gdrives 0.5.8

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gdrives v0.5.8

Command-line tools for Google Drive.

Browse Google Drives, list folder contents by path or ID, export Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides to Office formats, download individual files or whole folder trees, and generate hyperlinked folder maps — all from the terminal. Human-readable Drive paths (e.g. My Drive/projects) resolve against a local drive-name cache, with first-class support for shared drives and "Shared with me" items. Listings carry URL, type, modified-date, owner, and sharer columns, and can be written as nested markdown or flat CSV from a single API traversal. Folder downloads scan and summarize before prompting, auto-exporting Google-native files and streaming binaries to disk with atomic writes. Authenticates via OAuth, a service account, or Application Default Credentials, and only ever requests read-only access (drive.readonly). Built on the Google Drive API v3 with a Typer CLI.

Project Structure

gdrives/
├── cli.py       # Typer CLI: ls, export, download, show-drives
├── auth.py      # OAuth, service-account, and ADC authentication
├── drives.py    # Drive name→ID cache (fetch, save, resolve)
├── resolve.py   # Path→ID resolution (drive paths and "shared with me")
├── files.py     # Drive API wrappers: pagination, folder walk, file helpers
├── listing.py   # DriveEntry, recursive collection, and table/markdown/CSV formatters
├── export.py    # Export Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides to Office formats
└── download.py  # Download a single file, or recurse a folder, to local disk

Installation

uv tool install gdrives

As a project dependency:

uv add gdrives

From GitHub instead of PyPI:

uv tool install git+https://github.com/gitronald/gdrives.git
# or, as a dependency: uv add git+https://github.com/gitronald/gdrives.git

From source (for development):

git clone https://github.com/gitronald/gdrives.git
cd gdrives
uv sync

The distribution and the installed command are both named gdrives.

Setup

You need Google Drive API credentials before using gdrives. Pick the method that fits, follow its steps, then run gdrives show-drives to verify. Every method needs a Google Cloud project with the Google Drive API enabled; gdrives only ever requests read-only access (drive.readonly). When more than one is configured, authentication is attempted in order: OAuth, then service account, then ADC.

OAuth — personal use, interactive browser auth

1. At console.cloud.google.com, create or select a project, then enable the Google Drive API under APIs & Services → Library.
2. Configure the OAuth consent screen (APIs & Services → OAuth consent screen): choose External, fill in app name and support email, leave it in Testing, and add your Google address under Test users.
3. Credentials → Create Credentials → OAuth client ID, application type Desktop app, then download the JSON.
4. Save it as gdrives_credentials.json in your config directory and export that path:

   export GOOGLE_CONFIG_DIR=~/.google   # directory holding gdrives_credentials.json
   

5. Run gdrives show-drives. A browser opens for one-time authorization; the token is cached to $GOOGLE_CONFIG_DIR/gdrives_token.json and reused (it re-auths automatically if revoked).

Full walkthrough: docs/setup-oauth.md.

Service account — automation, or sharing access with others

1. Create or select a project and enable the Google Drive API (as above).
2. IAM & Admin → Service Accounts → Create Service Account; give it a name like drive-reader and skip the optional grant steps.
3. Open the new account's Keys tab → Add Key → Create new key → JSON, then download it.
4. Save it as service_account.json in your config directory (or point GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PATH at it):

   export GOOGLE_CONFIG_DIR=~/.google   # directory holding service_account.json
   # or: export GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PATH=/path/to/key.json
   

5. Share the target folder or shared drive with the service account's email (e.g. [e-mail]) as Viewer — it can only see what's explicitly shared with it.
6. Run gdrives show-drives. No browser flow.

Full walkthrough (key rotation, revoking access): docs/setup-service-account.md.

gcloud / ADC — simplest if you already use the gcloud CLI

1. Create or select a project and enable the Google Drive API (as above).
2. Install the gcloud CLI if you don't have it.
3. Log in with the Drive scope — the --scopes flag is required (a plain login grants only cloud-platform, which excludes Drive and would 403):

   gcloud auth application-default login \
     --scopes=https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform
   

4. Set a quota project (use the project where you enabled the Drive API):

   gcloud auth application-default set-quota-project YOUR_PROJECT_ID
   

5. Run gdrives show-drives. No GOOGLE_CONFIG_DIR and no credential files to manage.

Full walkthrough: docs/setup-adc.md.

Configuration

Set via environment variables or a .env file (env vars take precedence):

Variable	Default	Purpose
GOOGLE_CONFIG_DIR	(required for OAuth; not needed for ADC)	Directory for the OAuth token and credentials
GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PATH	$GOOGLE_CONFIG_DIR/service_account.json	Service account key file

Authentication tries OAuth first, then the service account, then Application Default Credentials.

CLI Commands

Run gdrives show-drives once to populate the drive-name cache (.gdrives/cache.json); the ls and download commands resolve Drive paths against it.

List Drive contents

gdrives ls                                              # My Drive (default)
gdrives ls "My Drive/projects"                          # Subfolder
gdrives ls "Shared drive name/subfolder"                # Shared drive
gdrives ls "My Drive" --depth 2                         # Recurse deeper
gdrives ls --drive-id <folder-id>                       # By folder ID
gdrives ls --shared-with-me                             # Shared with me
gdrives ls "Shared folder" --shared-with-me             # Shared subfolder

Save a listing as markdown or CSV

gdrives ls "My Drive/projects" --save-as map.md         # Nested markdown
gdrives ls "My Drive/projects" --save-as data.csv       # CSV export
gdrives ls "My Drive/projects" --depth 3 --save-as map.md
gdrives ls "My Drive/projects" --save-as map.md --save-as data.csv  # both, one traversal

Export Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides

gdrives export <doc-url> -o output.docx     # Google Doc -> .docx
gdrives export <sheet-url> -o output.xlsx   # Google Sheet -> .xlsx
gdrives export <sheet-url> -o output.csv    # Google Sheet -> .csv (first tab only)
gdrives export <slides-url> -o output.pptx  # Google Slides -> .pptx

Download files and folders

gdrives download <file-url> -o ./out          # Single file -> ./out/<drive-name>
gdrives download "My Drive/refs/paper.pdf"    # Single file by path -> ./paper.pdf
gdrives download "My Drive/refs"              # Whole folder (recurses by default)
gdrives download "My Drive/refs" --depth 1    # Folder, flat (no recursion)
gdrives download "My Drive/refs" -y           # Skip the confirmation prompt

A source that resolves to a single file downloads immediately under its Drive name. A folder is scanned first, showing a summary, then prompts before downloading (--depth only affects folders). Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides auto-export to .docx / .xlsx / .pptx; other Google-native types (Forms, Drawings, etc.) are skipped.

Show available drives

gdrives show-drives

Output includes URL, type (personal/shared), name, and ID for each accessible drive, and is cached to .gdrives/cache.json for use by the other commands.

Related projects

There are a few options out there, but most haven't been touched in years, and none did the mapping tasks implemented here.

• PyDrive2 — fork of PyDrive, high-level Google Drive wrapper
• PyDrive — the original high-level wrapper, now archived
• gdrive "Simple Google Drive wrapper to traverse files"
• gdriver "Actually usable Google Drive client"
• drive "Google Drive client"

Security & privacy

• gdrives only ever requests read-only Drive access (drive.readonly); it never modifies or deletes anything in your Drive.
• The cached OAuth token ($GOOGLE_CONFIG_DIR/gdrives_token.json) holds a long-lived refresh token and is written with owner-only 0600 permissions. Keep gdrives_credentials.json and service_account.json out of version control and shared locations.
• gdrives show-drives writes .gdrives/cache.json with the names and IDs of every Drive you can access; it is gitignored by default — keep it out of shared locations.