A1 AI engineering company GitHub
Connect the Google Sheets MCP server to your AI agent Open source, MIT, on npm. Setup instructions for Claude, Cursor and Codex are in the repository; adoption questions — Telegram. GitHub repository Telegram

Google Sheets: Write values to a range — MCP tool

Google Sheets MCP tool: Overwrites one A1 range with a 2-D values matrix (rows first) and returns updatedRange/updatedRows/updatedColumns/updatedCells.

Technical name: write_values

What task it solves

I want to write values into a range.

Overwrites one A1 range with a 2-D values matrix (rows first) and returns updatedRange/updatedRows/updatedColumns/updatedCells. The matrix is anchored at the range's top-left corner; cells beyond the matrix keep their old content, and a null entry skips (does not clear) that cell — use clear_values to empty cells. value_input_option USER_ENTERED (default) parses input like typing in the UI: "=SUM(A1:A10)" becomes a live formula, "1,234" and "2026-01-15" become number/date per the spreadsheet locale; RAW stores everything as literal values. For several ranges use batch_write_values (one quota unit instead of N).

When to use it

Use this capability when you need “Write values to a range” without doing the same work manually in the Google Sheets interface. It runs only when an AI client calls it.

What to provide

  • spreadsheet_id — required. The spreadsheet id — the long id from the URL (docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/<spreadsheetId>/edit) or from create_spreadsheet / search_spreadsheets output.
  • range — required. A1-notation range, e.g. "Sheet1!A1:C10", "'My sheet'!B2:D" (quote titles with spaces) or a bare sheet title for the whole sheet.
  • values — required. 2-D array of cell values, outer array = rows: [["Name","Score"],["Ada",42]]. null leaves the existing cell untouched.
  • value_input_option — optional. USER_ENTERED (default) parses formulas/numbers/dates; RAW stores literal strings.
  • include_values_in_response — optional. Return the written cells (as rendered) in the response.

What it returns

Overwrites one A1 range with a 2-D values matrix (rows first) and returns updatedRange/updatedRows/updatedColumns/updatedCells. The matrix is anchored at the range's top-left corner; cells beyond the matrix keep their old content, and a null entry skips (does not clear) that cell — use clear_values to empty cells. value_input_option USER_ENTERED (default) parses input like typing in the UI: "=SUM(A1:A10)" becomes a live formula, "1,234" and "2026-01-15" become number/date per the spreadsheet locale; RAW stores everything as literal values. For several ranges use batch_write_values (one quota unit instead of N).

What changes in Google Sheets

The call changes the live spreadsheet immediately, and some of its actions remove existing data or objects outright — removed sheets, rows, values, rules or access cannot be restored through the API. Treat every destructive action as final and double-check ids and indexes (via get_spreadsheet) before calling.

Example request

Write values to a range in Google Sheets. Ask for any required identifiers that are missing.

Errors and limitations

A null entry skips a cell rather than clearing it (use clear_values to empty cells), and USER_ENTERED interprets numbers and dates per the spreadsheet's locale.

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

Related MCP tools

Technical details