# PasteSheet — a Google Sheets API and MCP server PasteSheet turns any public Google Sheet into a cached JSON REST API and a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, so apps and AI agents can read spreadsheet data without a backend, a Google Cloud project or an API key. *Source: * ## How it works 1. Paste a Google Sheet share URL. PasteSheet reads its tabs, headers and rows, and infers each column's type. 2. You get a permanent REST endpoint backed by a cache whose TTL you control, and the same endpoint doubles as an MCP server. 3. Query it from an app, a no-code tool, or an AI agent — filtered, searched, sorted and paginated. ## What you get - A JSON REST endpoint at `/api/{id}`, with filtering, sorting, search and pagination as plain URL parameters. - An MCP server at `/mcp/sheets/{id}` exposing three read-only tools: `list_tabs`, `get_schema` and `query_rows`. Works with Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor. - Cached reads with a configurable TTL (default 5 minutes; 30 seconds to 1 hour on paid plans). - Schema drift detection: PasteSheet snapshots your columns on every read and can alert you, or fail loudly, when they change. - Read-only by design. PasteSheet never writes back to your spreadsheet. ## Pricing The free plan includes 3 endpoints and 2,000 requests a month, with MCP, and needs no credit card. Full plans, limits and prices: ## Frequently asked questions ### Does my Google Sheet have to be public? It has to be readable by anyone with the link — PasteSheet reads published and link-shared sheets, so a sheet locked to named accounts will not connect. Making a sheet link-readable does not make it findable: nobody can reach it without the URL, and PasteSheet never exposes the underlying Google URL. If you do not want the data itself public, put the endpoint on a paid plan and mark it private, which requires an API key on every request. ### Do I need a Google Cloud project or an API key? No. There is no Google Cloud project to create, no OAuth client to configure, no service account, and no Google API key. You paste the sheet's share URL and the endpoint exists — that is the entire setup. This is the main practical difference between PasteSheet and Google's own Sheets API or MCP server, both of which require you to stand up a Cloud project first. ### How quickly do edits to my sheet show up in the API? Rows are cached, so an edit appears once the cache expires. The default TTL is 5 minutes; paid plans can tune it anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 hour depending on whether you care more about freshness or about speed. You can also refresh an endpoint by hand at any moment to push a change through immediately, and a manual refresh does not count against your monthly request quota. ### Can Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor read my sheet directly? Yes. Every endpoint is also a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, so you can connect it to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or any MCP client and the agent queries your sheet as a native tool — it can list tabs, read the column schema, and filter rows. MCP is included on every plan, including the free one. There is nothing extra to deploy: the endpoint you already have is the MCP server. ### Can an AI agent change or delete my data? No. PasteSheet is read-only by design and never writes back to your spreadsheet. The MCP server exposes exactly three tools — list tabs, get schema, query rows — and none of them can create, edit, or delete anything. That is a deliberate difference from account-connection tools like Google's own MCP or Zapier, where an agent granted access to your sheet can overwrite your source of truth. ### What happens if I rename or reorder a column? The endpoint keeps serving, but the shape of the JSON changes with your sheet — which is exactly how a spreadsheet-backed API breaks a live site silently. PasteSheet snapshots your column schema on every read and compares it against the last known one, so on a paid plan you get an email or webhook alert the moment a column is renamed, added, or dropped. You can also lock the schema, which makes the endpoint fail loudly rather than quietly serve the wrong shape. ### Is PasteSheet really free? Yes — the free plan gives you 3 endpoints and 2,000 requests a month, with MCP included, no credit card, and no expiry. It is a real free tier meant to run a small site or a personal agent, not a trial that stops working after a fortnight. You only need a paid plan when you want more endpoints, more traffic, private endpoints, a custom cache TTL, or schema alerts. --- [PasteSheet](https://pastesheet.com) turns any Google Sheet into a live REST API and MCP server for AI agents — no backend, no code. Canonical HTML version of this page: