Google Compute Engine, verified

MCP server by Google Cloud · Verified

Create, start, stop and inspect Compute Engine VMs, disks, instance templates, instance groups and reservations.

OAuth sign-in (You sign in with the vendor the first time you connect)Streamable HTTP

Connect to Google Compute Engine

Google Compute Engine needs sign-in. Connect with its own URL:

https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp

Your client opens Google Cloud’s sign-in the first time you use it. The token stays between your client and Google Cloud.

Share this server

Opens this page, with the URL and setup steps.

mcp.tc/i/compute-engine

About

Connects an assistant to Google Compute Engine in a Google Cloud project. It can create, start, stop, reset, resize and delete VM instances, and inspect instances, attached disks, instance templates, managed instance groups, images, snapshots, reservations and commitments. It also lists machine types and accelerator types per zone and checks zone operations.

Runs as a hosted remote endpoint over streamable HTTP at https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp. Access uses Google OAuth 2.0 and is limited by the IAM permissions of the signed-in account. Several tools change or delete resources, so review requests before approving them.

What you can do

  • Create, start, stop, reset and delete VM instances
  • Change the machine type of a stopped instance
  • List instances and view basic instance info
  • Inspect disks, disk performance and attached disks
  • Browse instance templates and managed instance groups
  • List machine types, accelerator types, images and snapshots
  • View reservations and commitments
  • Check the status of zone operations

Tools 29

  • create_instanceCan delete

    Create a VM instance; defaults to e2-medium and a debian-12 image.

  • delete_instanceCan delete

    Delete a VM instance by project, zone and name.

  • start_instanceCan delete

    Start a VM instance.

  • stop_instanceCan delete

    Stop a VM instance.

  • reset_instanceCan delete

    Reset a VM instance.

  • get_instance_basic_infoRead-only

    Get name, ID, status, machine type, creation time and accelerators of an instance.

  • set_instance_machine_typeCan delete

    Set the machine type of a stopped instance.

  • list_instance_attached_disksRead-only

    List disks attached to an instance with their details.

  • list_instancesRead-only

    List VM instances in a zone with basic info.

  • get_instance_group_manager_basic_infoRead-only

    Get basic info about a managed instance group.

  • list_instance_group_managersRead-only

    List managed instance groups in a zone.

  • list_managed_instancesRead-only

    List instances managed by a managed instance group.

Show 17 more tools
  • list_instance_templatesRead-only

    List instance templates in a project.

  • get_instance_template_basic_infoRead-only

    Get basic info about an instance template.

  • get_instance_template_propertiesRead-only

    Get full instance properties of a template, including disks and network.

  • get_disk_basic_infoRead-only

    Get size, type, status and attach times of a disk.

  • get_disk_performance_configRead-only

    Get disk IOPS, throughput, block size and access mode.

  • list_disksRead-only

    List disks in a zone with basic info.

  • list_accelerator_typesRead-only

    List available accelerator types in a zone.

  • list_machine_typesRead-only

    List available machine types in a zone.

  • list_imagesRead-only

    List Compute Engine images in a project.

  • get_zone_operationRead-only

    Get status and errors of a zone operation.

  • get_reservation_basic_infoRead-only

    Get basic info about a reservation.

  • get_reservation_detailsRead-only

    Get detailed reservation properties and sharing settings.

  • list_reservationsRead-only

    List reservations in a zone.

  • list_commitmentsRead-only

    List commitments in a region.

  • get_commitment_basic_infoRead-only

    Get basic info about a regional commitment.

  • list_commitment_reservationsRead-only

    List reservations that belong to a commitment.

  • list_snapshotsRead-only

    List disk snapshots in a project.

Read from the live server on 3 Oct 2026. Read-only, Writes and Can delete are hints the server declares; your client decides whether to ask before running a tool.

Example prompts

  • List the VM instances in zone us-central1-a of project my-project

  • Create a VM named test-vm in europe-west1-b with the default image

  • Stop the instance web-1 in us-east1-b and confirm the operation finished

  • Show the properties of instance template web-template in my-project

Set up

Every client connects to compute.googleapis.com, and Google Cloud asks you to sign in the first time. Pick yours; the page remembers your choice.

Claude Code

  1. Run this in a terminal, in your project folder:
claude mcp add --transport http compute-engine https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp
  1. Start Claude Code, type /mcp, pick compute-engine and choose Authenticate. A browser window opens for the Google Cloud sign-in.

Add --scope user to make it available in every project, not just this one.

Claude Desktop

  1. Open Settings → Connectors and click Add custom connector.
  2. Name it Google Compute Engine and paste this URL:
https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp
  1. Click Add, then Connect, and sign in when Google Cloud asks.

Claude Desktop’s JSON config file only starts local servers. Remote servers go through Connectors, and connectors you add on claude.ai show up here too.

claude.ai

  1. Open the connector form on claude.ai. This button fills in the name and URL for you:
  1. Check that the URL reads https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp and click Add.
  2. Click Connect and sign in when Google Cloud asks.

Free plans allow one custom connector. On Team and Enterprise plans an owner adds it under Organization settings → Connectors.

ChatGPT

  1. On chatgpt.com, open Settings → Security and login and turn on Developer mode.
  2. Go to chatgpt.com/plugins and click + to create an app for a remote MCP server.
  3. Paste https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp as the server URL and choose OAuth. ChatGPT sends you to Google Cloud to sign in.

Developer mode is available on the web for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts.

Cursor

Or add it by hand to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (all projects) or .cursor/mcp.json (this project):

mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "compute-engine": {
      "url": "https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Cursor shows Needs login next to the server. Click it to sign in.

VS Code

Or from a terminal:

code --add-mcp '{"name":"compute-engine","type":"http","url":"https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp"}'

Or commit it to the repo in .vscode/mcp.json:

.vscode/mcp.json
{
  "servers": {
    "compute-engine": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

VS Code asks you to sign in the first time the server starts.

Devin Desktop

  1. Add it to ~/.config/devin/mcp_config.json (macOS and Linux) or %APPDATA%\devin\mcp_config.json (Windows):
mcp_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "compute-engine": {
      "serverUrl": "https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
  1. Refresh the MCP server list in Cascade and sign in when asked.

Devin Desktop is the new name for Windsurf. It reads serverUrl (or url) for remote servers.

Codex

codex mcp add compute-engine --url https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp
codex mcp login compute-engine

Or edit ~/.codex/config.toml directly:

config.toml
[mcp_servers.compute-engine]
url = "https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp"

Gemini CLI

gemini mcp add --transport http compute-engine https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp

Then, inside Gemini CLI, run /mcp auth compute-engine to sign in.

This adds it to the current project. Add -s user to use it everywhere.

Any client

Most clients accept this shape. Some name the URL field differently: serverUrl in Devin Desktop, httpUrl in Gemini CLI’s settings file.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "compute-engine": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Zed puts servers under context_servers in its settings. Cline needs "type": "streamableHttp", or it assumes SSE.

Client only starts local servers? Bridge it with npx -y mcp-remote https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp.

FAQ

Can I paste mcp.tc/i/compute-engine into my MCP client?

No. mcp.tc links are pages, not server addresses. Connect with https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp, so your client talks to Google Compute Engine directly. The sign-in token only works there anyway. The quick link is for sharing: it opens this page, with setup steps for every client.

Does Google Compute Engine need an API key or a sign-in?

Yes, you need a Google Cloud account. The first time your client connects, it opens Google Cloud’s sign-in page. The token goes straight to the server’s own URL, never through mcp.tc.

Is Google Compute Engine a remote or a local server?

Remote. Google Cloud hosts it at https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp, and it speaks Streamable HTTP. There’s nothing to install.

What can Google Compute Engine do?

It has 29 tools, including create_instance, delete_instance and start_instance. You can create, start, stop, reset and delete VM instances, change the machine type of a stopped instance and list instances and view basic instance info.

Which clients can use it?

Any client that supports remote MCP servers: Claude Code, Claude Desktop, claude.ai, ChatGPT in developer mode, Cursor, VS Code, Devin Desktop, Codex, Gemini CLI, Zed and others. The setup steps cover each one.

Who wrote this page?

mcp.tc’s robot read Google Compute Engine’s own metadata (its MCP handshake, tool list and public pages), and an AI model drafted the text from it. A person reviews anything the checks can’t confirm. The text can still be wrong, so if you spot a mistake, use Report this listing on this page.

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mcp.tc isn’t affiliated with Google Cloud. This page was built from Google Compute Engine’s public metadata, last checked on 3 Oct 2026, and an AI model wrote the description, so it can be wrong. Names and marks belong to their owners. Something off? Report this listing.