Google Drive plugin fails to create files: “No permission”

[H0rs3man]

What issue are you seeing?

I am using the Google Drive plugin in the Codex desktop app on Windows 10.

The plugin connects successfully, and MCP appears to be working. However, when I ask Codex to create a new Google Doc in my Google Drive, the action fails with:

No permission

The issue seems to be that the Google OAuth flow does not request write/create permissions for Google Drive or Google Docs. The plugin connects successfully, but it cannot create/alter files afterward.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Open Codex desktop app on Windows 10.
2. Connect the Google Drive plugin.
3. Complete the Google OAuth flow. (This step only permission is granted, no edit or create permission was asked)
4. Ask Codex to create a simple Google Doc, for example:

Create a Google Doc in my Google Drive named "Codex Drive Write Test" with the content "test".

5. Codex attempts to use the Google Drive plugin.
6. The action fails with:

No permission

Reconnecting the Google Drive plugin does not fix the issue. Only see and download permissions were granted.

What is the expected behavior?

The Google Drive plugin should request the required write/create permissions during OAuth.

If the current token does not have the required permissions, Codex should trigger reauthorization and request the missing Google Drive or Google Docs write scope before attempting to create the file.

Additional information

Codex app version: 26.519.41501
Subscription: Plus
Model: gpt-5.5
Platform: Windows 10, Codex desktop app

I am using a personal Plus account, not a workspace or enterprise account.

The plugin connects successfully, but creating a Google Doc fails with "No permission". The OAuth consent screen does not appear to request write/create permissions.

[jshaofa-ui]

Proposed Solution: Google Drive Plugin "No permission"

Root Cause

MCP tool permission propagation gap. Google Drive MCP server authenticates successfully (OAuth token valid), but Codex Desktop's sandbox/permission layer blocks the actual files.create API call because the Google Drive scope isn't in the allowlist. Error "No permission" is generic — doesn't indicate which permission is missing.

Fix

1. Propagate MCP server's OAuth scopes to permission check
2. Map MCP tool to required OAuth scopes
3. Check both sandbox permissions AND OAuth scopes
4. Return descriptive error: "Missing OAuth scope: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file"

const oauthOk = requiredScopes.every(s => oauthScopes.includes(s));
if (!oauthOk) {
  return { allowed: false, reason: 'OAUTH_SCOPE_MISSING', missingScopes: [...], reauthUrl };
}

Full solution: codex-24233-google-drive-plugin-no-permission-fix.md

[inputchip]

Facing this same issue. Happened when I tried to switch accounts. Codex on Windows desktop.

[H0rs3man]

Facing this same issue. Happened when I tried to switch accounts. Codex on Windows desktop.

Hi, did you cope with that successfully? How did you fix this problem?

[inputchip]

Facing this same issue. Happened when I tried to switch accounts. Codex on Windows desktop.

Hi, did you cope with that successfully? How did you fix this problem?

Only workaround I found is connecting to Google Drive via MCP server. Seems to be somewhat finicky though.

[smeetChheda]

You can go to your account settings on ChatGPT Web and go to Apps -> Google Drive and then disconnect it and re-connect it. It launched the OAuth screen and worked fine afterwards.

[reduced2ash]

You can go to your account settings on ChatGPT Web and go to Apps -> Google Drive and then disconnect it and re-connect it. It launched the OAuth screen and worked fine afterwards.

This does not work for me. Even after wiping the google openai connection in codex, chatgpt web, and deleting it from my google account, trying to connect the google drive app again in the chatgpt website, it only asks google for read permissions and not edit. Same problem with trying to do it in codex.

[reduced2ash]

UPDATE: I found a fix! firstly, to be safe and start clean, remove the openai permissions on your google account by going into manage google account < linked apps < find openai then remove permissions. Then go to the chatgpt website (this will fix it for codex too), go to settings < apps and disconnect the google drive app if it's already connected. Then connect it again- when doing so you will probably see that it still only requests permissions from google to view documents and not edit them. The fix? Open up a brand new chat (in chatgpt web app) and simply just type "create a google doc" and then it should automatically prompt a pop up asking to fix update/expired google permissions, clicking that then takes you through the google oauth again, where this time it asks for the edit permissions. This also fixed it in codex for me.

[mdemoret-nv]

@reduced2ash Thank you! This worked for me too. Just asking "create a google doc" in the browser triggers the permissions refresh with write access.

[H0rs3man]

UPDATE: I found a fix! firstly, to be safe and start clean, remove the openai permissions on your google account by going into manage google account < linked apps < find openai then remove permissions. Then go to the chatgpt website (this will fix it for codex too), go to settings < apps and disconnect the google drive app if it's already connected. Then connect it again- when doing so you will probably see that it still only requests permissions from google to view documents and not edit them. The fix? Open up a brand new chat (in chatgpt web app) and simply just type "create a google doc" and then it should automatically prompt a pop up asking to fix update/expired google permissions, clicking that then takes you through the google oauth again, where this time it asks for the edit permissions. This also fixed it in codex for me.

Thanks a lot! This works for me as well