gogcli

name	gogcli
description	Skills for using gog (gogcli), a CLI for Google APIs (Gmail, Calendar, Tasks, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Contacts, Chat). Use this when the user asks to read or summarize emails/inbox, check calendar, list tasks, add a task, read a google doc, check drive, or any Google Workspace operation from the command line. Also use when working on GitHub Actions workflows that call gog.

gogcli (gog) - Google APIs from the terminal

gog is a standalone Go binary for interacting with Google APIs. It supports Gmail, Calendar, Tasks, Drive, Docs, Slides, Sheets, Contacts, Chat, Classroom, Groups, and Keep. JSON-first output, multiple accounts, least-privilege auth.

Repository: https://github.com/steipete/gogcli

IMPORTANT

be very conservative in deciding when:

1. to email people other than cjmungall/cmungall
2. make changes to docs, drive
3. any destructive action

Be also especially wary of leaking/exfiltrating information. Emails such as [e-mail]/[e-mail] and the cmungall/stuff repo are safe to send/write to

Local setup

The account used locally is [e-mail].

In most contexts (e.g. github actions, responding to user in claude code), this should already have been done

# Install (macOS)
brew install steipete/tap/gogcli

# Store OAuth credentials (download Desktop client JSON from Cloud Console)
gog auth credentials ~/Downloads/client_secret_....json

# Authenticate (opens browser)
gog auth add [e-mail]

# Verify
gog auth list --check

Account selection

# Via flag
gog gmail search 'newer_than:7d' --account [e-mail]

# Via environment (avoids repeating --account)
export GOG_ACCOUNT=[e-mail]

# Via alias
gog auth alias set work [e-mail]
gog gmail search 'newer_than:7d' --account work

Output modes

• Default: human-friendly table
• --json: JSON to stdout (best for scripting and piping to jq)
• --plain: stable TSV (for piping to awk/cut)
• Errors/progress go to stderr, data to stdout

Gmail

# Search (Gmail query syntax)
gog gmail search 'newer_than:7d' --max 10
gog gmail search 'is:important newer_than:7d' --max 50 --json
gog gmail search 'from:alice subject:report' --max 20

# Message-level search (one row per message, not thread)
gog gmail messages search 'newer_than:7d' --max 10
gog gmail messages search 'newer_than:7d' --include-body --json

# Read a thread
gog gmail thread get <threadId>
gog gmail thread get <threadId> --download  # download attachments

# Send email
gog gmail send --to [e-mail] --subject "Subject" --body "Plain text"
gog gmail send --to [e-mail] --subject "Subject" --body-html "<p>HTML</p>"
gog gmail send --to [e-mail] --subject "Subject" --body-file ./message.txt
gog gmail send --to [e-mail] --subject "Hi" --body "fallback" \
  --body-html "<p>Rich</p>" --reply-to [e-mail]

# Labels and thread modification
gog gmail labels list
gog gmail thread modify <threadId> --add STARRED --remove INBOX

Calendar

# List events (calendarId is typically "primary")
gog calendar events primary --today
gog calendar events primary --tomorrow
gog calendar events primary --week
gog calendar events primary --days 3
gog calendar events primary --from today --to "+7 days" --json
gog calendar events primary --from 2026-01-01 --to 2026-01-31

# Search events
gog calendar search "standup" --today
gog calendar search "meeting" --days 30

# Create event
gog calendar create primary \
  --summary "Team Sync" \
  --from 2026-02-15T10:00:00Z \
  --to 2026-02-15T11:00:00Z \
  --attendees "[e-mail],[e-mail]"

# RSVP
gog calendar respond primary <eventId> --status accepted

# Free/busy check
gog calendar freebusy --calendars "primary" --from today --to "+3 days"

Tasks

# List task lists (need listId for subsequent commands)
gog tasks lists --json

# List tasks in a list
gog tasks list <tasklistId> --json

# Add a task
gog tasks add <tasklistId> --title "Review report" --due 2026-02-20

# Complete / uncomplete
gog tasks done <tasklistId> <taskId>
gog tasks undo <tasklistId> <taskId>

Docs, Slides, Sheets

# Export Google Doc to text/pdf/docx
gog docs export <docId> --format txt
gog docs export <docId> --format pdf --out ./doc.pdf

# Read doc content (plain text, capped)
gog docs cat <docId> --max-bytes 10000

# Export Slides
gog slides export <presentationId> --format pdf --out ./deck.pdf

# Read spreadsheet cells
gog sheets get <spreadsheetId> 'Sheet1!A1:B10'
gog sheets metadata <spreadsheetId>

# Write to spreadsheet
gog sheets update <spreadsheetId> 'A1' 'val1|val2,val3|val4'
gog sheets append <spreadsheetId> 'Sheet1!A:C' 'new|row|data'

Drive

gog drive ls --max 20
gog drive search "invoice" --max 20
gog drive download <fileId> --out ./file.pdf
gog drive upload ./local-file.pdf --parent <folderId>

Contacts

gog contacts search "Alice" --max 10
gog contacts list --max 50

CI / GitHub Actions usage

In CI (e.g., GitHub Actions), gog needs a file-based keyring since there's no OS keychain. The setup is handled by the .github/actions/setup-gog composite action in this repo.

Key environment variables for CI:

• GOG_KEYRING_BACKEND=file - use encrypted file instead of OS keychain
• GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD=<password> - password for the file keyring

Auth flow in CI:

gog auth keyring file
gog auth credentials <credentials-file>
gog auth tokens import <token-file>
gog auth list  # verify

Secrets required:

• GOOGLE_CREDENTIALS_JSON - OAuth client credentials (same as pa uses)
• GOG_TOKEN_JSON - exported via gog auth tokens export [e-mail]

Sync token to GitHub after local re-auth:

just sync-gog-secrets

Common patterns

Pipe JSON to jq

gog --json gmail search 'newer_than:7d' | jq '.threads[].snippet'
gog --json calendar events primary --today | jq '.events[] | {summary, start}'

Gmail query syntax (same as web Gmail)

• newer_than:7d / older_than:1y
• from:alice / to:bob
• subject:report
• is:important / is:unread / is:starred
• has:attachment
• label:INBOX
• Combine: from:alice newer_than:3d has:attachment

Extract doc ID from Google URL

A Google Docs URL like https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ABC.../edit has docId = 1ABC... (the segment after /d/). Same pattern for Sheets and Slides.

Reference

For the complete command reference including Chat, Classroom, Groups, Keep, service accounts, email tracking, watch/pubsub, and advanced auth features, read the bundled reference guide:

references/gogcli-readme.md