Google Forms: Publish or unpublish a form — MCP tool

Google Forms MCP tool: Publishes or unpublishes the form and opens/closes response collection.

Technical name: set_publish_settings

What task it solves

I want to change a form's publishing state.

Publishes or unpublishes the form and opens/closes response collection.

When to use it

Use this capability when you need “Publish or unpublish a form” 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.
• is_published — required. true = published (respondents can open it), false = unpublished draft.
• is_accepting_responses — optional. Whether the form accepts new responses (defaults to the value of is_published).

What it returns

Returns compact JSON from the upstream API or a clear MCP tool error. The exact fields depend on the operation and are documented in the technical reference.

What changes in Google Forms

The source marks the entire “Publish or unpublish a form” call as destructive. The exact effect depends on the selected action and is described below; review the parameters and reversibility before calling it.

Example request

Publish or unpublish a form in Google Forms. Ask for any required identifiers that are missing. Show me the exact change and wait for confirmation first.

Errors and limitations

is_accepting_responses defaults to mirroring is_published (publish = start accepting, unpublish = stop). Use is_published=true with is_accepting_responses=false to keep a published form visible but closed. Fails on legacy forms created before the publish model existed — those are managed only in the Forms UI.

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

Related MCP tools

• Create a form — create_form
• Get a form — get_form
• Update form info — update_form_info
• Update form settings — update_form_settings

Technical details

• Impact: destructive operation
• Group: Forms
• Description source: set_publish_settings registration in src/tools/forms.ts
• Full technical reference
• All MCP capabilities