If you’ve ever wished Claude could just look at your Google Analytics and Search Console data instead of you having to export, clean, and paste CSVs every time — this guide is for you.
By the end of this tutorial, you’ll be able to ask Claude questions like “which pages lost the most impressions last week?” and watch it pull the answer directly from your live GSC and GA4 data. No exports. No copy-paste. No paid third-party tools.
This setup is completely free. No Google Cloud Console. No service accounts. No JSON key files. About 15 minutes from start to finish.
What You’ll Need
- A Mac or Windows computer
- A Google account with access to the GSC and GA4 properties you want to query
- A Claude Pro or Team subscription (free tier doesn’t support custom MCP servers)
- About 15 minutes
Quick Glossary
Terminal — Mac’s text-based command tool. On Windows it’s PowerShell.
Node.js — A runtime that lets the connectors run on your computer.
MCP — Model Context Protocol. The standard that lets Claude talk to outside tools.
Claude Desktop — The downloadable Claude app. MCP connectors only work here, not in the browser version.
OAuth — The standard “Sign in with Google” flow.
Step 1: Install Node.js
Go to nodejs.org and download the LTS version. Run the installer with default settings.
This installs the runtime the connectors need.
Verify by running this in Terminal (Mac) or PowerShell (Windows):
node --version
You should see a version number like v22.11.0.
Step 2: Authenticate Search Console
In the same Terminal/PowerShell window, run:
npx gsc-mcp-server --setup
This opens a browser, asks you to sign in with Google, and saves your GSC credentials locally.
Sign in with the Google account that has access to your GSC properties. Approve the read-only permission.
Step 3: Install Claude Desktop
Download from claude.ai/download and install it. Sign in.
This is the only Claude version that supports custom MCP connectors.
Step 4: Open the Config File
In Claude Desktop, go to Settings → Developer → Edit Config.
This opens the file Claude reads at startup to know which connectors to load.
Step 5: Paste the Config
Replace the entire contents of the file with:
{
"mcpServers": {
"google-search-console": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"gsc-mcp-server"
]
},
"ga4-mcp-server": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"mcp-remote",
"https://mcp-ga.stape.ai/mcp"
]
}
}
}
Save with Cmd + S (Mac) or Ctrl + S (Windows).
This tells Claude to load the GSC connector (using the credentials from Step 2) and the GA4 connector (Stape’s hosted server).
Step 6: Fully Quit and Restart Claude Desktop
Mac: Cmd + Q, wait three seconds, reopen. Windows: Right-click Claude in the system tray → Quit. End any Claude processes in Task Manager. Reopen.
Just closing the window won’t reload the config — Claude needs a full restart.
Step 7: Authenticate GA4
When Claude reopens, a browser window opens automatically.
This is Stape’s OAuth flow for GA4.
Sign in with the Google account that has access to your GA4 properties. Approve the read-only permission.
Step 8: Verify
Go to Settings → Developer. Both connectors should show Running.
If they do, you’re live.
Test in a new chat:
List all my Search Console properties.
Then:
List my GA4 properties.
If both return your sites, the setup is complete.
Your First Three Prompts
Prompt 1: Period-over-period summary
For my Search Console property [your-site.com], pull clicks, impressions, CTR and average position for the last 30 days versus the previous 30 days. Show me the top 10 queries that gained or lost the most clicks. Flag anything that looks worth investigating.
Prompt 2: GSC and GA4 cross-reference
Cross-reference my top 20 landing pages from GA4 (last 30 days, organic traffic only) with their Search Console performance over the same period. Which pages are getting impressions but not clicks? Which are getting clicks but not converting? Give me a prioritised shortlist of five pages I should optimise first.
Prompt 3: Geographic anomaly detection
Compare clicks and impressions by country for the last 30 days versus the previous 30 days. Highlight any country where impressions changed by more than 25% in either direction.
Troubleshooting
Connectors show Failed instead of Running — JSON syntax error in the config. Paste it into jsonlint.com to find the issue.
No browser window for GA4 — Claude didn’t fully restart. Quit it properly and reopen. If still nothing, send a test message that uses GA4 — the OAuth window often opens on first tool call.
Error: spawn npx ENOENT — Claude can’t find npx. Run which npx (Mac) or where.exe npx (Windows), then replace "command": "npx" in your config with the full path.
GSC token expired — Run npx gsc-mcp-server --setup again. Restart Claude.
GA4 token expired — Delete ~/.mcp-auth (Mac) or C:\Users\YourName\.mcp-auth (Windows). Restart Claude.
GSC says property doesn’t exist — Re-run npx gsc-mcp-server --setup and sign in with the correct Google account.
Empty data despite real traffic — GA4 has a 24–48 hour delay. GSC has a 2–3 day delay. Use date ranges ending at least two days ago.
First call is slow — npx is downloading the package. Only happens once.
Why This Setup Is So Simple
Most guides for connecting GA4 to Claude require creating a Google Cloud project, enabling APIs, generating a service account, and downloading JSON keys. About 15 separate steps.
This setup uses the gsc-mcp-server package (built-in OAuth) for GSC and Stape’s hosted MCP server for GA4. The entire authentication flow becomes “click sign in with Google.” Both are free.
Final Thoughts
The first time you do this, it feels like a leap. The second time, it’s automatic.
Once you have this running, the natural next step is turning your repeated reporting workflows into Claude Projects with custom instructions. That’s a topic for another post.
For now, go run those three prompts. Watch Claude pull live data from your own properties.
