gws-drive

name	gws-drive
description	Google Drive: Manage files, folders, and shared drives.
metadata	{"version":"0.22.0","openclaw":{"category":"productivity","requires":{"bins":["gws"]},"cliHelp":"gws drive --help"}}

drive (v3)

PREREQUISITE: Read ../gws-shared/SKILL.md for auth, global flags, and security rules. If missing, run gws generate-skills to create it.

gws drive <resource> <method> [flags]

Helper Commands

Command	Description
+upload	Upload a file with automatic metadata

Common Recipes

List files

gws drive files list --params '{"pageSize": 10, "fields": "files(id,name,mimeType)"}'

Get file metadata

gws drive files get --params '{"fileId": "FILE_ID", "fields": "id,name,mimeType,size,modifiedTime"}'

Download a file

Note: Use files get with "alt": "media", not files download (which may return backend errors). The --output path must be relative (within the current directory).

gws drive files get --params '{"fileId": "FILE_ID", "alt": "media"}' --output ./filename.ext

Export a Google Workspace document

Google-native files (Docs, Sheets, Slides) cannot be downloaded directly — use export with a target MIME type:

# Export a Google Doc as PDF
gws drive files export --params '{"fileId": "FILE_ID", "mimeType": "application/pdf"}' --output ./document.pdf

# Export a Google Sheet as CSV
gws drive files export --params '{"fileId": "FILE_ID", "mimeType": "text/csv"}' --output ./data.csv

Search for files

gws drive files list --params '{"q": "name contains '\''report'\'' and mimeType = '\''application/pdf'\''", "pageSize": 10}'

Share a file

gws drive permissions create --params '{"fileId": "FILE_ID"}' --json '{"role": "reader", "type": "user", "emailAddress": "[e-mail]"}'

[!CAUTION] permissions create is a write command — confirm with the user before executing.

API Resources

about

• get — Gets information about the user, the user's Drive, and system capabilities.

changes

• getStartPageToken — Gets the starting pageToken for listing future changes.
• list — Lists the changes for a user or shared drive.
• watch — Subscribes to changes for a user.

comments

• create — Creates a comment on a file.
• delete — Deletes a comment.
• get — Gets a comment by ID.
• list — Lists a file's comments.
• update — Updates a comment with patch semantics.

drives

• create — Creates a shared drive.
• get — Gets a shared drive's metadata by ID.
• hide — Hides a shared drive from the default view.
• list — Lists the user's shared drives.
• unhide — Restores a shared drive to the default view.
• update — Updates the metadata for a shared drive.

files

• copy — Creates a copy of a file and applies any requested updates with patch semantics.
• create — Creates a file.
• download — Downloads the content of a file.
• export — Exports a Google Workspace document to the requested MIME type and returns exported byte content.
• get — Gets a file's metadata or content by ID.
• list — Lists the user's files.
• update — Updates a file's metadata, content, or both.
• watch — Subscribes to changes to a file.

permissions

• create — Creates a permission for a file or shared drive.
• delete — Deletes a permission.
• get — Gets a permission by ID.
• list — Lists a file's or shared drive's permissions.
• update — Updates a permission with patch semantics.

replies

• create — Creates a reply to a comment.
• delete — Deletes a reply.
• get — Gets a reply by ID.
• list — Lists a comment's replies.
• update — Updates a reply with patch semantics.

revisions

• delete — Permanently deletes a file version.
• get — Gets a revision's metadata or content by ID.
• list — Lists a file's revisions.
• update — Updates a revision with patch semantics.

Discovering Commands

Before calling any API method, inspect it:

# Browse resources and methods
gws drive --help

# Inspect a method's required params, types, and defaults
gws schema drive.<resource>.<method>

Use gws schema output to build your --params and --json flags.