Google Developer Knowledge MCP server

Endpoint: https://developerknowledge.googleapis.com/mcp · Authentication: API key header

Searches, retrieves, and answers questions from Google developer documentation for Firebase, Google Cloud, Android, Maps, and other Google platforms. Requires a Google Cloud API key with the Developer Knowledge API enabled, sent in the X-Goog-Api-Key header.

How do I authenticate?

Create a scoped API key with the provider and configure X-Goog-Api-Key in your client. Use the generated setup below; do not put the key in the endpoint URL.

Authentication and connection guide

Connection specification

Remote endpoint
https://developerknowledge.googleapis.com/mcp
Browser access
Not yet measured
Declared MCP transport
Streamable HTTP
Live-validated MCP transport
Streamable HTTP — Observed by the latest catalog validation
Declared authentication
API key
Detected authentication
API key detected or retained from publisher evidence
Protocol lifecycle
Stateful MCP · 2025-11-25
Required header
X-Goog-Api-Key — Google Cloud API key restricted to the Developer Knowledge API
Authorization server
https://accounts.google.com/

Product documentation · Official listing documentation

Provider guidance

  • Tool listing succeeded without credentials in the 2026-10-20 audit; tool calls require the API key. Google also documents OAuth and Application Default Credentials for supported clients.

More Documentation MCP servers · Browse all MCP servers · Test this endpoint in the MCP Playground

Authorization setup

API key required

Use the publisher-documented API key route. Keep the credential in protected client storage and replace only the named placeholder at connection time.

Safe header template: <GOOGLE_API_KEY>. Replace only the named placeholder in protected client configuration.

Publisher documentation

Connect it

Live-validated endpoint: https://developerknowledge.googleapis.com/mcp · Streamable HTTP. API key authentication uses the publisher-documented header name when available.

Agent prompt for Claude Code or Codex
Add the Google Developer Knowledge MCP server to my MCP client configuration and verify that it works.

What it is: Searches, retrieves, and answers questions from Google developer documentation for Firebase, Google Cloud, Android, Maps, and other Google platforms. Requires a Google Cloud API key with the Developer Knowledge API enabled, sent in the X-Goog-Api-Key header.
Server URL: https://developerknowledge.googleapis.com/mcp
Transport: Streamable HTTP (remote MCP server, no local install).
Authentication: API key. API key authentication uses the publisher-documented header name when available.
Tools (3, as last observed by mcptest): answer_query, get_documents, search_documents.
Reference: https://mcptest.io/servers/google-developer-knowledge/

Steps:
1. Work out which MCP client I use (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code or another) and add the server under the name "google-developer-knowledge" in that client's MCP configuration, user scope unless I ask otherwise.
   Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http --scope user --header 'X-Goog-Api-Key: '"${GOOGLE_API_KEY}" 'google-developer-knowledge' 'https://developerknowledge.googleapis.com/mcp'
   Other clients: use the setup for that client on the reference page.
2. Never write a credential value into a file that could be committed; reference an environment variable or the client's secret store, and ask me for any value you need.
3. Verify: connect to the server and call tools/list. Confirm the tools above are listed, and report any sign-in step I still have to complete.
MCP client

Claude Code setup

Run in a terminal. This user-scoped entry is available across projects.

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user --header 'X-Goog-Api-Key: '"${GOOGLE_API_KEY}" 'google-developer-knowledge' 'https://developerknowledge.googleapis.com/mcp'
  • Store GOOGLE_API_KEY in your operating system keychain, secret manager, or protected environment; never commit the value. The X-Goog-Api-Key header syntax is <GOOGLE_API_KEY>.

Codex CLI setup

Add to ~/.codex/config.toml, then securely set GOOGLE_API_KEY_HEADER to the raw credential value, which is the complete X-Goog-Api-Key header value.

[mcp_servers.google-developer-knowledge]
url = "https://developerknowledge.googleapis.com/mcp"
env_http_headers = { "X-Goog-Api-Key" = "GOOGLE_API_KEY_HEADER" }
  • Store GOOGLE_API_KEY_HEADER in your operating system keychain, secret manager, or protected environment; never commit the value. Set it to the raw credential value, which is the complete X-Goog-Api-Key header value.

Cursor setup

Add to .cursor/mcp.json for this project, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for all projects.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-developer-knowledge": {
      "url": "https://developerknowledge.googleapis.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-Goog-Api-Key": "${env:GOOGLE_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}
  • Store GOOGLE_API_KEY in your operating system keychain, secret manager, or protected environment; never commit the value. The X-Goog-Api-Key header syntax is <GOOGLE_API_KEY>.

VS Code setup

Add to .vscode/mcp.json, or run “MCP: Open User Configuration” for a private user-level entry.

{
  "servers": {
    "google-developer-knowledge": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://developerknowledge.googleapis.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-Goog-Api-Key": "${input:google_api_key}"
      }
    }
  },
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "google_api_key",
      "description": "GOOGLE_API_KEY for Google Developer Knowledge",
      "password": true
    }
  ]
}
  • VS Code requests GOOGLE_API_KEY as a masked input; use a secret manager and do not put a default value in mcp.json. The X-Goog-Api-Key syntax remains <GOOGLE_API_KEY>.

Claude setup

Add the endpoint above in Claude:

  • Customize > Connectors > Add custom connector
  • Team/Enterprise: Organization settings > Connectors > Add > Custom > Web

Claude Desktop setup

Add the endpoint above in Claude Desktop:

  • Remote: Customize > Connectors (same as claude.ai)
  • Local: Settings > Developer > Edit Config, or Settings > Extensions for .mcpb files
  • ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows), local servers only

ChatGPT setup

Add the endpoint above in ChatGPT:

  • ChatGPT web: Plugins > Add custom MCP server, then configure authentication and accept the risk warning

Windsurf setup

Add the endpoint above in Windsurf:

  • ~/.config/devin/mcp_config.json (%APPDATA%\devin\mcp_config.json on Windows), serverUrl or url
  • Cascade panel > ... > MCPs > Open MCP config file

Gemini CLI setup

Add the endpoint above in Gemini CLI:

  • gemini mcp add --transport http <name> <url>
  • ~/.gemini/settings.json (user) or .gemini/settings.json (project), mcpServers

MCP SDK setup

Add the endpoint above in MCP SDK:

  • Programmatic: new Client(...).connect(new StreamableHTTPClientTransport(url))

Notes for every client

  • Provider guidance: Tool listing succeeded without credentials in the 2026-10-20 audit; tool calls require the API key. Google also documents OAuth and Application Default Credentials for supported clients.

Client compatibility

ClientStatusWhy
Claude CodeSupportedClaude Code supports Streamable HTTP servers and API key headers.
CodexSupportedCodex supports Streamable HTTP servers and API key headers.
CursorSupportedCursor supports Streamable HTTP servers and API key headers.
VS CodeSupportedVS Code supports Streamable HTTP servers and API key headers.
ClaudePartialClaude supports API key headers only in limited availability. static_headers: beta, for a limited set of organizations.
Claude DesktopPartialClaude Desktop supports API key headers only in limited availability. static_headers: beta, for a limited set of organizations.
ChatGPTNot supportedChatGPT does not support API key headers. ChatGPT cannot present custom API keys.
WindsurfSupportedWindsurf supports Streamable HTTP servers and API key headers.
Gemini CLISupportedGemini CLI supports Streamable HTTP servers and API key headers.
MCP SDKSupportedMCP SDK supports Streamable HTTP servers and API key headers.

Computed from this server's validated transport, protocol and authentication against documented client support. Checks the catalog has not observed are not counted.

Similar servers

  • Context7 — Context7 provides up-to-date, version-specific library documentation and code examples directly from the source. No authentication
  • DeepWiki — DeepWiki provides conversational, up-to-date documentation for public GitHub repositories. No authentication
  • MDN — Open remote MCP server for MDN web documentation, search, and browser compatibility data. No authentication
  • Cloudflare Docs — Searches Cloudflare's developer documentation for reference material on Workers, R2, D1, DNS, Zero Trust, and other Cloudflare products. No authentication is required. No authentication
  • AWS Knowledge — Searches and reads AWS documentation, API references, What's New posts, and regional service availability. No authentication is required. No authentication
  • Microsoft Learn — Searches and fetches Microsoft Learn documentation and official code samples for Azure, .NET, Microsoft 365, and other Microsoft products. No authentication is required. No authentication

Guides for this server

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Latest validation evidence

Validation status
Online when last tested
Validation checked at
Oct 26, 2026 at 11:06 AM
Validation detail
Negotiated stateful MCP 2025-11-25 at https://developerknowledge.googleapis.com/mcp; detected transport streamable-http; authentication api-key

Tool inventory

What the catalog validator observed on at https://developerknowledge.googleapis.com/mcp without credentials. The live server may have changed since; connect in the Playground for the current list.

Tools provided by Google Developer Knowledge 3

Some details were sanitized for public display.

  • answer_queryoutputSchema declared

    Use answer_query to get a grounded, synthesized conceptual answer to a high-level question about Google developer products. For exact code samples, CLI flags, specific error messages, or full document walkthroughs, prefer `search_documents` followed by `get_documents` instead. This tool has limited quota. This tool will synthesize information from the corpus to generate an answer to the query. answer_query grounds answers using the same corpus as search_documents. This tool returns the generated answer_text and a list of document names (references) used to generate the answer. Always cite the

    Input query: string
    • query: stringrequired

      Required. The query to answer.

  • get_documentsoutputSchema declared

    Use this tool to retrieve the full content of a single document or up to 20 documents in a single call. The document names should be obtained from either the `parent` field of results from a call to the `search_documents` tool or the `references` field returned by the `answer_query` tool. Set the `names` parameter to a list of document names (`documents/...`), and cite the authoritative source documents used in your final response.

    Input names: array
    • names: arrayrequired

      Required. The names of the documents to retrieve, as returned by the `parent` field of `search_documents` results or the `references` field of `answer_query`. A maximum of 20 documents can be retrieved in one call. The documents are returned in the same order as the `names` in the request. Format: `documents/{uri_without_scheme}` Example: `documents/docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/creating-buckets`

  • search_documentsoutputSchema declared

    Use this tool to find documentation about Google developer products. The documents contain official APIs, code snippets, release notes, best practices, guides, debugging info, and more. It covers the following products and domains: * ADK: adk.dev * Android: developer.android.com * Apigee: docs.apigee.com * Chrome: developer.chrome.com * Dart: dart.dev * Firebase: firebase.google.com * Flutter: docs.flutter.dev * Fuchsia: fuchsia.dev * Gemini CLI: geminicli.com * Genkit: genkit.dev * Go: go.dev * Google AI: ai.google.dev * Google Antigravity: antigravity.google * Google Cloud: cloud.google.com

    Input query: string
    • query: stringrequired

      Required. The raw query string provided by the user, such as "How to create a Cloud Storage bucket?".