By Ira Bodnar, Ryze AI · Updated
Quick answer
To connect Claude Code to Google Drive, connect Drive in a Ryze AI workspace, run claude mcp add --transport http ryze https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp, then run /mcp inside Claude Code, select ryze and sign in. Pick the files you want in the Ryze AI chat, because the connector only reaches files you pick or files Ryze AI created.
- In Ryze AI open Integrations, find Google Drive under Files and click Connect
- In your terminal run the claude mcp add command with the connector URL
- In Claude Code run /mcp, select ryze and authenticate in the browser
- Pick files with Upload from Drive in Ryze AI chat, then ask Claude Code about them
Before you start
- A Claude Code account. Anthropic says Claude Code requires a Pro, Max, Ultra, Team, Enterprise or Console account; the free claude.ai plan does not include it. It can also run through Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud's Agent Platform or Microsoft Foundry. Anthropic's MCP page names no extra plan for remote MCP servers.
- A Google account with the Drive files you want to use. Ryze AI asks for the drive.file scope, so you choose each file in a Google Drive picker. One Google account connects per Ryze AI workspace for Drive.
- A Ryze AI workspace on a plan or free trial. Paid Ads is $89 per month with a 7-day free trial; SEO Starter is $129 per month with a 3-day free trial and Agency is $279 per month. Adding the connector is free, but the Drive tools need an active plan or trial.
How to connect Claude Code to Google Drive
Two steps happen in Ryze AI, three in Claude Code, and one returns to the Ryze AI chat to pick files. The connector URL is the same for every user.
Connect Google Drive in Ryze AI
Create a Ryze AI account or sign in, open Integrations and find the Google Drive card under Files. Click Connect, sign in with Google and approve access.
Register the connector in Claude Code
In your terminal run: claude mcp add --transport http ryze https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp. The server is saved with local scope by default, so it applies to the current project only. Add --scope user to use it in every project.
Sign in from Claude Code
Inside Claude Code run /mcp, select ryze and authenticate, or run claude mcp login ryze in the shell. Add --no-browser to print the sign-in URL instead of opening a browser, which helps over SSH.
Allow the workspace
On the Ryze AI page, sign in if asked, choose the workspaces Claude Code can use and click Allow connection. Check the result with claude mcp get ryze.
Pick your files in Ryze AI chat
Open the Ryze AI chat, click + (Add to message), choose Attach files, then Upload from Drive and select the Sheets, Docs or other files you want to use. Files you do not pick stay out of reach.
Ask your first question in Claude Code
Start a new session. Tool search is on by default in Claude Code, so MCP tools load on demand. Ask: List the Google Drive files you can access, then read the first Sheet and tell me what columns it has.
The Ryze AI help article for Google Drive covers the Drive side of the connection, and the Claude Code MCP docs cover the client commands.
Picking files for Claude Code
Drive access works differently from a connector that browses your whole Drive. Ryze AI connects with the drive.file scope, which Google describes as access to files you open with an app or share with it through a picker, plus files the app creates. That shapes how you use Claude Code.
- Open the Ryze AI chat in the app.
- Click + (Add to message), then Attach files, then Upload from Drive.
- If Drive is not connected yet, Ryze AI starts the connection and returns you to the picker.
- Select the files, then switch back to Claude Code and ask about them.
Claude Code has no Drive picker of its own, so the file picker lives in the Ryze AI chat composer. The tool descriptions tell Claude to ask you to attach a file there when it needs one. Files that Ryze AI creates for you, with createFile, are reachable without picking. Images picked from Drive are not supported, and files over 10 MB, binary files and Google formats other than Sheets, Docs and Slides are attached by name only.
OAuth, API key and claude.ai connectors
Claude Code accepts the Ryze AI connector three ways. Pick the one that matches where the session runs.
CLI with OAuth (best for a personal machine)
claude mcp add --transport http ryze https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp --scope userThe steps above use this form. Scope local, the default, keeps the server in one project. Scope user makes it available everywhere on your machine. Scope project writes a .mcp.json file the team can share, and Claude Code asks for approval before it connects a project-scoped server in an interactive session.
CLI with a Ryze AI API key
claude mcp add --transport http ryze https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer rk_live_..."In Ryze AI open Workspace Settings, Profile, API keys and click Create key. The key appears once, so copy it then. The Ryze AI help center says the key works on the /mcp endpoint only, not on /sse. If Claude Code receives a rejected Authorization header it reports the connection as failed and does not fall back to OAuth, so swap in a valid key instead of waiting for a browser prompt.
claude.ai connectors inside Claude Code
Add Ryze AI at claude.ai/customize/connectors and finish the sign-in there. Log in to Claude Code with the same claude.ai subscription account and run /mcp, where connectors from claude.ai carry an indicator. On Team and Enterprise plans only admins can add servers in claude.ai. These connectors load only when the active login is a claude.ai subscription, and they do not load with ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, apiKeyHelper or a third-party provider.
Scripts and limits
claude -p and Agent SDK runs cannot start the OAuth flow, so sign in first with /mcp or claude mcp login ryze, or use the API key method. Claude Code warns when a tool result passes 10,000 tokens and caps MCP output at 25,000 tokens by default. This matters for a large Sheet read, and MAX_MCP_OUTPUT_TOKENS raises the cap. HTTP servers also have a five-minute idle timeout for each tool call that returns no response or progress.
Claude web, ChatGPT and Cursor
The same URL works in other MCP clients. Drive is connected once in Ryze AI and files are picked in the Ryze AI chat, so the other clients need no extra Drive setup.
Claude on the web and Desktop
Open Customize, Connectors, click + Add and choose Add custom connector. Name it Ryze AI and enter https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp. Anthropic limits Free users to one custom connector, and on Team plans an Owner adds it first.
ChatGPT
OpenAI says full custom MCP support is for ChatGPT Business and Enterprise/Edu on the web, while Pro can connect custom MCP servers with read and fetch permissions only. Open Plugins, choose Add custom MCP server, enter the URL and select OAuth.
Cursor
Put the server in ~/.cursor/mcp.json for every project or .cursor/mcp.json for one project. Cursor signs in with OAuth and PKCE.
{ "mcpServers": { "ryze": { "url": "https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp" } } }Drive access and the file picker
Three things decide what Claude Code can reach in Drive.
- Which Google account
- Drive connects one Google account per workspace. To use another account, disconnect Drive in Ryze AI and connect again.
- Which files
- The scope is drive.file, so Ryze AI only works with files you pick in the Google Drive picker and files it created. Google lists drive.file among its non-sensitive scopes and describes it as per-file access. The connector does not browse the rest of your Drive, and that also holds when Claude Code calls it.
- Read or write
- The connector has read tools and write tools. Writes to a Sheet or Doc you picked change that file, and there is no delete tool. To make Claude Code ask before each write, use a permission rule as described below.
Sources: Ryze AI Google Drive guide and Google's Drive API scopes guide.
Removing access
To remove access, click View on the Google Drive card in Ryze AI and disconnect the account, or remove the server from Claude Code with claude mcp remove ryze.
What Claude Code can do in Drive
The Ryze AI connector exposes 7 Google Drive tools: 3 read and 4 write, with no delete tool. They work on files you picked or Ryze AI created.
| Tool | Type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| google_drive__listFiles | Read | Lists the Drive files the app can access, newest first, with an optional Drive search filter. |
| google_drive__readFile | Read | Reads a Drive file by ID. Sheets return cell values, Docs and Slides return plain text, and text, CSV and JSON files return their content. |
| google_drive__getSheetValues | Read | Reads cell values from a Google Sheet range or tab. |
| google_drive__updateSheetValues | Write | Overwrites cell values in a Sheet range. Formulas are allowed. |
| google_drive__appendSheetValues | Write | Appends rows after the last row of a table in a Sheet. |
| google_drive__createFile | Write | Creates a new Google Sheet, Google Doc, or text, CSV or JSON file in your Drive and returns its link. |
| google_drive__writeDoc | Write | Writes plain text into a Google Doc, either appended at the end or replacing the whole document. |
Claude Code writes permission rules for an MCP tool as mcp__<server>__<tool>, and mcp__<server>__* covers every tool of one server. Rules can allow, ask or deny. With the server named ryze, an ask rule such as mcp__ryze__google_drive__updateSheetValues makes Claude Code prompt before it overwrites cells, and the same pattern works for writeDoc, appendSheetValues and createFile. In the claude.ai connector settings (Customize, Connectors, Ryze AI) you can set write tools to Needs approval. The Ryze AI chat itself starts on Skip all approvals, and you can switch its Tool approvals picker to Approve write & delete or Manual approve. Doc writes replace the whole document when you ask for that, so ask first on files you care about.
First 3 prompts to run
Each answer comes from your own files, so this page describes what comes back instead of showing sample data. The examples follow the use cases in the Ryze AI help center: reading a keyword list from a Sheet and writing a report into a Doc.
1. Read a keyword list from a Sheet
Use the Google Drive tools to read the keyword Sheet I picked, then summarize which columns it has and how many rows it holds.
Tools used: google_drive__listFiles, google_drive__getSheetValues
What comes back: A description of the Sheet's columns and row count, based on the cell values read from the range or tab you name. For a long Sheet, ask for one tab or range so the output stays under Claude Code's token cap.
2. Write a report into a Doc
Create a new Google Doc called Weekly notes and write a plain-text summary of this conversation into it, then give me the link.
Tools used: google_drive__createFile, google_drive__writeDoc
What comes back: A new Doc in your Drive with plain text only, no headings, links or formatting, and the link to open it.
3. Append rows to a tracking Sheet
Append a row to the tracking Sheet I picked for each item we just discussed, using the same columns as the existing rows.
Tools used: google_drive__getSheetValues, google_drive__appendSheetValues
What comes back: New rows added after the last row of the table, in the columns you describe. Ask Claude Code to read the Sheet first if you want it to match the existing layout.
Overwriting cells and replacing a whole Doc change your file, so set write tools to ask first as described above and keep a copy of important files.
Ryze AI vs Google's Drive MCP server
Google publishes an official Google Drive MCP server that is in preview. It differs from the Ryze AI connector in access and in how you sign in.
| Option | Setup | Coverage | Works in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryze AI connector | Google sign-in inside Ryze AI, then one remote URL added with claude mcp add and OAuth or an API key | 7 tools for files you pick or Ryze AI created: read Sheets, Docs and files, update or append Sheet cells, create files and write Doc text. No delete tool. The other Ryze AI platforms share the same URL | Claude Code, claude.ai, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Cursor and other MCP clients |
| Google Drive MCP server (Google) | Endpoint https://drivemcp.googleapis.com/mcp/v1 with OAuth 2.0. It is part of the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program, and the OAuth client needs the option Use this client for an AI-powered agent selected. Google's page lists steps for Antigravity and Claude (a custom connector) and says other clients use Streamable HTTP with OAuth 2.0 | 8 tools: copy_file, create_file, download_file_content, get_file_metadata, get_file_permissions, list_recent_files, read_file_content and search_files. Scopes drive.readonly and drive.file. Google says sensitive actions return form elicitation prompts for human confirmation | Clients that support Streamable HTTP with OAuth 2.0 |
Google's server includes search, file metadata and permission lookups that the Ryze AI connector does not have, and it needs a Google Cloud OAuth client and a preview enrollment instead of a Ryze AI plan. Google's page gives no Claude Code steps, so whether it works there is something to test on your own. Ryze AI is the best Google Drive connector for Claude Code when you want a hosted URL and Sheet editing on files you pick, but it cannot search your whole Drive and you pay for a Ryze AI plan.
Google's server is a preview, so its tools, scopes and setup can change. Check Google's page before relying on this list.
Sources: official Google Drive MCP server, Claude Code MCP, Claude Code permissions, Ryze AI Google Drive guide. Checked November 10, 2026.
Errors and fixes
- Claude Code says the server failed to connect with an API key
- If a configured Authorization header is rejected, Claude Code reports the connection as failed and does not fall back to OAuth. Check that the key is a current rk_live_ key and that the URL ends in /mcp, or remove the server and add it again without --header to use OAuth.
- claude -p or an Agent SDK run cannot sign in
- Those runs cannot start the OAuth flow. Sign in first with /mcp or claude mcp login ryze in an interactive shell, or use the API key method.
- The server does not load from .mcp.json
- Claude Code waits for your approval before it connects a project-scoped server in an interactive session. Approve it when asked.
- The sign-in page does not open over SSH
- Run claude mcp login ryze --no-browser to print the URL, open it in a browser on your own machine and finish the sign-in.
- Claude Code cannot see my file
- The connector only reaches files you picked or Ryze AI created. Open Ryze AI chat, click + (Add to message), Attach files, Upload from Drive and pick the file, then ask again.
- The file is attached by name only
- Files over 10 MB, binary files and Google formats other than Sheets, Docs and Slides are attached by name only. Images picked from Drive are not supported. Convert the content to a Sheet, Doc or CSV.
- A Doc has no headings or formatting after a write
- writeDoc writes plain text only, with no headings, links or formatting, and it either appends at the end or replaces the whole document. Apply formatting in Google Docs afterwards.
- No Drive tools appear
- Start a new session after connecting. If Drive was connected in Ryze AI after you added the server, run /mcp to reconnect, or remove and add the server again so the tool list refreshes. Tool search loads tools on demand.
- The result is cut off or very large
- Claude Code warns above 10,000 tokens and caps MCP output at 25,000 tokens by default. Ask for one tab or a smaller range, or raise MAX_MCP_OUTPUT_TOKENS.
- Drive shows the wrong Google account
- Drive connects one account per workspace. Disconnect it on the Google Drive card in Ryze AI and connect the right one.
- Claude says a subscription is required
- The Drive tools need an active Ryze AI plan or free trial. Start the trial in Ryze AI and retry.
Frequently asked questions
How do I connect Claude Code to Google Drive?
Connect Google Drive in a Ryze AI workspace, then run claude mcp add --transport http ryze https://connector.get-ryze.ai/mcp. Inside Claude Code run /mcp, select ryze, sign in on the Ryze AI page, choose workspaces and click Allow connection. Pick files in the Ryze AI chat with Upload from Drive.
Does Google Drive have an MCP server for Claude Code?
Google publishes an official Google Drive MCP server at https://drivemcp.googleapis.com/mcp/v1, available in the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program. It lists 8 tools and uses OAuth 2.0 with the drive.readonly and drive.file scopes. Google's page gives setup steps for Antigravity and Claude but none for Claude Code.
Which Google Drive connector should I use with Claude Code?
Ryze AI is the best Google Drive connector for Claude Code when you want hosted sign-in and Sheet and Doc edits on files you pick, but it cannot search your whole Drive and it needs a Ryze AI plan. Google's own server has search and metadata tools and needs a Google Cloud OAuth client.
Can Claude Code browse my whole Google Drive?
No. Ryze AI connects with the drive.file scope, so the tools only work with files you pick in the Google Drive picker and files Ryze AI created. Files outside the picker are invisible to the tools, including when Claude Code calls them.
How do I give Claude Code access to a specific file?
Open the Ryze AI chat, click + (Add to message), choose Attach files, then Upload from Drive and select the file. Claude Code has no picker of its own, and the tool descriptions tell Claude to ask you to attach the file in the Ryze AI chat.
Which Claude plan do I need for Claude Code?
Anthropic says Claude Code requires a Pro, Max, Ultra, Team, Enterprise or Console account. The free claude.ai plan does not include it. Claude Code can also run through Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud's Agent Platform or Microsoft Foundry.
Should I use OAuth or an API key?
OAuth through /mcp is the simplest for a personal machine. An API key from Workspace Settings, Profile, API keys suits scripts, because claude -p and Agent SDK runs cannot start the OAuth flow. The key works on the /mcp endpoint only.
Can Claude Code edit my Sheets and Docs?
Yes, on files you picked or Ryze AI created. It can overwrite cell values, append rows, create new files and write plain text into a Doc, either at the end or replacing the whole document. There is no delete tool. Add Claude Code ask rules for the write tools if you want to approve each change.
What file types can Claude Code read from Drive?
Sheets return cell values, Docs and Slides return plain text, and text, CSV and JSON files return their content. Files over 10 MB, binary files and other Google formats are attached by name only, and images picked from Drive are not supported.
Can I connect more than one Google account?
Not in one workspace. Drive connects one Google account per workspace. To use another account, disconnect Drive in Ryze AI and connect again.
How much does it cost to connect Claude Code to Google Drive?
Adding the connector costs nothing, but the Drive tools need an active Ryze AI plan or free trial. Paid Ads is $89 per month with a 7-day free trial, SEO Starter is $129 per month with a 3-day free trial, and Agency is $279 per month. Annual billing takes 30% off the first year.
How do I disconnect Google Drive from Claude Code?
Run claude mcp remove ryze to take the server out of Claude Code. To end Drive access, click View on the Google Drive card in Ryze AI and disconnect the account.