Google Drive

Warning: Google verification pending. Paperclip has not yet completed Google app verification. You may see an unverified-app warning during authorization. If Google offers an Advanced option to continue to Paperclip, you can choose to proceed after reviewing the requested access. This option is not available for every account; Workspace administrator restrictions and other Google access requirements still apply. Contact support@paperclip.ing if you cannot connect.

Note: While verification is pending, the Google Workspace connectors and any saved Google accounts are temporarily hidden from the Connectors page. This hides them from the list only. Existing Google connections keep running with their access and permissions unchanged, and an agent that needs a Google service can still ask you for it with a connection card on its task.

Agents can search Drive, read file metadata and content, and on a creating connection add new files or copy existing ones.

Deleting, moving, renaming, and changing who a file is shared with are not exposed by this connector, in either capability group.

Warning: Google Drive needs Google Workspace Developer Preview registration before tools can run. Google must register the Workspace email that signs in, and the Cloud project that owns the OAuth client if you bring your own. Apply first at Google Workspace Developer Preview.

Before you connect

  • A Google Workspace account that can already open the files you want agents to use.
  • Developer Preview registration for that account, confirmed by Google.
  • If your instance is not enrolled with Paperclip Cloud, you will need your own Google OAuth client with the Drive API and Drive MCP API enabled. Set up your own Google OAuth app is the complete procedure — do it before you start here.

Pick a capability group

Group What agents can do Scopes requested
Read only Search files, read metadata and content, list recent files, read a file's permissions drive.readonly
Read & create The above, plus create a new file and copy an existing one drive.readonly, drive.file

The group is fixed for the life of the connection; to change it, make a new connection.

Connect Google Drive

  1. Open Connectors and select Google Drive.
  2. Read the access line above the main button. It says who the connection signs in as and which agents can use it. To pick a different identity, narrow the agents, or use another sign-in method, select Change.
  3. Check the capability group. Setup starts on the group that can make changes; to connect read-only, select Change and pick it under What should Paperclip be able to do?. Paperclip uses Connect with Paperclip when your instance offers it. To use your own client instead, select Use your own Google OAuth app and supply the client ID and secret from Set up your own Google OAuth app.
  4. Complete Google's consent screen with the registered Workspace account.

Choose access

File reach comes from Google. The connection sees what the authorizing account can already open: files it owns, files shared with it, and shared-drive content it is a member of. Paperclip has no file or folder picker, so narrowing access means changing sharing in Drive or authorizing with a more limited account.

Reviewed operations:

Operation Group
search-files, list-recent-files Both
get-file-metadata, read-file-content, download-file-content Both
get-file-permissions Both
create-file, copy-file Read & create only

Two distinctions worth keeping straight. Metadata and content are separate operations, so an agent can list a file it cannot usefully parse. And get-file-permissions reads the sharing list — it does not change it.

Note: The write group's drive.file scope only covers files the app itself created or opened, which is why creating and copying are available but editing arbitrary existing files is not. The connector's guidance is that file creation and copying should be approved; leave them on Ask first.

How connector access works covers identity and agent selection.

Try it

Search my Google Drive for a document containing "quarterly plan" and tell me its title, owner, and last modified date. Do not open or change anything else.

Expect metadata for a file you can find yourself in Drive. This confirms the credential, the account, and the agent's permission without writing anything.

Note: Illustrative task, not a recorded test result.

Troubleshooting and limitations

Problem Likely cause Fix
Google refuses before the consent screen Developer Preview registration is incomplete Finish registration and retry
Connect with Paperclip is not offered The instance is not enrolled with Paperclip Cloud, or Cloud is not advertising the Drive profile Use your own Google OAuth app
Search finds nothing you expected The file is not shared with the authorizing account, or is on a shared drive it does not belong to Share the file or add the account to the shared drive
A file is listed but its content will not read The file type has no extractable text, or it is a link to an external item Check the file type; metadata and content are separate capabilities
Create or copy is missing The connection was made with Read only Make a connection with Read & create
An agent cannot delete or re-share a file Expected — those are not exposed Do it in Drive
Needs attention The Google token expired or was revoked Select Reconnect

Limitations: one connection covers one Google account. No delete, move, rename, or sharing changes. Editing an existing arbitrary file is not available; for document editing use Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides. Developer Preview applies.