdio, choose "Desktop app" under APIs & Services.
• For HTTP, choose "Web application" and add your public /oauth/callback URL. Local HTTP uses the port configured with --port or PORT.
• For local hosting, add http://127.0.0.1 for the ephemeral redirect URL.

1. Enable OAuth2 scopes: openid https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.profile https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email https://www.googleapis.com/auth/spreadsheets https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive
2. Add test emails

OAuth modes

Configure via environment variables or the env block in .mcp.json. See server.json for the full list of options.

Loopback OAuth (default)

Environment variables:

GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret

Example (stdio) - Create .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sheets": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mcp-z/mcp-sheets"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Example (http) - Create .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sheets": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:3000/mcp",
      "start": {
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@mcp-z/mcp-sheets", "--port=3000"],
        "env": {
          "GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Local (default): omit REDIRECT_URI → ephemeral loopback. Cloud: set REDIRECT_URI to your public /oauth/callback and expose the service publicly.

Note: the start block is a helper in npx @mcp-z/cli up for starting an HTTP server from your .mcp.json. See @mcp-z/cli for details.

Service account

Environment variables:

AUTH_MODE=service-account
GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILE=/path/to/service-account.json

Example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sheets": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mcp-z/mcp-sheets", "--auth=service-account"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILE": "/path/to/service-account.json"
      }
    }
  }
}

DCR (self-hosted)

HTTP only. Requires a public base URL.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sheets-dcr": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@mcp-z/mcp-sheets",
        "--auth=dcr",
        "--port=3456",
        "--base-url=https://oauth.example.com"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
        "GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-client-secret"
      }
    }
  }
}

How to use

# List tools
npx -y @mcp-z/cli inspect --servers sheets --tools

# Find a spreadsheet
npx -y @mcp-z/cli call-tool sheets spreadsheet-find '{"spreadsheetRef":"Quarterly Report"}'

Tools

1. cells-format
2. cells-metadata-get
3. chart-create
4. columns-get
5. columns-update
6. csv-get-columns
7. dimensions-batch-update
8. dimensions-move
9. rows-append
10. rows-csv-append
11. rows-get
12. sheet-copy
13. sheet-copy-to
14. sheet-create
15. sheet-delete
16. sheet-find
17. sheet-rename
18. spreadsheet-copy
19. spreadsheet-create
20. spreadsheet-find
21. spreadsheet-metadata-get
22. spreadsheet-rename
23. validation-set
24. values-batch-update
25. values-clear
26. values-csv-update
27. values-markdown-update
28. values-replace
29. values-search

See metadata usage for workbook inspection and bounded cell reads.

Resources

1. spreadsheet

Prompts

1. a1-notation

Configuration reference

See server.json for all supported environment variables, CLI arguments, and defaults.

Storage backends

OAuth tokens (TOKEN_STORE_URI) and DCR registrations (DCR_STORE_URI) are stored through keyv-registry, which picks an adapter from the URI protocol.

file:// (the default, under ~/.mcp-z/) and memory:// work with no extra setup.

Any other backend needs its adapter installed alongside this server. Adapters are resolved with require(), so a globally installed server finds a globally installed adapter:

npm install -g @mcp-z/mcp-sheets @keyv/redis

TOKEN_STORE_URI=redis://localhost:6379 mcp-sheets

A protocol whose adapter is missing fails at startup naming the package to install.

Documentation

API Docs