Google Drive API

Name: Google Drive API API
Brand: Google Drive API
Availability: InStock

✓ Official Vendor SpecStorageDocument Managementoauth258 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Upload, download, search, and share files in Google Drive. Manage permissions, track revisions, and monitor file changes across personal and shared drives with 58 available operations.

Quickstart

Get started with Google Drive API in minutes using your preferred integration method.

# Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf)
{
  "jentic": {
    "url": "https://api.jentic.com/mcp",
    "auth": "oauth"
  }
}

# Then ask your agent:
"upload a file to Google Drive"

# → Jentic returns the GET /events tool with parameter schema, agent executes.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with Google Drive API API.

Upload files with resumable transfer supporting documents up to 5 TB

Search files using structured queries with field-specific filters and full-text content matching

Share files and folders with granular permission roles including reader, commenter, writer, and organizer

Track file revision history and restore previous versions of any document

GET STARTED

Start building with Google Drive API API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Use Cases

Patterns agents use Google Drive API API for, with concrete tasks.

★ AI Agent File Management

AI agents use the Google Drive API through Jentic to store outputs, retrieve reference documents, and share generated content with stakeholders. An agent searches Jentic for 'upload a file to Google Drive,' receives the multipart upload schema, and executes the operation with proper MIME type detection — no manual OAuth token management required. Supports files up to 5 TB with resumable uploads for reliability.

Upload a PDF report file to a specific folder in Google Drive using POST /files with uploadType=resumable, then share it with viewer access to team@company.com

Document Search and Retrieval

Query Google Drive using structured search with filters for file type, owner, date modified, shared status, and full-text content. The files.list endpoint accepts a 'q' parameter supporting operators like 'contains', 'in', and date comparisons. Results include file metadata, download links, and sharing status for immediate access or downstream processing by agents.

Search for all spreadsheet files modified after 2024-06-01 owned by finance@company.com using GET /files with query 'mimeType="application/vnd.google-apps.spreadsheet" and modifiedTime > "2024-06-01T00:00:00"'

Permission and Sharing Automation

Programmatically manage file and folder sharing permissions across an organization. The permissions endpoints support setting role-based access (reader, writer, commenter, organizer) for users, groups, domains, or public links. Includes transfer of ownership, expiration dates on shared links, and batch permission updates across multiple files.

Create a permission on a file granting 'writer' role to user@partner.com with an expiration date of 2024-12-31 using POST /files/{fileId}/permissions

Change Tracking and Sync

Subscribe to real-time change notifications for files and shared drives using the changes.watch endpoint with push delivery to a webhook URL. Poll for incremental changes since the last sync token to keep local systems synchronized with Drive state. Tracks file creation, modification, deletion, permission changes, and moves across the entire drive hierarchy.

Get the start page token using GET /changes/startPageToken, then subscribe to changes using POST /changes/watch with a webhook callback URL for real-time file change notifications

Key Endpoints

58 endpoints — upload, download, search, and organize files and folders in google drive with fine-grained sharing permissions and real-time collaboration metadata.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

GET

/files

List and search files with query filtering

POST

/files

Upload a new file or create metadata

GET

/files/{fileId}

Get file metadata or download content

PATCH

/files/{fileId}

Update file metadata or content

DELETE

/files/{fileId}

Permanently delete a file

POST

/files/{fileId}/permissions

Create a sharing permission

POST

/changes/watch

Subscribe to file change notifications

GET

/files/{fileId}/revisions

List file revision history

GET

/files

List and search files with query filtering

POST

/files

Upload a new file or create metadata

GET

/files/{fileId}

Get file metadata or download content

PATCH

/files/{fileId}

Update file metadata or content

DELETE

/files/{fileId}

Permanently delete a file

Why though Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

Google Drive OAuth 2.0 tokens with granular scopes (drive.readonly, drive.file, drive) are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault (MAXsystem). Agents receive scoped access tokens — raw OAuth credentials and refresh tokens never enter the agent's context.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search by intent (e.g., 'upload a file to Google Drive' or 'search for documents') and Jentic returns matching Drive operations with their input schemas, required scopes, and multipart upload specifications, so the agent can call the right endpoint without parsing Google's API reference.

Time to first call

Direct Google Drive integration: 3-5 days for OAuth consent screen, resumable upload handling, and permission management. Through Jentic: under 1 hour — search, load schema, execute with auth handled automatically.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Alternative

Dropbox API

Cloud file storage with folder sharing, file versioning, and content-based search

Choose Dropbox when users are already on the Dropbox platform or when you need simpler token-based auth without OAuth consent screen setup

Alternative

Box API

Enterprise content management with advanced governance, compliance, and workflow automation

Choose Box when enterprise compliance features like legal hold, retention policies, and detailed audit logs are required

Complementary

Google Sheets API

Read and write spreadsheet data stored in Google Drive

Use alongside Drive when you need to read or modify the cell-level content of spreadsheet files rather than just managing the file metadata

Complementary

Gmail API

Email messaging for sharing Drive file links and processing attachments

Use alongside Drive when you need to email file links, process email attachments into Drive, or notify users about shared file changes

FAQs

Specific to using Google Drive API API through Jentic.

What authentication does the Google Drive API use?

The Google Drive API uses OAuth 2.0 with scopes ranging from metadata-only access (drive.metadata.readonly) to full drive control (drive). Through Jentic, OAuth tokens are stored in the MAXsystem vault and agents receive scoped access tokens. The API supports both Oauth2 implicit flow and Oauth2 authorization code flow for server-side applications.

Can I search files by content, type, and owner with the Google Drive API?

Yes, the GET /files endpoint accepts a 'q' parameter with a structured query language. You can combine operators like mimeType='application/pdf', 'report' in name, modifiedTime > '2024-01-01', and 'user@example.com' in owners. Full-text content search uses the fullText contains operator to search within document bodies.

What are the rate limits for the Google Drive API?

The Google Drive API allows 12,000 queries per 60 seconds per project, and 12 queries per second per user. File uploads support resumable uploads for files up to 5 TB. Batch requests can combine up to 100 API calls in a single HTTP request to reduce quota consumption.

How do I upload large files to Google Drive through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'upload file to Google Drive' to get the POST /files operation schema with uploadType=resumable. This initiates a resumable upload session that supports files up to 5 TB with automatic retry on network failures. Install Jentic with pip install jentic, authenticate at https://app.jentic.com/sign-up, and execute the upload with multipart content type.

Is the Google Drive API free to use?

The API itself is free with no per-call charges. Storage usage counts against the Google account's storage quota (15 GB free for personal accounts, varies for Workspace). API usage is governed by per-project and per-user rate limits rather than pricing tiers.

Can I track file changes in real-time with the Google Drive API?

Yes, use the POST /changes/watch endpoint to subscribe to push notifications delivered to your webhook URL. First get a start token via GET /changes/startPageToken, then watch for changes including file creation, modification, deletion, and permission updates. Watch subscriptions expire after a configurable period and need renewal.

How do I export Google Docs to PDF or other formats?

Use GET /files/{fileId}/export with the mimeType parameter set to the target format. Google Docs export to application/pdf, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document (DOCX), text/plain, and other formats. Spreadsheets export to CSV, XLSX, and PDF. The export endpoint works only for Google Workspace native formats.