How to integrate Google Sheets MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

This guide walks you through connecting Google Sheets to the OpenAI Agents SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Google Sheets agent that can add a new sheet named 'q3 sales', update all rows where status is 'pending', create a pie chart of expenses by category through natural language commands. This guide will help you understand how to give your OpenAI Agents SDK agent real control over a Google Sheets account through Composio's Google Sheets MCP server. Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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Google Sheets is a cloud-based spreadsheet tool for real-time collaboration and data analysis. It lets teams work together from anywhere, updating information instantly.

42 Tools16 Triggers

Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Google Sheets to the OpenAI Agents SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Google Sheets agent that can add a new sheet named 'q3 sales', update all rows where status is 'pending', create a pie chart of expenses by category through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your OpenAI Agents SDK agent real control over a Google Sheets account through Composio's Google Sheets MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your OpenAI and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Google Sheets
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Google Sheets as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Google Sheets operations

What is OpenAI Agents SDK?

The OpenAI Agents SDK is a lightweight framework for building AI agents that can use tools and maintain conversation state. It provides a simple interface for creating agents with hosted MCP tool support.

Key features include:

  • Hosted MCP Tools: Connect to external services through hosted MCP endpoints
  • SQLite Sessions: Persist conversation history across interactions
  • Simple API: Clean interface with Agent, Runner, and tool configuration
  • Streaming Support: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications

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

The Google Sheets 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 Sheets account. It provides structured and secure access to your spreadsheets, so your agent can perform actions like creating new sheets, updating data, generating charts, and automating spreadsheet workflows on your behalf.

  • Spreadsheet creation and management: Instantly create new Google Sheets and add new worksheets (tabs) to existing spreadsheets whenever you need extra space or organization.
  • Bulk data reading and updating: Retrieve specific data ranges, aggregate column data, or update multiple rows and cells at once—perfect for reporting or syncing external data.
  • Automated chart generation: Direct your agent to build charts from selected data, making visualization and analysis faster and easier right inside your sheets.
  • Smart filtering and data cleanup: Have the agent clear filters, remove cell contents, or append rows and columns to keep your sheets tidy and up to date.
  • Dynamic data manipulation: Use advanced features like batch updates with data filters and aggregate operations to transform, filter, or summarize spreadsheet data efficiently.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step09 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Composio API Key and OpenAI API Key
  • Primary know-how of OpenAI Agents SDK
  • A live Google Sheets project
  • Some knowledge of Python or Typescript
2

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key
3

Install dependencies

npm install @composio/openai-agents @openai/agents dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the OpenAI Agents SDK.

4

Set up environment variables

bash
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...your-api-key
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your-api-key
USER_ID=composio_user@gmail.com

Create a .env file and add your OpenAI and Composio API keys.

5

Import dependencies

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { OpenAIAgentsProvider } from '@composio/openai-agents';
import { Agent, hostedMcpTool, run, OpenAIConversationsSession } from '@openai/agents';
import * as readline from 'readline';
What's happening:
  • You're importing all necessary libraries.
  • The Composio and OpenAIAgentsProvider classes are imported to connect your OpenAI agent to Composio tools like Google Sheets.
6

Set up the Composio instance

dotenv.config();

const composioApiKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const userId = process.env.USER_ID;

if (!composioApiKey) {
  throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key');
}
if (!userId) {
  throw new Error('USER_ID is not set');
}

// Initialize Composio
const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioApiKey,
  provider: new OpenAIAgentsProvider(),
});
What's happening:
  • dotenv.config() loads your .env file so COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID are available as environment variables.
  • Creating a Composio instance using the API Key and OpenAIAgentsProvider class.
7

Create a Tool Router session

// Create Tool Router session for Google Sheets
const session = await composio.create(userId as string, {
  toolkits: ['googlesheets'],
});
const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;

What is happening:

  • You give the Tool Router the user id and the toolkits you want available. Here, it is only googlesheets.
  • The router checks the user's Google Sheets connection and prepares the MCP endpoint.
  • The returned session.mcp.url is the MCP URL that your agent will use to access Google Sheets.
  • This approach keeps things lightweight and lets the agent request Google Sheets tools only when needed during the conversation.
8

Configure the agent

// Configure agent with MCP tool
const agent = new Agent({
  name: 'Assistant',
  model: 'gpt-5',
  instructions:
    'You are a helpful assistant that can access Google Sheets. Help users perform Google Sheets operations through natural language.',
  tools: [
    hostedMcpTool({
      serverLabel: 'tool_router',
      serverUrl: mcpUrl,
      headers: { 'x-api-key': composioApiKey },
      requireApproval: 'never',
    }),
  ],
});
What's happening:
  • We're creating an Agent instance with a name, model (gpt-5), and clear instructions about its purpose.
  • The agent's instructions tell it that it can access Google Sheets and help with queries, inserts, updates, authentication, and fetching database information.
  • The tools array includes a hostedMcpTool that connects to the MCP server URL we created earlier.
  • The headers object includes the Composio API key for secure authentication with the MCP server.
  • requireApproval: 'never' means the agent can execute Google Sheets operations without asking for permission each time, making interactions smoother.
9

Start chat loop and handle conversation

// Keep conversation state across turns
const conversationSession = new OpenAIConversationsSession();

// Simple CLI
const rl = readline.createInterface({
  input: process.stdin,
  output: process.stdout,
  prompt: 'You: ',
});

console.log('\nComposio Tool Router session created.');
console.log('\nChat started. Type your requests below.');
console.log("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n");

try {
  const first = await run(agent, 'What can you help me with?', { session: conversationSession });
  console.log(`Assistant: ${first.finalOutput}\n`);
} catch (e) {
  console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
}

rl.prompt();

rl.on('line', async (userInput) => {
  const text = userInput.trim();

  if (['exit', 'quit', 'q'].includes(text.toLowerCase())) {
    console.log('Goodbye!');
    rl.close();
    process.exit(0);
  }

  if (!text) {
    rl.prompt();
    return;
  }

  try {
    const result = await run(agent, text, { session: conversationSession });
    console.log(`\nAssistant: ${result.finalOutput}\n`);
  } catch (e) {
    console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
  }

  rl.prompt();
});

rl.on('close', () => {
  console.log('\n👋 Session ended.');
  process.exit(0);
});
What's happening:
  • The program prints a session URL that you visit to authorize Google Sheets.
  • After authorization, the chat begins.
  • Each message you type is processed by the agent using run().
  • The responses are printed to the console.
  • Typing exit, quit, or q cleanly ends the chat.

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Google Sheets and OpenAI Agents SDK:

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { OpenAIAgentsProvider } from '@composio/openai-agents';
import { Agent, hostedMcpTool, run, OpenAIConversationsSession } from '@openai/agents';
import * as readline from 'readline';

const composioApiKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const userId = process.env.USER_ID;

if (!composioApiKey) {
  throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key');
}
if (!userId) {
  throw new Error('USER_ID is not set');
}

// Initialize Composio
const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioApiKey,
  provider: new OpenAIAgentsProvider(),
});

async function main() {
  // Create Tool Router session
  const session = await composio.create(userId as string, {
    toolkits: ['googlesheets'],
  });
  const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;

  // Configure agent with MCP tool
  const agent = new Agent({
    name: 'Assistant',
    model: 'gpt-5',
    instructions:
      'You are a helpful assistant that can access Google Sheets. Help users perform Google Sheets operations through natural language.',
    tools: [
      hostedMcpTool({
        serverLabel: 'tool_router',
        serverUrl: mcpUrl,
        headers: { 'x-api-key': composioApiKey },
        requireApproval: 'never',
      }),
    ],
  });

  // Keep conversation state across turns
  const conversationSession = new OpenAIConversationsSession();

  // Simple CLI
  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: 'You: ',
  });

  console.log('\nComposio Tool Router session created.');
  console.log('\nChat started. Type your requests below.');
  console.log("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n");

  try {
    const first = await run(agent, 'What can you help me with?', { session: conversationSession });
    console.log(`Assistant: ${first.finalOutput}\n`);
  } catch (e) {
    console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
  }

  rl.prompt();

  rl.on('line', async (userInput) => {
    const text = userInput.trim();

    if (['exit', 'quit', 'q'].includes(text.toLowerCase())) {
      console.log('Goodbye!');
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }

    if (!text) {
      rl.prompt();
      return;
    }

    try {
      const result = await run(agent, text, { session: conversationSession });
      console.log(`\nAssistant: ${result.finalOutput}\n`);
    } catch (e) {
      console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
    }

    rl.prompt();
  });

  rl.on('close', () => {
    console.log('\nSession ended.');
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error('Fatal error:', err);
  process.exit(1);
});

Conclusion

This was a starter code for integrating Google Sheets MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK to build a functional AI agent that can interact with Google Sheets.

Key features:

  • Hosted MCP tool integration through Composio's Tool Router
  • SQLite session persistence for conversation history
  • Simple async chat loop for interactive testing
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.
TOOLS & TRIGGERS

Supported Tools and Triggers

Every Google Sheets action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Add Sheet to Existing Spreadsheet

Adds a new sheet to a spreadsheet.

Aggregate Column Data

Searches for rows where a specific column matches a value and performs mathematical operations on data from another column.

Append Dimension

Tool to append new rows or columns to a sheet, increasing its size.

Auto-Resize Rows or Columns

Auto-fit column widths or row heights for a dimension range using batchUpdate.

Batch Clear Values By Data Filter

Clears one or more ranges of values from a spreadsheet using data filters.

Batch get spreadsheet

Retrieves data from specified cell ranges in a Google Spreadsheet.

Batch Update Values by Data Filter

Tool to update values in ranges matching data filters.

Clear Basic Filter

Tool to clear the basic filter from a sheet.

Clear spreadsheet values

Clears cell content (preserving formatting and notes) from a specified A1 notation range in a Google Spreadsheet; the range must correspond to an existing sheet and cells.

Create Chart in Google Sheets

Create a chart in a Google Sheets spreadsheet using the specified data range and chart type.

Create a Google Sheet

Creates a new Google Spreadsheet in Google Drive.

Create spreadsheet column

Creates a new column in a Google Spreadsheet.

Create spreadsheet row

Inserts a new, empty row into a specified sheet of a Google Spreadsheet at a given index, optionally inheriting formatting from the row above.

Delete Chart from Google Sheets

Delete an existing chart from a Google Sheets spreadsheet.

Delete Dimension (Rows/Columns)

Tool to delete specified rows or columns from a sheet in a Google Spreadsheet.

Delete Sheet

Tool to delete a sheet (worksheet) from a spreadsheet.

Find and Replace in Spreadsheet

Tool to find and replace text in a Google Spreadsheet.

Format cell

Applies text and background cell formatting to a specified range in a Google Sheets worksheet.

Get conditional format rules

List conditional formatting rules for each sheet (or a selected sheet) in a normalized, easy-to-edit form.

Get Data Validation Rules

Tool to extract data validation rules from a Google Sheets spreadsheet.

Get sheet names

Lists all worksheet names from a specified Google Spreadsheet (which must exist), useful for discovering sheets before further operations.

Get Spreadsheet by Data Filter

Returns the spreadsheet at the given ID, filtered by the specified data filters.

Get spreadsheet info

Retrieves metadata for a Google Spreadsheet using its ID.

Insert Dimension in Google Sheet

Tool to insert new rows or columns into a sheet at a specified location.

Look up spreadsheet row

Finds the first row in a Google Spreadsheet where a cell's entire content exactly matches the query string, searching within a specified A1 notation range or the first sheet by default.

Mutate conditional format rules

Add, update, delete, or reorder conditional format rules on a Google Sheet.

Search Developer Metadata

Tool to search for developer metadata in a spreadsheet.

Search Spreadsheets

Search for Google Spreadsheets using various filters including name, content, date ranges, and more.

Set Basic Filter

Tool to set a basic filter on a sheet in a Google Spreadsheet.

Set Data Validation Rule

Tool to set or clear data validation rules (including dropdowns) on a range in Google Sheets.

Copy Sheet to Another Spreadsheet

Tool to copy a single sheet from a spreadsheet to another spreadsheet.

Append Values to Spreadsheet

Tool to append values to a spreadsheet.

Batch Clear Spreadsheet Values

Tool to clear one or more ranges of values from a spreadsheet.

Batch Get Spreadsheet Values by Data Filter

Tool to return one or more ranges of values from a spreadsheet that match the specified data filters.

Update Chart in Google Sheets

Update the specification of an existing chart in a Google Sheets spreadsheet.

Update Dimension Properties (Hide/Unhide & Resize)

Tool to hide/unhide rows or columns and set row heights or column widths.

Update Sheet Properties

Tool to update properties of a sheet (worksheet) within a Google Spreadsheet, such as its title, index, visibility, tab color, or grid properties.

Update Spreadsheet Properties

Tool to update SPREADSHEET-LEVEL properties such as the spreadsheet's title, locale, time zone, or auto-recalculation settings.

Batch update spreadsheet values

Tool to set values in one or more ranges of a spreadsheet.

Upsert Rows (Smart Update/Insert)

Upsert rows - update existing rows by key, append new ones.

Get spreadsheet values

Returns a range of values from a spreadsheet.

Update spreadsheet values

Tool to set values in a range of a Google Spreadsheet.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

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

Yes, you can. OpenAI Agents SDK 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 Sheets tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Google Sheets 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.

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 Sheets data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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