# Show HN: PasteSheet – Turn a Google Sheet into a REST API and MCP Server > Source: > Published: 2026-07-15 03:03:40+00:00 # Your Google Sheet is now a live API Paste a Google Sheet URL and get clean, cached JSON in seconds — for your app, your no-code tool, or your AI agent. No login, no code, no Google Cloud project. Free forever tier · no credit card · live in under a minute | A | B | C | | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | name | role | status | | 2 | Ada Lovelace | Engineer | active | | 3 | Grace Hopper | Admiral | active | | 4 | Alan Turing | Researcher | active | | name | role | status | |---|---|---| | Ada Lovelace | Engineer | active | | Grace Hopper | Admiral | active | | Alan Turing | Researcher | active | ``` { "data": [ { "name": "Ada Lovelace", "role": "Engineer", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Grace Hopper", "role": "Admiral", "status": "active" }, { "name": "Alan Turing", "role": "Researcher", "status": "active" } ], "total": 3, "limit": 10, "offset": 0 } ``` ## One endpoint, every workflow One URL, however you build — terminal, no-code, or agent. ``` curl 'https://pastesheet.com/api/your-endpoint-id?limit=10' js const res = await fetch('https://pastesheet.com/api/your-endpoint-id?limit=10'); const { data } = await res.json(); python import requests res = requests.get('https://pastesheet.com/api/your-endpoint-id', params={'limit': 10}) data = res.json()['data'] ``` Paste this endpoint into Softr, Framer, Webflow, Zapier, Make — anything that reads JSON. ``` { "mcpServers": { "pastesheet": { "url": "https://pastesheet.com/mcp/sheets/your-endpoint-id" } } } ``` Drop into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client. [a Next.js data source](https://pastesheet.com/use-cases/google-sheets-nextjs-data) [a Webflow site](https://pastesheet.com/use-cases/google-sheets-webflow) [an AI agent data source](https://pastesheet.com/use-cases/google-sheets-ai-agent-data-source) [a headless CMS](https://pastesheet.com/use-cases/google-sheets-cms) [All use cases](https://pastesheet.com/use-cases) Reads anywhere JSON does — Next.js · React · Vue · Notion · Zapier · iOS ## A spreadsheet in. A real API out. Everything you’d stand up a backend for — without standing up a backend. ### Filter, sort & paginate Query any column with plain URL params — no query language to learn. ### Edge cached Configurable TTL, served fast. ### MCP for AI agents Every endpoint is also a tool your agent can call. ## Three steps to a live endpoint - 01 ### Paste your sheet URL Any public Google Sheet. We read tabs, headers, and rows instantly. `docs.google.com/…/edit` - 02 ### Get a cached endpoint We mint a permanent API URL backed by an edge cache you control. `GET /api/your-endpoint-id` - 03 ### Query from anywhere Your app, a no-code tool, or an AI agent — filtered and paginated. `?status=active&limit=10` ## Your spreadsheet, ready for agents Connect an endpoint and it becomes a Model Context Protocol server — no Google Cloud project, no OAuth to configure. Claude, Cursor, and ChatGPT query your sheet as a native, read-only tool: safe to hand over, it reads every row but can change none. [Read the Google Sheets MCP guide](https://pastesheet.com/guides/google-sheets-mcp) ``` { "role": "Engineer", "status": "active" } ``` ## Publish a sheet — don’t wire up an account Google’s own MCP and tools like Zapier connect your account to your agent. PasteSheet publishes a sheet so anyone’s app, site, or agent can read it — no Google Cloud project, read-only by design. ### Connect Google · Zapier · Composio- Wires your Google account to your own assistant - Needs a Google Cloud project, OAuth client, or service account - Read-write — an agent can overwrite your source of truth - Cell/range access in A1 notation, not a query API ### Publish PasteSheet- Turns a sheet into an endpoint any app, site, or agent can read - Just paste a share URL — no Google Cloud, no OAuth to configure - Read-only by design — safe to embed publicly or hand to an agent - A typed query engine — filter, search, sort, aggregate [ PasteSheet vs Google’s official MCP ](https://pastesheet.com/guides/google-sheets-mcp-vs-google-official) Switching from something else? [SheetDB](https://pastesheet.com/guides/sheetdb-alternative), [Composio](https://pastesheet.com/guides/composio-alternative), and [Airtable](https://pastesheet.com/guides/airtable-alternative) alternatives. ## Start free. Scale when you need to. A free tier with real headroom, and paid plans that grow with your traffic. No contracts. ### Free For side projects and trying things out. - Endpoints - 3 - Requests / mo - 2,000 - Row cap - 500 - Private endpoints & keys - AI column mapping - Full-text search - Count, sum, avg & group by - MCP for AI agents ### Pro For growing products that need scale. - Endpoints - Unlimited - Requests / mo - 300,000 - Row cap - Unlimited - Private endpoints & keys - AI column mapping - Full-text search - Count, sum, avg & group by - MCP for AI agents ## Questions, answered ## Does my Google Sheet have to be public? It has to be readable by anyone with the link — PasteSheet reads published and link-shared sheets, so a sheet locked to named accounts will not connect. Making a sheet link-readable does not make it findable: nobody can reach it without the URL, and PasteSheet never exposes the underlying Google URL. If you do not want the data itself public, put the endpoint on a paid plan and mark it private, which requires an API key on every request. ## Do I need a Google Cloud project or an API key? No. There is no Google Cloud project to create, no OAuth client to configure, no service account, and no Google API key. You paste the sheet's share URL and the endpoint exists — that is the entire setup. This is the main practical difference between PasteSheet and Google's own Sheets API or MCP server, both of which require you to stand up a Cloud project first. ## How quickly do edits to my sheet show up in the API? Rows are cached, so an edit appears once the cache expires. The default TTL is 5 minutes; paid plans can tune it anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 hour depending on whether you care more about freshness or about speed. You can also refresh an endpoint by hand at any moment to push a change through immediately, and a manual refresh does not count against your monthly request quota. ## Can Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor read my sheet directly? Yes. Every endpoint is also a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, so you can connect it to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or any MCP client and the agent queries your sheet as a native tool — it can list tabs, read the column schema, and filter rows. MCP is included on every plan, including the free one. There is nothing extra to deploy: the endpoint you already have is the MCP server. ## Can an AI agent change or delete my data? No. PasteSheet is read-only by design and never writes back to your spreadsheet. The MCP server exposes exactly three tools — list tabs, get schema, query rows — and none of them can create, edit, or delete anything. That is a deliberate difference from account-connection tools like Google's own MCP or Zapier, where an agent granted access to your sheet can overwrite your source of truth. ## What happens if I rename or reorder a column? The endpoint keeps serving, but the shape of the JSON changes with your sheet — which is exactly how a spreadsheet-backed API breaks a live site silently. PasteSheet snapshots your column schema on every read and compares it against the last known one, so on a paid plan you get an email or webhook alert the moment a column is renamed, added, or dropped. You can also lock the schema, which makes the endpoint fail loudly rather than quietly serve the wrong shape. ## Is PasteSheet really free? Yes — the free plan gives you 3 endpoints and 2,000 requests a month, with MCP included, no credit card, and no expiry. It is a real free tier meant to run a small site or a personal agent, not a trial that stops working after a fortnight. You only need a paid plan when you want more endpoints, more traffic, private endpoints, a custom cache TTL, or schema alerts. Billing and quota questions are answered on the [pricing page](https://pastesheet.com/pricing). ## Turn your sheet into an API today Free forever for side projects. Paste a URL and watch a spreadsheet become a REST API and an AI tool.