> [!WARNING]
> **Developer Preview:** Available as part of the [Google Workspace Developer Preview Program](https://developers.google.com/workspace/preview), which grants early access to certain features.

The Universal Search MCP Server for Google Workspace uses the
[Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/introduction)
standard to allow AI agents to search your Workspace artifacts. This server
provides a way to search across multiple Google Workspace products,
including Gmail messages, Google Drive files, Google Calendar
events, and Google Chat spaces and messages, using a single tool.

The Universal Search MCP Server provides a standardized way for AI agents to
search for information across your entire Google Workspace account without
needing to call individual product-specific tools.

## Prerequisites

- Membership in the
  [Google Workspace Developer Preview Program](https://developers.google.com/workspace/preview).

- A Google Cloud project. To create a project, see
  [Create a project](https://developers.google.com/workspace/guides/create-project).

- An MCP client, like [Google Antigravity](https://antigravity.google/).

- To run the commands on this page, set up the gcloud CLI in one of the
  following development environments:

  ### Cloud Shell

  To use an online terminal with the gcloud CLI already set up, activate
  Cloud Shell:

  [Activate Cloud Shell](https://console.cloud.google.com/home/dashboard?cloudshell=true)

  ### Local shell

  To use a local development environment, follow these steps:
  1. [Install the Google Cloud CLI](https://cloud.google.com/sdk/docs/install). If you installed the gcloud CLI previously, make sure you have the latest version by running `gcloud components update`.
  2. If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity. For more information, see [Sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity](https://docs.cloud.google.com/iam/docs/workforce-log-in-gcloud).
  3. [Initialize the gcloud CLI](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sdk/docs/initializing).

## Configure the Universal Search MCP Server

To use the Universal Search MCP Server, you must enable it in your
Google Cloud project and then configure your MCP client to connect to it.

### Enable the APIs

To use the Universal Search MCP Server, enable the Google Workspace MCP API in
your Google Cloud project:

### CLI

    gcloud services enable workspacemcp.googleapis.com \
      --project=PROJECT_ID

Replace `PROJECT_ID` with your Google Cloud project ID.

### Console

Enable the APIs in the Google Cloud console:

[Enable the APIs](https://console.cloud.google.com/flows/enableapi?apiid=workspacemcp.googleapis.com)

### Set up the OAuth consent screen

The Universal Search MCP Server uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication and authorization.
You must configure the OAuth consent screen before you can create an OAuth client ID.

If you have already configured the OAuth consent screen for other MCP servers,
ensure you have added the required scopes for the Universal Search MCP Server.

When you authenticate with the Universal Search MCP Server, you can choose to
authenticate all requested scopes or only a subset of them. The server respects
these choices and only searches across the products for which access has been
granted.

For example, if you authenticate with all of the following scopes:

- `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly`
- `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly`
- `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.readonly`
- `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.messages.readonly`
- `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.spaces.readonly`
- `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.memberships.readonly`

Universal Search MCP Server will search across Gmail, Google Drive,
Google Calendar, and Google Chat.

However, if you omit `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly` and only
grant access to `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly`,
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.readonly`,
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.messages.readonly`,
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.spaces.readonly`, and
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.memberships.readonly`, universal search
only returns results from Google Drive, Google Calendar, and Google Chat.
It doesn't search your email or return Gmail results.

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to **Google Auth Platform** \> **Data Access**.
2. Click **Add or Remove Scopes**.
3. Add one or more of the following scopes:

   - `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly`
   - `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly`
   - `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.readonly`
   - `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.messages.readonly`
   - `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.spaces.readonly`
   - `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.memberships.readonly`

   Include `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.spaces.readonly` and
   `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.memberships.readonly` so the server
   can tell who is in each Google Chat conversation. Without them,
   Google Chat results are treated as externally shared and might require
   user confirmation or be filtered out.
4. Click **Update** and then **Save**.

For detailed instructions on setting up the consent screen, see
[Configure the Google Workspace MCP servers](https://developers.google.com/workspace/guides/configure-mcp-servers#configure-consent-screen).

### Configure your MCP client

To add the Universal Search MCP Server to your MCP client, follow the
instructions for your client.

User-delegated OAuth 2.0 client IDs that call the Universal Search MCP Server
must have **Use this client for an AI-powered agent** selected in **Google Auth
Platform** \> **Clients** . To update an
existing OAuth 2.0 client ID, select this setting in **Google Auth Platform**
\> **Clients** , as described in
[Manage OAuth Clients](https://support.google.com/cloud/answer/15549257). If
you can't change this setting on an existing client, or if the client also
supports non-agent features, create a new OAuth 2.0 client ID for your AI
agent. For rejected requests, service accounts with domain-wide delegation, or
Google Apps Script, see
[Troubleshooting](https://developers.google.com/workspace/guides/configure-mcp-servers#troubleshooting).

### Antigravity

To add the Universal Search MCP Server to Antigravity,
add the server configuration to your `mcp_config.json` file. These
instructions support Antigravity 2.0, Antigravity IDE, and Antigravity CLI.

1. Create an OAuth 2.0 client ID and secret of type **Web application** . In
   the **Authorized redirect URIs** section, click **+ Add URI** , and then
   add `https://antigravity.google/oauth-callback` in the **URIs** field.
   Select **Use this client for an AI-powered agent** . For
   instructions, see
   [Configure the Google Workspace MCP servers](https://developers.google.com/workspace/guides/configure-mcp-servers#configure-mcp-client).

2. Open or create the configuration file `~/.gemini/config/mcp_config.json`.

3. Add the `workspace-universal` configuration to `mcp_config.json`:

       {
         "mcpServers": {
           "workspace-universal": {
             "serverUrl": "https://workspacemcp.googleapis.com/mcp/v1",
             "oauth": {
               "clientId": "OAUTH_CLIENT_ID",
               "clientSecret": "OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET"
             }
           }
         }
       }

   Replace the following:
   - `OAUTH_CLIENT_ID`: The client ID you created.
   - `OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET`: The client secret you created.
4. Save `mcp_config.json`.

5. Authenticate the MCP server. You can authenticate using either the GUI settings or the CLI:

   - **For Antigravity IDE or GUI (Antigravity 2.0):**

     1. Open your settings screen (e.g., click **Settings** at the bottom-left or open **Antigravity User Settings**).
     2. Navigate to **Customizations**.
     3. Under **Installed MCP Servers** , click **Refresh**.
     4. Find `workspace-universal` in the list, click **Authenticate** , sign in to your Google Account, copy the authorization code, paste it into the input dialog, and click **Submit**.
   - **For Antigravity CLI:**

     1. Start Antigravity CLI:

            agy

     2. Open the interactive MCP management panel by running:

            /mcp

     3. Use the arrow keys to select `workspace-universal`, move to the **Authenticate** action, and press **Enter** . Complete the sign-in flow in your browser, copy the authorization code, paste it into the terminal prompt, and press **Enter**.

6. Verify that the server is correctly configured and running:

   - **For Antigravity IDE or GUI:** A **Sign out** button is displayed next to `workspace-universal` under **Customizations** \> **Installed MCP Servers**.
   - **For Antigravity CLI:** Open the `/mcp` panel to view your configured MCP servers. Verified and authenticated servers display **Authed** next to their names inside the interactive TUI panel. You can select the `workspace-universal` server under the dashboard view to inspect its status and list all of its available tools.

### Claude

To add the Universal Search MCP Server to Claude, configure a custom
connector.

1. Create an OAuth 2.0 client ID and secret of type **Web application** ,
   and select **Use this client for an AI-powered agent** . For
   instructions, see
   [Configure the Google Workspace MCP servers](https://developers.google.com/workspace/guides/configure-mcp-servers#claude).

2. In Claude settings, add a custom connector:

   - **Server name** : `Universal Search MCP Server`
   - **Remote MCP server URL** : `https://workspacemcp.googleapis.com/mcp/v1`
   - **OAuth client ID** and **OAuth client secret**: Enter your credentials.
   - **Scopes** : Include `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly`, `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly`, `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.readonly`, `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.messages.readonly`, `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.spaces.readonly`, and `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.memberships.readonly`.

## Test the Universal Search MCP Server

Try asking your MCP client questions that require searching across different
products:

- **"Find anything related to Project X across my email, docs, and chat messages."**
- **"When is my next meeting about the marketing plan, and what are the latest notes and chat messages on it?"**

If the tools execute successfully and you receive relevant responses from
multiple products, your Universal Search MCP Server is correctly configured.

## Supported tools

The Universal Search MCP Server offers the following tool. For input and output
schemas, see the [Universal Search MCP reference](https://developers.google.com/workspace/reference/mcp).

- [`search_corpus`](https://developers.google.com/workspace/reference/mcp/tools_list/search_corpus): Searches across multiple Google Workspace products, including Drive, Gmail, Calendar, and Chat, based on the provided query.