How to connect Google Drive to Claude Cowork

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Introduction

Cowork is Anthropic's AI agent for knowledge work. Think of it as Claude Code for everything else. It works autonomously with your computer, local files, and applications to accomplish complex tasks.

This guide walks you through the easiest and most secure way to connect your Google Drive account to Cowork via Composio Connect, enabling it to create a new folder named 'Invoices', share last uploaded file with your team, add comment to project proposal document, and more such actions on your behalf without compromising your account security.

Also integrate Google Drive with

Connecting Google Drive to Claude Cowork

1. Open Customize

In Claude Desktop, click Customize in the left sidebar, then select Connectors and click the + icon at the top.

Claude Desktop connectors screen with Add custom connector selected

2. Add the Composio MCP server

Click Add custom connector and paste in the Composio MCP server URL:

bash
https://connect.composio.dev/mcp
Add custom connector dialog with Composio MCP server URL

3. Authorize in your browser

Click Connect. You'll be redirected to a browser window where you can authorize Composio to continue.

Composio authorization screen for Claude Cowork

4. Connect your Google Drive account

Back in Cowork, ask the agent to connect to Google Drive or give it any Google Drive-related task.

For example, ask Cowork to:

  • "Create a new folder named 'Invoices'"
  • "Share last uploaded file with your team"
  • "Add comment to project proposal document"

It will prompt you to authenticate and authorize access.

That's it. Composio's tools are now available in Cowork, and your Google Drive account is ready to use.

What is Claude Cowork?

Claude Cowork is Anthropic's agent for general knowledge work. It can use your computer, files, and connected applications to complete longer-running tasks across your work tools.

With Composio Connect, Cowork can securely access apps like Google Drive through MCP without you sharing account credentials directly with the agent.

What is the Google Drive MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Googledrive MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Google Drive account. It provides structured and secure access to your files and folders, so your agent can perform actions like uploading files, managing sharing permissions, organizing folders, and collaborating via comments on your behalf.

  • Automated file uploads and creation: Effortlessly ask your agent to create new files or folders, upload documents, or generate files from provided text content in your Google Drive.
  • Advanced sharing and permission management: Let your agent modify sharing preferences for files and folders, granting or revoking access to users, groups, domains, or the public.
  • Collaboration through comments and replies: Have the agent add comments to files, reply to existing comments, or delete comments to facilitate smooth collaboration with your team.
  • Efficient folder and shortcut organization: Direct your agent to create, organize, or nest folders, or generate shortcuts to important files and folders for easier access.
  • File duplication and backup: Instruct your agent to duplicate existing files, creating reliable backups or templates for repeated use.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Triggers
Add file sharing preferenceModifies sharing permissions for an existing google drive file, granting a specified role to a user, group, domain, or 'anyone'.
Copy fileDuplicates an existing file in google drive, identified by its `file id`.
Create CommentTool to create a comment on a file.
Create Shared DriveTool to create a new shared drive.
Create File or FolderCreates a new file or folder with metadata.
Create a File from TextCreates a new file in google drive from provided text content (up to 10mb), supporting various formats including automatic conversion to google workspace types.
Create a folderCreates a new folder in google drive, optionally within a parent folder specified by its id or name; if a parent name is provided but not found, the action will fail.
Create ReplyTool to create a reply to a comment in google drive.
Create Shortcut to File/FolderTool to create a shortcut to a file or folder in google drive.
Delete CommentDeletes a comment from a file.
Delete Shared DriveTool to permanently delete a shared drive.
Delete PermissionDeletes a permission from a file by permission id.
Delete ReplyTool to delete a specific reply by reply id.
Download a file from Google DriveDownloads a file from google drive by its id.
Edit FileUpdates an existing google drive file by overwriting its entire content with new text (max 10mb).
Empty TrashTool to permanently delete all of the user's trashed files.
Modify File LabelsModifies the set of labels applied to a file.
Find fileTool to list or search for files and folders in google drive.
Find folderTool to find a folder in google drive by its name and optionally a parent folder.
Generate File IDsGenerates a set of file ids which can be provided in create or copy requests.
Get aboutTool to retrieve information about the user, the user's drive, and system capabilities.
Get Changes Start Page TokenTool to get the starting pagetoken for listing future changes in google drive.
Get CommentTool to get a comment by id.
Get Shared DriveTool to get a shared drive by id.
Get File MetadataTool to get a file's metadata by id.
Get PermissionGets a permission by id.
Get ReplyTool to get a specific reply to a comment on a file.
Get RevisionTool to get a specific revision's metadata by revision id.
Delete folder or fileTool to delete a file or folder in google drive.
Hide Shared DriveTool to hide a shared drive from the default view.
List ChangesTool to list the changes for a user or shared drive.
List CommentsTool to list all comments for a file in google drive.
List File LabelsTool to list the labels on a file.
List Files and FoldersTool to list a user's files and folders in google drive.
List PermissionsTool to list a file's permissions.
List Replies to CommentTool to list replies to a comment in google drive.
List File RevisionsTool to list a file's revisions.
List Shared DrivesTool to list the user's shared drives.
Move FileTool to move a file from one folder to another in google drive.
Stop Watch ChannelTool to stop watching resources through a specified channel.
Unhide Shared DriveTool to unhide a shared drive.
Untrash FileTool to restore a file from the trash.
Update CommentTool to update an existing comment on a google drive file.
Update Shared DriveTool to update the metadata for a shared drive.
Update File (Metadata)Updates file metadata.
Update File Revision MetadataUpdates metadata of a file revision (e.
Update PermissionTool to update a permission with patch semantics.
Update ReplyTool to update a reply to a comment on a google drive file.
Upload FileUploads a file (max 5mb) to google drive, moving it to a specified folder if a valid folder id is provided, otherwise uploads to root.
Watch Drive ChangesTool to subscribe to changes for a user or shared drive in google drive.

Available tools and triggers

After setup, the supported Google Drive tools and triggers listed on this page are available to Cowork through Composio Connect.

You can now ask Cowork to handle Google Drive workflows in natural language, from quick summaries and drafting tasks to more complex multi-step work across connected apps.

How to build Google Drive MCP Agent with another framework

FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Google Drive MCP?

With a standalone Google Drive MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Google Drive tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Google Drive and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with Claude Cowork?

Yes, you can. Claude Cowork fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Google Drive tools.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Google Drive while using Tool Router?

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Google Drive scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Google Drive data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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