Google Forms: Add a question — MCP tool

Google Forms MCP tool: Adds a question to the form (a convenience wrapper over batchUpdate createItem).

Technical name: add_question

What task it solves

I want to add a question.

Adds a question to the form (a convenience wrapper over batchUpdate createItem).

When to use it

Use this capability when you need “Add a question” without doing the same work manually in the Google Forms interface. It runs only when an AI client calls it.

What to provide

• form_id — required. The form id — the long id from the form URL (docs.google.com/forms/d/<formId>/edit) or from create_form output.
• title — required. The question text shown to respondents.
• type — required. The question type.
• description — optional. Help text shown under the question.
• required — optional. Whether an answer is required to submit.
• index — optional. 0-based position to insert at; omitted = append after the last item.
• options — optional. The choices — required for radio, checkbox and dropdown.
• shuffle — optional. Shuffle option order per respondent (choice types).
• low — optional. Scale lower bound (default 1; scale type).
• high — optional. Scale upper bound (default 5; scale type).
• low_label — optional. Label for the lowest scale point.
• high_label — optional. Label for the highest scale point.
• include_time — optional. Date question also asks for a time of day.
• include_year — optional. Date question includes the year.
• duration — optional. Time question asks for an elapsed duration instead of a time of day.
• rating_scale_level — optional. Number of rating icons (3..10; default 5; rating type).
• rating_icon_type — optional. Rating icon (default star).

What it returns

Returns the created itemId and questionId from the batchUpdate replies.

What changes in Google Forms

The tool changes real Google Forms data as described above. The server does not promise an automatic rollback.

Example request

Add a question in Google Forms. Ask for any required identifiers that are missing.

Errors and limitations

Types: text (short answer), paragraph (long answer), radio (single choice), checkbox (multiple choice), dropdown, scale (linear scale low..high), date, time, rating (stars/hearts/thumbs). Choice types require options[]. index inserts at that 0-based position; omit it to append at the end (costs one extra read to count items). Quiz grading (points, correct answers, feedback) cannot be set here — after adding, use update_question with the questionItem.question.grading mask. File-upload questions cannot be created via the API, and question grids (questionGroupItem) need raw_request with a batchUpdate body.

Access also depends on token permissions, quotas, and upstream API limits.

Related MCP tools

• Delete an item — delete_item
• Move an item — move_item
• Update an item — update_question

Technical details

• Impact: changes data
• Group: Items and questions
• Description source: add_question registration in src/tools/items.ts
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