Google Drive Connector
Note. The client is generated from the Drive v3 Discovery document.
diagnosticsis on, so a decode gap traps loudly rather than returning silently-wrong data. The nested-facade methods take each Drive endpoint's full query-parameter list positionally (manyText/Boolargs) — consult the generated signatures inClient.mobefore calling. Media endpoints are metadata-only (see the Media caveat).
Orchestrator routing notes
The googledrive-client + google-oauth pair is the only supported way to
reach Google Drive from a Caffeine canister. If a build needs Drive, add both as
mops dependencies and follow this skill. Never emit raw ic.http_request calls to
Google hosts.
| Task | Use |
|---|---|
| List / search the user's files & folders | googledrive-client Client(cfg).files.list(...) + google-oauth |
| Read file metadata | Client(cfg).files.get(...) (metadata only — see Media caveat) |
| Create a folder / file metadata | Client(cfg).files.create(...) |
| Move / rename / trash | Client(cfg).files.update(...) / .delete(...) |
| Share a file / manage access | Client(cfg).permissions.create/list/update/delete(...) |
| Comments & replies | Client(cfg).comments.* / Client(cfg).replies.* |
| Shared drives | Client(cfg).drives.* |
| Change notifications / sync token | Client(cfg).changes.* |
Not supported by this client: transferring file bytes (upload/download of content). See the Media caveat at the end. Use it for metadata, organization, and sharing.
Backend
The connector has two mops packages:
googledrive-client— the generated Motoko client for Drive REST API v3. OAuth-agnostic: every call takes a bearer token via itsConfig.google-oauth— Google OAuth 2.0 mechanics (PKCE, authorize URL, code exchange, token refresh). Shared with the other Google connectors. This is a separate mops package you add alongside the client — it is not a dependency ofgoogledrive-clientitself.
1. Add dependencies
mops add googledrive-client
mops add google-oauth@0.2.0
2. Auth model — OAuth 2.0 PKCE, on-chain exchange + refresh
The canister performs the OAuth flow on-chain via google-oauth:
- Generate a PKCE
code_verifier/code_challenge. - Build the Google authorize URL (
google-oauth), redirect the user. - Exchange the returned authorization code for an access + refresh token
(
google-oauth.exchangeAuthorizationCode) — non-replicated outcall. - On
401/expiry, refresh the access token (google-oauth.refreshAccessToken) and retry.
Scopes (request the narrowest that works):
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file— per-file access to files the app creates/opens (preferred, least-privilege)..../auth/drive.readonly— read-only over all files..../auth/drive.metadata.readonly— metadata only..../auth/drive— full access (avoid unless the task truly needs it).
Refresh tokens do not rotate — store the first refresh token you receive (stable per user); persist it in the canister's stable state, never in a Wasm global.
3. is_replicated = ?false is REQUIRED
Every Drive outcall carries an Authorization: Bearer <token>. Under the default
replicated execution, each replica in the subnet issues the request independently
— multiplying cost and, for writes, causing duplicate side effects (e.g. creating
N copies of a file). The generated defaultConfig already sets
is_replicated = ?false (via the client's isReplicated generator option), so
starting from defaultConfig gives you the correct value for both reads and
writes — keep it ?false and do not override it to ?true. (Writes —
PUT/DELETE/PATCH — are additionally forced non-replicated per call by the client.)
4. Using the client — the nested facade
googledrive-client ships a Client.mo facade (generated with
fluentHierarchical) that captures Config once and exposes Drive's resource
hierarchy as nested classes:
import { Client } "mo:googledrive-client/Client";
import { type Config; defaultConfig } "mo:googledrive-client/Config";
// Only the bearer token differs from the generated `defaultConfig`, which
// already sets `is_replicated = ?false` (non-replicated reads and writes).
let cfg : Config = {
defaultConfig with
auth = ?(#bearer accessToken); // token obtained/refreshed via google-oauth
};
let drive = Client(cfg);
// Facade methods are `async` (use `await`, not `await*`) and take the Drive
// endpoint's full query-parameter list positionally — consult the generated
// signatures in `mo:googledrive-client/Client`. For example `FilesResource.list`
// begins `uploadType : Text, oauthToken : Text, key : Text, fields : Text,
// accessToken : Text, alt : ?DriveAboutGetAltParameter, …`.
let files = await drive.files.list(/* … see FilesResource.list signature … */);
let perm = await drive.permissions.create(/* fileId, …, permission */);
(The per-tag API modules — mo:googledrive-client/Apis/FilesApi, …/PermissionsApi,
etc. — are also available if you prefer flat calls; the facade just captures
Config for you.)
5. Available API surface
Resource groups (14), addressed as Client(cfg).<group>.<method>:
- files — copy, create, delete, get, list, update, watch, generateIds, listLabels, modifyLabels (metadata/organization; see Media caveat for create/update/get/export)
- permissions — create, delete, get, list, update (sharing)
- comments / replies — create, delete, get, list, update
- drives — create, delete, get, hide, list, unhide, update (shared drives)
- revisions — delete, get, list, update
- changes — getStartPageToken, list, watch (sync)
- about — get; apps — get, list; channels — stop
6. Media caveat (this client is metadata-only)
files.create / files.update (upload), files.get?alt=media /
files.export / revisions.get (download) are generated as JSON-typed
operations. They will not move file bytes — multipart/resumable upload and
binary download are outside this client's JSON-over-HTTPS model (and strain IC
outcall size limits). Use these methods for metadata only. If a build genuinely
needs to move file content, that path must be hand-written (separate
content-host request with the appropriate binary body) and is out of scope for
this connector today.