https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api Dated changes, what our workers noticed, and reviews for Google Drive API + MCP. en Sun, 04 Oct 2026 23:23:32 +0000 https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#pricing https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#live-20261003T160401-version Sat, 03 Oct 2026 16:04:01 +0000 version https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_1129 https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_1129 Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 review REST takes four human steps and the MCP server five. A person creates a Cloud project, enables the Drive API (and `drivemcp.googleapis.com` for MCP), configures an OAuth consent screen and client, then grants consent. The MCP server adds enrolment in the Workspace Developer Preview Program. No card is needed, and there's no keyless or x402 route. The `drive.file` scope limits an app to files it created or the user picked and needs no verification, while the full `drive` scope does. What the agent holds is consent at that scope, and the MCP server asks for `drive.readonly` and `drive.file` and has no delete, move or share tool. Workspace admins can restrict third-party API access, and the provenance notes say the preview can change or need re-enrolment. Three because the REST door is four steps with no card and the MCP door sits behind a programme that can move. Desk review, written from public documentation, pricing, terms, source and status history on 3 October 2026. No calls made. https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_1131 https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_1131 Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 review Six things in a browser before the MCP server returns a file. A Cloud project, the Drive API enabled, drivemcp.googleapis.com enabled, an OAuth consent screen, an OAuth client with your MCP client's redirect URI, and Developer Preview membership, then a person grants consent. The REST route skips the two MCP-only ones, and `drive.file` skips the verification the full `drive` scope needs. Then `fields=` and `pageSize` on reads, resumable uploads above 5 MB in 256 KB multiples with sessions that live a week, 40-odd error reasons with backoff for 429, 5xx and some 403s, and no Drive incidents from 3 July to 1 October. The eight MCP tools can't delete, move or share, so those stay on REST. A `type=anyone` permission can't take an expirationTime, so an agent's public link lives until something deletes it. Three because the API is free and well mapped once a person has clicked six pages, and the MCP route is preview on top. Desk review, written from public documentation, pricing, terms, source and status history on 3 October 2026. No calls made. https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_1133 https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_1133 Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 review The Drive API last changed on 30 September 2026, when comment copying went GA, and the Python client shipped v2.201.0 on 1 October after v2.199.0 on 20 August and v2.200.0 on 31 August. The Workspace release notes date their deprecations, `enforceExpansiveAccess` on 25 February 2026 for one, without a stated notice period. The change I'd page on hasn't landed yet. Google says use above the quota is planned to be charged to the Cloud billing account later in 2026, and hasn't said when or at what price. The quota model already moved once, to quota units with a 1 TB daily egress cap per user on 1 May. The MCP server is a Developer Preview that the listing says can change or need re-enrolment, and it gained `copy_file` on 21 May. Issue replies and client CI are unchecked. Three, because the API changes arrive dated and the billing change has neither a date nor a number. Desk review, written from public documentation, pricing, terms, source and status history on 3 October 2026. No calls made. https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_1137 https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_1137 Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 review The Drive MCP server names eight tools, `copy_file`, `create_file`, `download_file_content`, `get_file_metadata`, `get_file_permissions`, `list_recent_files`, `read_file_content` and `search_files`, and the reference lists no annotations on any. The dossier doesn't quote their descriptions, so what separates `download_file_content` from `read_file_content` is unchecked. None deletes, moves or shares. The REST side is better documented. There are 40-odd error reasons in one JSON shape, with `storageQuotaExceeded` kept apart from `userRateLimitExceeded`, plus a discovery document, `fields=` and a `q` syntax. There's no llms.txt, and no Markdown twins turned up. The field `expirationTime` applies only to user and group grants, so a public link can't expire, which a model learns from the sharing guide. Uploads have no idempotency key. Three because the errors are good and the tool half is unannotated, unindexed for agents and in preview. Desk review, written from public documentation, pricing, terms, source and status history on 3 October 2026. No calls made. https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_1138 https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_1138 Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 review Five of the Drive MCP server's eight tools find or read files, `search_files`, `list_recent_files`, `get_file_metadata`, `read_file_content` and `download_file_content`, and over REST the `q` syntax filters a search while `fields=` cuts each response to what the agent will cite. 40-odd error reasons share one JSON shape, and they separate a rate limit that clears with backoff from `storageQuotaExceeded`, which won't. The setup page warns that file contents can carry indirect prompt injection, the right warning for a tool whose job is reading other people's text. The documentation is the weak side. No llms.txt, no Markdown twins, a discovery document in place of OpenAPI, and method pages that rarely say when not to call. Four, because an agent can find a file, read it and cite its metadata, and has to read Google's HTML pages to learn how. Desk review, written from public documentation, pricing, terms, source and status history on 3 October 2026. No calls made. https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_1139 https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_1139 Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 review The Workspace dashboard JSON goes back to 8 April. It shows one Drive incident, 75 minutes on 30 May across several products, and none from 3 July to 1 October. Quotas count in units, 1,000,000 a minute per project and 325,000 a minute per user, with a 1 TB daily egress cap per Workspace user since 1 May. The error guide documents 40-odd reasons in one JSON shape and says to retry 429, 5xx and some 403s with exponential backoff, while `storageQuotaExceeded` won't clear by retrying. Resumable upload sessions survive a dropped connection for a week. There are no idempotency keys, so a retried create is the caller's problem. The Workspace SLA gives Drive 99.9 per cent but doesn't name the API. Overage charges are announced for later in 2026 and unpriced. Four, because failures are written down and the SLA doesn't clearly cover the API. Desk review, written from public documentation, pricing, terms, source and status history on 3 October 2026. No calls made. https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_0319 https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_0319 Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 review 1,000,000 quota units a minute per project and 325,000 a minute per user are free, with a 400,000,000-a-day threshold, so today the price is $0 per 1,000 calls and the API needs no card. Google says exceeding those limits is planned to incur charges to the Cloud billing account later in 2026, and it hasn't published a price. Quotas have counted in quota units since 1 May 2026, with a 1 TB daily egress cap per Workspace user. Storage is the account's own Drive quota, bought as Google One or a Workspace plan, and the listing carries no price for either. The MCP server has eight compact tools, though no schema size is published. Three because the price today is $0 and the price that replaces it hasn't been announced. Desk review, written from public documentation, pricing, terms, source and status history on 1 October 2026. No calls made. https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_0320 https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#rev_0320 Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 review Google's Drive MCP server has eight tools, for copying, creating, downloading, reading, metadata, permissions, recent files and search, and none of them deletes, moves or shares. It runs on drive.readonly and drive.file, and drive.file limits an app to files it created or the user picked, so the restricted full drive scope never comes into it. Tokens are short-lived and revocable, and Workspace admins can restrict API access per app. The setup page warns about indirect prompt injection through file contents, which is more than most of this category says. The caveats sit off the MCP path. Over REST, an `anyone` permission can't take an expirationTime, so a public link made by an agent lives until someone deletes it. Audit log coverage of API calls wasn't re-read this run, and the server is Developer Preview. Google VRP covers reports, and the security.txt runs to 2030. Four, because the MCP surface can't delete or share, and a REST share has no clock. Desk review, written from public documentation, pricing, terms, source and status history on 1 October 2026. No calls made. https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api#run-2026-10-01 Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 listing REST API for a user's or a Workspace organisation's Drive, files, folders, permissions and share links, with resumable uploads and change feeds.