Groups Settings API

Name: Groups Settings API API
Brand: Groups Settings API
Availability: InStock

✓ Official Vendor SpecProductivityCollaborationoauth23 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Read and update the posting, moderation, archive, and visibility settings of a Google Workspace group identified by its email address or unique ID.

Quickstart

Get started with Groups Settings 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:
"update settings on a google group"

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

Capabilities

What an agent can do with Groups Settings API API.

Retrieve the full settings document for a Google Group, including posting permissions and moderation rules

Update a group's whoCanPostMessage and whoCanJoin policies in a single PUT or PATCH call

Configure message moderation, spam handling, and footer text for a Workspace group

Toggle archive retention and external-member visibility on a per-group basis

GET STARTED

Start building with Groups Settings API API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Use for: Get the current settings of a Google Group, Lock down a Google Group so only members can post, Update whoCanJoin to invited only on a Workspace group, Set a custom footer on the engineering@example.com group

Not supported: Does not create groups, manage membership, or send mail — use for reading and updating the configuration of an existing Google Group only.

The Google Groups Settings API exposes the configuration surface of a Google Group: who can post, who can join, message moderation rules, archive policies, custom footers, and visibility. Workspace administrators (or owners of the group) can read and update the full settings document for a single group identified by its email or unique ID. The API is paired with the Admin SDK Directory and Cloud Identity Groups APIs, which manage group lifecycle and membership; Groups Settings only controls how an existing group behaves.

Use Cases

Patterns agents use Groups Settings API API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Standardise Permissions Across Distribution Lists

Workspace administrators use the Groups Settings API to apply a uniform permission template across hundreds of distribution lists during onboarding or after a security review. A script iterates the directory, calls PUT /{groupUniqueId} for each group, and sets whoCanPostMessage, whoCanJoin, and whoCanViewMembership to the approved values. This replaces hand-editing each group in the admin console and produces an auditable change log.

For every group in distribution-lists.csv, call PUT /{groupUniqueId} setting whoCanPostMessage to ALL_MEMBERS_CAN_POST and whoCanJoin to INVITED_CAN_JOIN, then output a CSV with each group's success or failure.

Self-Service Announcement Group Provisioning

An IT portal lets internal teams request a new announce-only group; on approval, the portal creates the group in the Admin SDK and then calls PATCH /{groupUniqueId} on the Groups Settings API to apply the announce-only template (whoCanPostMessage = ALL_MANAGERS_CAN_POST, allowExternalMembers = false, archiveOnly = false). Teams get a correctly configured group without admin intervention.

Given groupId announcements-newhires@example.com, call PATCH /{groupUniqueId} to set whoCanPostMessage to ALL_MANAGERS_CAN_POST and allowExternalMembers to false, then GET the same group and confirm the values were applied.

AI Agent Group Audit and Remediation

An AI agent runs a security audit on Workspace groups by reading each group's settings via Jentic and flagging any that allow external posting or public viewing of membership. For groups outside policy the agent can either propose a remediation patch or apply it directly with admin approval. Jentic holds the OAuth credential and returns scoped tokens at call time so the agent never sees raw admin credentials.

For each group in the input list, GET /{groupUniqueId}, flag groups where allowExternalMembers is true or whoCanViewMembership is ALL_IN_DOMAIN_CAN_VIEW, and produce a remediation PATCH payload that tightens both fields to the secure default.

Key Endpoints

3 endpoints — the google groups settings api exposes the configuration surface of a google group: who can post, who can join, message moderation rules, archive policies, custom footers, and visibility.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

GET

/{groupUniqueId}

Retrieve a group's full settings document

PUT

/{groupUniqueId}

Replace a group's settings with a full settings document

PATCH

/{groupUniqueId}

Update specific fields of a group's settings

GET

/{groupUniqueId}

Retrieve a group's full settings document

PUT

/{groupUniqueId}

Replace a group's settings with a full settings document

PATCH

/{groupUniqueId}

Update specific fields of a group's settings

Why though Jentic?

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

Credential isolation

Workspace admin OAuth credentials are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault. Each Groups Settings call gets a short-lived access token with the apps.groups.settings scope, so raw admin tokens never enter the agent runtime.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search 'update google group settings' and Jentic returns the GET, PUT, and PATCH operations on /{groupUniqueId} with their full request schemas, so the agent picks the right verb without reading docs.

Time to first call

Direct integration: 0.5-1 day for OAuth, scope grant, and settings model. Through Jentic: under 30 minutes — the schema and auth are pre-wired.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Complementary

Admin SDK Directory API

Creates groups and manages membership; Groups Settings configures how those groups behave.

Use Admin SDK Directory to create the group and add members, then call Groups Settings to apply posting and visibility policy.

Alternative

Cloud Identity API

Cloud Identity Groups manages group lifecycle in modern Workspace tenants and overlaps with parts of Groups Settings.

Prefer Cloud Identity for newer Workspace deployments that need security groups and dynamic membership; use Groups Settings when controlling Google Groups posting and archive behaviour.

Complementary

Groups Migration API

Imports historical mail into the same group archives whose policies Groups Settings configures.

Use Groups Migration to backfill messages, then Groups Settings to lock down posting permissions before opening membership.

FAQs

Specific to using Groups Settings API API through Jentic.

What authentication does the Groups Settings API use?

Google OAuth 2.0 with the apps.groups.settings scope, used by a Workspace administrator or the group owner. Through Jentic the OAuth credential is encrypted in the vault and exchanged for a short-lived access token only at the moment of the API call.

Can I update only one field of a group's settings?

Yes. PATCH /{groupUniqueId} accepts a partial settings document and updates only the fields you provide. Use PUT /{groupUniqueId} when you want to replace the full settings document.

What are the rate limits for the Groups Settings API?

Google enforces a per-project quota (default 1,000 queries per 100 seconds). Bulk updates across hundreds of groups should pace requests and back off on 429 responses.

How do I lock a group to members-only posting through Jentic?

Search Jentic with 'update google group settings', load the PATCH operation on /{groupUniqueId}, then execute with groupUniqueId as the group email and a body containing whoCanPostMessage set to ALL_MEMBERS_CAN_POST. Jentic handles OAuth scope and returns the updated settings document.

Does this API let me add or remove group members?

No. Membership is managed by the Admin SDK Directory API (members.insert / members.delete) or the Cloud Identity Groups API. Groups Settings only controls how an existing group behaves once members are present.