GCP Compute Operations

Manage Google Cloud Compute Engine resources via two remote MCP servers — Compute Engine (28 tools) for VM lifecycle, disks, templates, and instance groups, plus Resource Manager (1 tool) for project discovery.

MCP Servers

• Compute Engine: https://compute.googleapis.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP)
• Resource Manager: https://cloudresourcemanager.googleapis.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP)
• Auth: OAuth 2.0 via Google IAM — service account key (GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS) or gcloud auth application-default login
• Requires: GCP_PROJECT_ID environment variable

Key Difference from On-Prem MCP Servers

Google Cloud MCP servers are remote HTTP endpoints hosted by Google — nothing to install locally. Authentication uses OAuth 2.0 / Google IAM, not API keys. The transport is Streamable HTTP, not stdio.

Available Tools (29)

Resource Manager (1 tool)

Tool	What It Does
search_projects	Search for GCP projects by parent, ID, or filter. Use this first to discover available projects.

Instance Management (8 tools)

Tool	What It Does
list_instances	List VM instances in a project (filter by zone)
get_instance_basic_info	Get core instance details — name, status, machine type, network interfaces, IPs
create_instance	Provision a new VM instance
delete_instance	Remove a VM instance
start_instance	Boot a stopped instance
stop_instance	Halt a running instance
reset_instance	Restart an instance (hard reset)
set_instance_machine_type	Resize an instance (change machine type)

Instance Groups (3 tools)

Tool	What It Does
list_instance_group_managers	List managed instance groups (MIGs)
get_instance_group_manager_basic_info	Get MIG details — template, target size, autoscaling
list_managed_instances	List instances within a MIG

Instance Templates (3 tools)

Tool	What It Does
list_instance_templates	List available instance templates
get_instance_template_basic_info	Get template basics — name, description
get_instance_template_properties	Get template specs — machine type, disks, network interfaces

Disks & Storage (5 tools)

Tool	What It Does
list_disks	List persistent disks in a project
get_disk_basic_info	Get disk metadata — size, type, attached instances
get_disk_performance_config	Get disk performance settings — IOPS, throughput
list_snapshots	List disk snapshots
list_instance_attached_disks	List disks attached to a specific instance

Resource Discovery (3 tools)

Tool	What It Does
list_machine_types	List available machine types in a zone (e2, n2, c3, etc.)
list_accelerator_types	List available GPU/TPU types in a zone
list_images	List available boot images (Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, etc.)

Reservations & Commitments (6 tools)

Tool	What It Does
list_reservations	List capacity reservations
get_reservation_basic_info	Get reservation details
get_reservation_details	Get comprehensive reservation info
list_commitments	List committed use discounts (CUDs)
get_commitment_basic_info	Get commitment details — term, status
list_commitment_reservations	List reservations tied to a commitment

Operations (1 tool)

Tool	What It Does
get_zone_operation	Check status of an async operation (create, delete, resize)

Workflow: GCP Infrastructure Audit

When a user asks "show me our GCP compute resources":

1. Discover projects: search_projects to list all accessible GCP projects
2. List instances: list_instances per project — name, status, zone, machine type
3. Network interfaces: get_instance_basic_info to see IPs, VPC, subnet per VM
4. Instance groups: list_instance_group_managers for autoscaled workloads
5. Disk inventory: list_disks — size, type, attached instances
6. Report: GCP compute inventory with status and network details

Workflow: VM Troubleshooting

When investigating a GCP VM issue:

1. Find the VM: list_instances filtered by name or zone
2. Get details: get_instance_basic_info — status, machine type, network interfaces, external IP
3. Check disks: list_instance_attached_disks — any missing or detached?
4. Check operation: get_zone_operation — any pending/failed operations?
5. Cross-reference: Use gcp-cloud-logging for instance logs, gcp-cloud-monitoring for metrics
6. Report: VM health assessment with findings

Workflow: Capacity Planning

When planning GCP compute capacity:

1. Current usage: list_instances — count by machine type and zone
2. Reservations: list_reservations — reserved capacity vs actual usage
3. Commitments: list_commitments — CUD utilization and expiration
4. Available types: list_machine_types — what's available in target zones
5. GPU availability: list_accelerator_types — GPU/TPU options per zone
6. Report: Capacity utilization with recommendations

Important Rules

• Google Cloud MCP servers are remote — no local install, runs on Google's infrastructure
• OAuth 2.0 authentication — uses service account or user credentials via IAM
• Project-scoped — all operations are scoped to the configured GCP project
• Write operations available — unlike AWS Network MCP, Compute Engine MCP can create/modify/delete VMs. Use ServiceNow CR gating for changes.
• Record in GAIT — log all GCP operations for audit trail

Environment Variables

• GCP_PROJECT_ID — Google Cloud project ID
• GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS — Path to service account key JSON file (or use gcloud auth application-default login)