Google Drive for Claude

A free connector that puts your Google account inside a Claude conversation. Ask Claude to read a document and it opens the real file. Ask it to write a section, fix a table, or clean up a formula, and the change lands in that file. It edits Sheets, moves and renames things in Drive, and works everywhere Claude does - claude.ai in the browser, the phone apps, and the desktop app. It runs on a small server that belongs to you, connected to Claude as a custom connector, which is the standard way Claude reaches an outside tool.

Free & Open Source · claude.ai + Desktop + Mobile

Deploy

One click creates your server

Google Drive CRUD - your own copy, on Railway

CRUD stands for create, read, update, delete - the four things the standard read-only connector cannot do to your existing files. The button below deploys the open source server into your own account on Railway, a hosting service. Your files and your Google sign-in stay between you, Google, and a server you own. Railway's free trial covers the setup; keeping the server running after that is about $5 a month, paid to Railway.

Deploy on Railway Or email me - I set it up with you

View the source on GitHub →

Then copy the setup prompt below into a Claude chat. Claude handles the rest with you, one step at a time.

Setup

Claude walks you through setup itself

There is nothing to figure out on this page. Copy the prompt below, paste it into a Claude chat, and Claude guides the whole thing - the Railway deploy, the Google side, and connecting it to your Claude account - one step at a time, checking each step before moving on.

The setup prompt

Copy it whole. It carries every step, every gate, and the fixes for the common wrong turns.

Run the setup from a computer - claude.ai in the browser or the desktop app. Once connected, the connector works everywhere, including the mobile apps, and on every Claude plan. A free Claude account can hold one custom connector; this can be it.

What the setup involves

The work Claude will walk you through

                Deploy the server. One click on the Railway button above creates your own copy, in your own hosting account.
Create a project in Google Cloud. A container that holds the permission settings for this one connection.
Turn on four Google application programming interfaces (APIs). Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. An API is the door an outside tool uses to reach a Google service, and each one is off until you switch it on.
Set up and publish the consent screen. The page that asks your permission when the connector signs in. Publishing it makes the connection permanent.
Create the sign-in credentials. Google issues an ID and a secret that identify your server to your Google account. You paste them into Railway.
Connect it to Claude. Add the server's address as a custom connector on claude.ai, sign in with Google once, and it is live everywhere you use Claude.

            

Google's console is dense, and the names it uses are not obvious the first time through. That is why Claude guides it from inside the chat: it names each screen as you land on it and tells you which of the several similar-looking buttons is the one you want.

Read the full directions on this page

Railway template deploy page for Google Drive CRUD — **1 · Deploy.** One click on Railway creates your own copy of the server.

Google Cloud new project form — **2 · Project.** A fresh Google Cloud project holds the permission settings.

Google Cloud enabled APIs list — **3 · APIs.** The enabled-APIs list is where Claude has you confirm all four.

Google Auth Platform consent wizard Audience step — **4 · Consent.** The short wizard, then one Publish click makes access permanent.

Google OAuth Web client redirect URI form — **5 · Credentials.** Your server's address goes in as the redirect line.

Google hasn't verified this app warning screen — **6 · Sign in.** This warning is expected - the app is yours, created minutes earlier, and the email shown is your own.

Where your data goes

Between you, Google, and a server you own

The server is yours - it runs in your own Railway account, deployed from open source code you can read on GitHub.
Nothing passes through my systems. I never see your files, your credentials, or your traffic.
The Google credentials are yours too, created in your own Google account and stored in your own hosting account.
It is open source under the MIT license.

Rather not do the setup yourself?

Email me with where you got stuck - or what you would like built for your own business - and I will take it from there.

Email [email protected]

You are about to guide me through deploying my own private Google Drive
connector for Claude, then connecting it to my Claude account. Assume I am not
technical. Follow this script exactly.

## How to behave

- Give exactly ONE action per message. Never a numbered list of things to do.
- After each action, ask what I see, and wait. Do not continue until I answer.
- Do not assert what a button is called unless this script says so. Google and
  Railway change their sites constantly. If I cannot find something, ask me to
  describe my screen and work from that. Never invent a menu path.
- Start every message with a one-line checklist of the 8 steps, marking done /
  current / remaining, so neither of us loses track. Every message - including
  short "wait and reload" or retry messages.
- Never ask me to paste the CONTENTS of any file, and never ask for my client
  secret to be shown in this chat once it is stored - only where to paste it.
- If the same step fails twice in a row, or I sound frustrated or lost, tell
  me plainly that a human fallback exists: I can email Adam, who published
  this guide, at adam@atlanticlabs.ai, and he will finish the setup with me
  on a call. Offer it as a normal option, not a last resort.
- If I report several actions at once, do not make me redo them: check my
  report against the current step's gate. If it satisfies the gate, mark the
  step done and move on; if a gate item is missing, ask for just that item.
- If we get interrupted and I say I am resuming, ask me which step I last
  completed and what page I am looking at, then continue from there.

## The 8 steps

1. Which Google account, and where this will run
2. Deploy the server on Railway (one click)
3. Create a Google Cloud project
4. Turn on four Google APIs
5. Set up the consent screen and publish it
6. Create the sign-in credentials (Web application)
7. Give the credentials to the server
8. Connect it to Claude and test

## Step 1 - Account

Ask me two things in one message: which Google account holds the documents I
want Claude to work with, and is it a personal account (gmail.com) or a work
account.

If it is a work account, warn me now: many companies block outside apps from
connecting to their Google Workspace. If a wall like "Access blocked" or
"admin policy" appears later, that is the cause; the fix is asking the IT
administrator or using a personal account. Do not debug that as a setup
problem.

Tell me to sign in to that account, and only that account, before starting.
Several accounts signed in at once is the classic way to configure the wrong
one. A private browsing window is the clean fix (a browser window that
ignores existing logins - in Chrome: File menu, New Incognito Window; in
Safari: File, New Private Window). Everything we do on Google's site - steps
3 through 6 - happens in that same window, so the right account is the only
one Google can see.

## Step 2 - Deploy the server on Railway

Send me back to the "Deploy on Railway" button on the page where I got this
prompt (atlanticlabs.ai) - or use the direct address:
https://railway.com/new/template/WmpgFq Railway is a hosting service: the deploy creates MY OWN
copy of the server, in MY account - nothing is shared with anyone.

What to expect, in order:
- Railway asks me to create an account if I do not have one. A free trial
  exists with no credit card; tell me to also CONNECT MY GITHUB ACCOUNT when
  offered (or create a GitHub account if I have none) - unverified Railway
  accounts have network restrictions that break Google sign-in later. After
  the trial, keeping the server running costs about $5 a month on Railway's
  Hobby plan.
- The deploy screen shows two fields for Google credentials. I do NOT have
  them yet - that is normal. If the fields are optional, leave them empty and
  deploy; steps 3-7 fill them in. If Railway refuses to deploy without them,
  tell me to enter the word "pending" in each and continue.
- After deploying, a project page appears with one service tile.

Gate: have me open the service, find its Settings / Networking section, and
read back the public web address Railway generated (it ends in
".up.railway.app"). Write it down - steps 6 and 8 need it. Do not continue
without it.

## Step 3 - Create a Google Cloud project

Send me to console.cloud.google.com - in the window from step 1, the one
signed into only the right account - and have me create a NEW project, even if
I already have others (direct address: console.cloud.google.com/projectcreate).
Any name is fine. The form also shows a "Parent resource" field - leave it as
"No organization".

Gate: I read back the project name showing in the picker at the top of the
page. Everything after this depends on being inside the right project.

## Step 4 - Turn on four APIs

One at a time, have me search for and enable:

- Google Drive API
- Google Docs API
- Google Sheets API
- Google Slides API

Gate: I open the list of enabled APIs and read all four names back, plus the
project name at the top of the page. Do not accept "I think I did them all" -
a missing API fails much later with an error that looks unrelated.

## Step 5 - Consent screen, then publish

Have me search for "Google Auth Platform" in the console's top search bar, or
go to console.cloud.google.com/auth/overview. On a new project it says
**"Google Auth Platform not configured yet"** with a **Get started** button.
Have me click it. (If I instead see an older console with "OAuth consent
screen", the same information is collected on one form - adapt.)

A short wizard follows, with four numbered sections. One at a time:

1. **App Information**: an app name (any name is fine, only I will ever see
   it) and a User support email dropdown - my own address. Then Next.
2. **Audience**: choose **External** - unless this is a work account and
   **Internal** is offered, which is better (it skips the warning screen in
   step 8). Then Next.
3. **Contact Information**: my email address again. Then Next.
4. **Finish**: tick the agreement checkbox, Continue, then **Create**.

Do NOT go looking for the "Data Access" or "Scopes" section, and if I find it,
do not add anything there. Registering scopes there makes Google demand a
verification submission when publishing. The server asks for its permissions
at sign-in instead, which needs no verification.

Then, immediately: have me open **Audience** in the left menu. At the top:
"Publishing status: Testing" with a **Publish app** button. Click it; a dialog
titled "Push to production?" appears - **Confirm**.

(Work account that chose Internal in the wizard: there is no publish step,
no "Publish app" button, and no 7-day expiry - skip this gate and go to
step 6.)

Gate (External apps only): have me reload the page and read the publishing
status back. If it still says Testing, wait two minutes and reload again. Do
not continue until it says **"In production"**. Explain why so I do not undo
it: in Testing, Google cancels the connection after 7 days. Publishing makes
it permanent. It does not make anything public - I am the only person with
this app's sign-in files.

## Step 6 - Create the credentials - Web application

Have me open **Clients** in the left menu, then Create client.

- Application type: **Web application**. Not "Desktop app" - this server runs
  on the web. The Name field fills itself in - fine to leave.
- Find the section HEADED **Authorized redirect URIs** (there is a similar
  section headed "Authorized JavaScript origins" above it - that one stays
  empty). Under the redirect-URIs heading, click **Add URI** and enter the
  ".up.railway.app" address I wrote down in step 2, keeping the "https://"
  and adding "/oauth2callback" at the end. Example: if my address is
  https://my-server.up.railway.app then I enter exactly:

https://my-server.up.railway.app/oauth2callback

Have me read the full line back before continuing - a typo here is the #1
  cause of a dead sign-in.
- Click **Create**.

A dialog appears: "OAuth client created". It shows a **Client ID** (a long
line ending in ".apps.googleusercontent.com") and a **Client secret**
(starting "GOCSPX-"). This dialog is the ONLY time the secret is shown. Have
me copy BOTH into a password manager or a note file on my computer - never
into a chat - or click Download JSON, BEFORE closing the dialog. If I already closed it: delete that client in the Clients list and
create a new one the same way.

## Step 7 - Give the credentials to the server

Back on the Railway page from step 2: have me open the service, go to its
**Variables** tab, and set these two (creating or replacing them):

- GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID = the Client ID from step 6
- GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET = the Client secret from step 6

If either variable still holds the word "pending" from step 2, it must be
replaced with the real value - "pending" left in place is the top cause of a
dead sign-in later.

Railway offers to redeploy after variables change - accept. Gate: after the
redeploy finishes, have me open the Variables tab again and confirm both
variables now show the real values (the ID ends in ".apps.googleusercontent.com",
the secret starts with "GOCSPX-", and neither says "pending"), and the service
shows a fresh successful deploy.

## Step 8 - Connect it to Claude and test

Have me open claude.ai in a computer browser (or the desktop app - not the
phone, which cannot add connectors). My NORMAL browser window, not the private
window from step 1 - that one was for Google. Find the **Connectors**
settings -
depending on the version it sits under "Customize" or "Settings". Click
**Add**, then **Add custom connector**. Two fields matter:

- Name: anything, e.g. "My Google Drive"
- Remote MCP server URL:  https://MY-ADDRESS-FROM-STEP-2/mcp
  (the same address, with "/mcp" at the end). Leave the optional OAuth
  fields empty.

Have me click **Add**, and ask what I see. The new connector appears in the
list, not yet connected.

Then, in ONE message: first prepare me for the sign-in screens below, and only
after listing them tell me to find the new connector and click **Connect**. Do
not send the Connect instruction without the preparation - the third screen
looks like a security failure to anyone who has not been warned. There are
five stages, and they appear in this order - list all five:

1. A page from my own server: "Application Access Request ... Claude wants to
   access the MCP server". Click **Allow Access**. This page checks the
   callback goes to claude.ai - that is its job.
2. Google asks which account - pick the one from step 1.
3. **"Google hasn't verified this app"** - expected: I created this app
   minutes ago, and Google only verifies apps distributed to the public.
   Click **Advanced**, then **Go to (my app) (unsafe)**. (Work accounts that
   chose Internal skip this.)
4. A permissions page. If it shows checkboxes ("Select what ... can access"),
   tick **Select all**, then Continue - unticked boxes make the connector
   half-work. If no checkboxes appear (Google sometimes skips them), just
   Continue.
5. Back on claude.ai, the connector shows **Connected**.

Then verify end to end: start a new chat and ask Claude to list a few recent
files from my Drive using the new connector. Claude asks permission the first
time each tool is used - "Always allow" is fine; these are my own tools on my
own server. If files come back, tell me setup is done and will not need
repeating.

## If something goes wrong

Ask me which step I was on and what the screen says, then check the usual
causes in order: redirect URI typo or missing (step 6), app left in Testing
(step 5), credentials created as "Desktop app" instead of Web application
(step 6), an API never enabled (step 4), wrong Google account picked at
sign-in (step 1), Railway variables never saved or service not redeployed
(step 7), a work account whose administrator blocks outside apps (step 1).
If we are truly stuck, tell me to email Adam, the person who published this
page: adam@atlanticlabs.ai - he will set it up with me on a call.