[Bug] Persistent -32001 Request timed out on Windows despite correct configuration

[BCC24]

Describe the bug:

After a complete and clean setup following the official GitHub guide, every attempt to query the Google Analytics API through the analytics-mcp tool in Gemini CLI fails with MCP error -32001: Request timed out.

The failure happens for both general account listing (list-accounts) and specific report queries (run-report).

Crucial Finding: A direct API call using a standalone Python script (google-analytics-data library) works perfectly. This proves that the underlying credentials, API permissions, and network connectivity are all correct. The failure seems to be specific to the analytics-mcp tool's execution layer when called by Gemini CLI.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Follow the official setup guide on a clean Windows environment.
2. Authenticate using the gcloud auth application-default login flow with a Desktop App OAuth Client ID.
3. Configure ~/.gemini/settings.json to use the generated application_default_credentials.json.
4. Launch Gemini CLI (npx https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli).
5. Run the query: @analytics-mcp dime las cuentas a las que tienes acceso.

Expected behavior:

The tool should connect to the Google Analytics API and return a list of accounts without a timeout error.

Anything else we should know about your project / environment:

• OS: Windows 10/11
• Gemini CLI Version: v0.8.0-nightly
• Python Version: 3.1x
• Installation Method: pipx

Extensive Troubleshooting Steps Already Taken:

• Verified that Analytics Admin API and Analytics Data API are both Enabled.
• Confirmed use of a Desktop app type OAuth Client ID.
• Confirmed successful gcloud auth login and creation of application_default_credentials.json.
• Tested in a completely isolated Python venv environment, which also failed with the same timeout.
• Temporarily disabled Antivirus/Firewall with no change in result.

Request: Could there be an issue with how the MCP server handles connection timeouts on Windows? Is there a verbose debug logging mode we can enable?

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UPDATE:

Further tests confirm the issue. Even when the AI correctly identifies the authenticated user (admin-tech@llyc.global), it still fails with a timeout when trying to fetch details for a specific property ID.

The AI's own diagnosis confirms the problem is not authentication, but the communication with the GA API service itself, stating: "The problem seems to be the communication with the Google Analytics API service, which appears to be down or inaccessible at this time."

This reinforces that the connection from the analytics-mcp tool is the point of failure.

[mfnunez]

Hello BCC24, I also had the same issue with Gemini CLI, I had to use another LLM (Claude). With Claude it works perfectly. I never could pin-point what was the issue with Gemini CLI.

[BCC24]

Hello @mfnunez ,

Thank you so much for your comment. It's very helpful to know that someone else has experienced this exact same issue. I have also been struggling with this persistent timeout error for days and couldn't figure out the root cause.

Your solution using Claude sounds very promising. Could you please share a bit more about your setup?

Specifically, are you using a completely different CLI tool that connects to Claude, or did you find a way to configure the existing Gemini CLI to use Claude as the language model? If it's a different tool, could you please share its name or a link to its project page?

Any information you could provide would be incredibly helpful. Thanks in advance!

[mfnunez]

hello @BCC24 , I really did all the same as explained regarding the Oath, python cloning in local, and JSON config file with the required arguments, but instead of adding the json config file to the Gemini CLI, I added it to the Claude Desktop config folder. The mcp JSON is the same.

Also, the mcp inspector helped alot for debugging. This confirmed many of the things you already tested but with a nice GUI : https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector

[BCC24]

Hi @mfnunez , thank you again for the clarification. This is very helpful!

I would like to try your solution. Could you please tell me the exact name of the "Claude Desktop" application you are using and where I can download it from? Is it an official tool, or a third-party one from a site like GitHub?

Once I have the right tool, I can follow your steps to configure it. Thanks!