Repository: googleworkspace/cli

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CLAUDE.md Copy Chapter

When contributing to this repository, you must strictly follow all guidelines outlined in the AGENTS.md file.

README.md Copy Chapter

<h1 align="center">gws</h1>

One CLI for all of Google Workspace — built for humans and AI agents.<br>
Drive, Gmail, Calendar, and every Workspace API. Zero boilerplate. Structured JSON output. 40+ agent skills included.

<p>
<a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/@googleworkspace/cli"><img src="https://img.shields.io/npm/v/@googleworkspace/cli" alt="npm version"></a>
<a href="https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli/blob/main/LICENSE"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/license/googleworkspace/cli" alt="license"></a>
<a href="https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli/actions/workflows/ci.yml"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/googleworkspace/cli/ci.yml?branch=main&label=CI" alt="CI status"></a>
<a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/@googleworkspace/cli"><img src="https://img.shields.io/npm/unpacked-size/@googleworkspace/cli" alt="install size"></a>
</p>
<br>

⬇️ Download the latest release for your OS

gws doesn't ship a static list of commands. It reads Google's own Discovery Service at runtime and builds its entire command surface dynamically. When Google Workspace adds an API endpoint or method, gws picks it up automatically.

Contents Copy Chapter

- Prerequisites
- Installation
- Quick Start
- Why gws?
- Authentication
- AI Agent Skills
- Advanced Usage
- Environment Variables
- Exit Codes
- Architecture
- Troubleshooting
- Development

Prerequisites Copy Chapter

- Node.js 18+ — for npm install (or download a pre-built binary from GitHub Releases)
- A Google Cloud project — required for OAuth credentials. You can create one via the Google Cloud Console or with the gcloud CLI or with the gws auth setup command.
- A Google account with access to Google Workspace

Installation Copy Chapter

The recommended way to install gws is to download the pre-built binary for your OS and architecture from the GitHub Releases page. Extract the archive and place the gws binary in your $PATH.

For convenience, you can also use npm to automate downloading the appropriate binary from GitHub Releases:

npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli

Or build from source:

cargo install --git https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli --locked

A Nix flake is also available at github:googleworkspace/cli

nix run github:googleworkspace/cli

On macOS and Linux, you can also install via Homebrew:

brew install googleworkspace-cli

Quick Start Copy Chapter

gws auth setup     # walks you through Google Cloud project config
gws auth login     # subsequent OAuth login
gws drive files list --params '{"pageSize": 5}'

Why gws? Copy Chapter

For humans — stop writing curl calls against REST docs. gws gives you --help on every resource, --dry-run to preview requests, and auto‑pagination.

For AI agents — every response is structured JSON. Pair it with the included agent skills and your LLM can manage Workspace without custom tooling.

List the 10 most recent files

gws drive files list --params '{"pageSize": 10}'
Create a spreadsheet

gws sheets spreadsheets create --json '{"properties": {"title": "Q1 Budget"}}'
Send a Chat message

gws chat spaces messages create \
  --params '{"parent": "spaces/xyz"}' \
  --json '{"text": "Deploy complete."}' \
  --dry-run
Introspect any method's request/response schema

gws schema drive.files.list
Stream paginated results as NDJSON

gws drive files list --params '{"pageSize": 100}' --page-all | jq -r '.files[].name'

Authentication Copy Chapter

The CLI supports multiple auth workflows so it works on your laptop, in CI, and on a server.

Which setup should I use? Copy Section

| I have… | Use |
|---|---|
| gcloud installed and authenticated | gws auth setup (fastest) |
| A GCP project but no gcloud | Manual OAuth setup |
| An existing OAuth access token | GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_TOKEN |
| Existing Credentials | GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CREDENTIALS_FILE |

Interactive (local desktop) Copy Section

Credentials are encrypted at rest (AES-256-GCM) with the key stored in your OS keyring (or ~/.config/gws/.encryption_key when GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_KEYRING_BACKEND=file).

gws auth setup       # one-time: creates a Cloud project, enables APIs, logs you in
gws auth login       # subsequent scope selection and login

gws auth setup requires the gcloud CLI. If you don't have gcloud, use the manual setup below instead.

Google limits consent to ~25 scopes. The recommended scope preset includes 85+

scopes and will fail for unverified apps (especially for @gmail.com accounts).

Choose individual services instead to filter the scope picker:

``bash

`

Manual OAuth setup (Google Cloud Console) Copy Section

Use this when gws auth setup cannot automate project/client creation, or when you want explicit control.

1. Open Google Cloud Console in the target project:
- OAuth consent screen: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials/consent?project=<PROJECT_ID>
- Credentials: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials?project=<PROJECT_ID>
2. Configure OAuth branding/audience if prompted:
- App type: External (testing mode is fine)
3. Add your account under Test users
4. Create an OAuth client:
- Type: Desktop app
5. Download the client JSON and save it to:
- ~/.config/gws/client_secret.json

gws auth login

- Human flow: run gws auth login, open the printed URL, approve scopes.
- Agent-assisted flow: the agent opens the URL, selects account, handles consent prompts, and returns control once the localhost callback succeeds.

If consent shows "Google hasn't verified this app" (testing mode), click Continue.
If scope checkboxes appear, select required scopes (or Select all) before continuing.

Headless / CI (export flow) Copy Section

1. Complete interactive auth on a machine with a browser.
2. Export credentials:


gws auth export --unmasked > credentials.json

export GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CREDENTIALS_FILE=/path/to/credentials.json
   gws drive files list   # just works

export GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CREDENTIALS_FILE=/path/to/service-account.json
gws drive files list

Useful when another tool (e.g. gcloud) already mints tokens for your environment.

export GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_TOKEN=$(gcloud auth print-access-token)

Precedence Copy Section

| Priority | Source | Set via |
| -------- | ---------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| 1 | Access token | GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_TOKEN |
| 2 | Credentials file | GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CREDENTIALS_FILE |
| 3 | Encrypted credentials | gws auth login |
| 4 | Plaintext credentials | ~/.config/gws/credentials.json |

Environment variables can also live in a .env file.

AI Agent Skills Copy Chapter

The repo ships 100+ Agent Skills (SKILL.md files) — one for every supported API, plus higher-level helpers for common workflows and 50 curated recipes for Gmail, Drive, Docs, Calendar, and Sheets. See the full Skills Index for the complete list.

Install all skills at once

npx skills add https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli
Or pick only what you need

npx skills add https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli/tree/main/skills/gws-drive
npx skills add https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli/tree/main/skills/gws-gmail

<details>
<summary>OpenClaw setup</summary>

Symlink all skills (stays in sync with repo)

ln -s $(pwd)/skills/gws-* ~/.openclaw/skills/
Or copy specific skills

cp -r skills/gws-drive skills/gws-gmail ~/.openclaw/skills/

The gws-shared skill includes an install block so OpenClaw auto-installs the CLI via npm if gws isn't on PATH.

</details>

Gemini CLI Extension Copy Chapter

1. Authenticate the CLI first:

gws auth setup

2. Install the extension into the Gemini CLI:


gemini extensions install https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli

Installing this extension gives your Gemini CLI agent direct access to all gws commands and Google Workspace agent skills. Because gws handles its own authentication securely, you simply need to authenticate your terminal once prior to using the agent, and the extension will automatically inherit your credentials.

Advanced Usage Copy Chapter

Multipart Uploads Copy Section

gws drive files create --json '{"name": "report.pdf"}' --upload ./report.pdf

Pagination Copy Section

| Flag | Description | Default |
| ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | ------- |
| --page-all | Auto-paginate, one JSON line per page (NDJSON) | off |
| --page-limit <N> | Max pages to fetch | 10 |
| --page-delay <MS> | Delay between pages | 100 ms |

Google Sheets — Shell Escaping Copy Section

Sheets ranges use ! which bash interprets as history expansion. Always wrap values in single quotes:

Read cells A1:C10 from "Sheet1"

gws sheets spreadsheets values get \
  --params '{"spreadsheetId": "SPREADSHEET_ID", "range": "Sheet1!A1:C10"}'
Append rows

gws sheets spreadsheets values append \
  --params '{"spreadsheetId": "ID", "range": "Sheet1!A1", "valueInputOption": "USER_ENTERED"}' \
  --json '{"values": [["Name", "Score"], ["Alice", 95]]}'

Helper Commands Copy Section

Some services ship hand-crafted helper commands alongside the auto-generated Discovery surface. Helper commands are prefixed with + so they are visually distinct and never collide with Discovery-generated method names.

Time-aware helpers (+agenda, +standup-report, +weekly-digest, +meeting-prep) automatically use your Google account timezone (fetched from Calendar Settings API and cached for 24 hours). Override with --timezone/--tz on +agenda, or set the --timezone flag for explicit control.

Run gws <service> --help to see both Discovery methods and helper commands together.

gws gmail --help      # shows +send, +reply, +reply-all, +forward, +triage, +watch …
gws calendar --help   # shows +insert, +agenda …
gws drive --help      # shows +upload …

Full helper reference:

| Service | Command | Description |
|---------|---------|-------------|
| gmail | +send | Send an email |
| gmail | +reply | Reply to a message (handles threading automatically) |
| gmail | +reply-all | Reply-all to a message |
| gmail | +forward | Forward a message to new recipients |
| gmail | +triage | Show unread inbox summary (sender, subject, date) |
| gmail | +watch | Watch for new emails and stream them as NDJSON |
| sheets | +append | Append a row to a spreadsheet |
| sheets | +read | Read values from a spreadsheet |
| docs | +write | Append text to a document |
| chat | +send | Send a message to a space |
| drive | +upload | Upload a file with automatic metadata |
| calendar | +insert | Create a new event |
| calendar | +agenda | Show upcoming events (uses Google account timezone; override with --timezone) |
| script | +push | Replace all files in an Apps Script project with local files |
| workflow | +standup-report | Today's meetings + open tasks as a standup summary |
| workflow | +meeting-prep | Prepare for your next meeting: agenda, attendees, and linked docs |
| workflow | +email-to-task | Convert a Gmail message into a Google Tasks entry |
| workflow | +weekly-digest | Weekly summary: this week's meetings + unread email count |
| workflow | +file-announce | Announce a Drive file in a Chat space |
| events | +subscribe | Subscribe to Workspace events and stream them as NDJSON |
| events | +renew | Renew/reactivate Workspace Events subscriptions |
| modelarmor | +sanitize-prompt | Sanitize a user prompt through a Model Armor template |
| modelarmor | +sanitize-response | Sanitize a model response through a Model Armor template |
| modelarmor | +create-template | Create a new Model Armor template |

Examples:

Send an email

gws gmail +send --to [email protected] --subject "Hello" --body "Hi there"
Reply to a message

gws gmail +reply --message-id MESSAGE_ID --body "Thanks!"
Append a row to a spreadsheet

gws sheets +append --spreadsheet SPREADSHEET_ID --values "Alice,95"
Show today's calendar agenda

gws calendar +agenda
Upload a file to Drive

gws drive +upload ./report.pdf --name "Q1 Report"
Morning standup summary

gws workflow +standup-report
Show today's agenda in a specific timezone

gws calendar +agenda --today --timezone America/New_York

Model Armor (Response Sanitization) Copy Section

Integrate Google Cloud Model Armor to scan API responses for prompt injection before they reach your agent.

gws gmail users messages get --params '...' \
  --sanitize "projects/P/locations/L/templates/T"

| Variable | Description |
| ---------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_SANITIZE_TEMPLATE | Default Model Armor template |
| GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_SANITIZE_MODE | warn (default) or block |

Environment Variables Copy Chapter

All variables are optional. See .env.example for a copy-paste template.

| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_TOKEN | Pre-obtained OAuth2 access token (highest priority) |
| GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CREDENTIALS_FILE | Path to OAuth credentials JSON (user or service account) |
| GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CLIENT_ID | OAuth client ID (alternative to client_secret.json) |
| GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CLIENT_SECRET | OAuth client secret (paired with CLIENT_ID) |
| GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CONFIG_DIR | Override config directory (default: ~/.config/gws) |
| GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_SANITIZE_TEMPLATE | Default Model Armor template |
| GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_SANITIZE_MODE | warn (default) or block |
| GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_LOG | Log level for stderr (e.g., gws=debug). Off by default. |
| GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_LOG_FILE | Directory for JSON log files with daily rotation. Off by default. |
| GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_PROJECT_ID | GCP project ID override for quota/billing and fallback for helper commands |

Environment variables can also be set in a .env file (loaded via dotenvy).

Exit Codes Copy Chapter

gws uses structured exit codes so scripts can branch on the failure type without parsing error output.

| Code | Meaning | Example cause |
|------|---------|---------------|
| 0 | Success | Command completed normally |
| 1 | API error | Google returned a 4xx/5xx response |
| 2 | Auth error | Credentials missing, expired, or invalid |
| 3 | Validation error | Bad arguments, unknown service, invalid flag |
| 4 | Discovery error | Could not fetch the API schema document |
| 5 | Internal error | Unexpected failure |

gws drive files list --params '{"fileId": "bad"}'
echo $?   # 1 — API error
gws unknown-service files list
echo $?   # 3 — validation error (unknown service)

Architecture Copy Chapter

gws uses a two-phase parsing strategy:

1. Read argv[1] to identify the service (e.g. drive)
2. Fetch the service's Discovery Document (cached 24 h)
3. Build a clap::Command tree from the document's resources and methods
4. Re-parse the remaining arguments
5. Authenticate, build the HTTP request, execute

All output — success, errors, download metadata — is structured JSON.

Troubleshooting Copy Chapter

"Access blocked" or 403 during login Copy Section

Your OAuth app is in testing mode and your account is not listed as a test user.

Fix: Open the OAuth consent screen in your GCP project → Test users → Add users → enter your Google account email. Then retry gws auth login.

"Google hasn't verified this app" Copy Section

Expected when your app is in testing mode. Click Advanced → Go to \<app name\> (unsafe) to proceed. This is safe for personal use; verification is only required to publish the app to other users.

Too many scopes / consent screen error Copy Section

Unverified (testing mode) apps are limited to ~25 OAuth scopes. The recommended scope preset includes many scopes and will exceed this limit.

Fix: Select only the scopes you need:

gws auth login --scopes drive,gmail,calendar

gcloud CLI not found CLI not found')" title="Copy section prompt for LLMs"> Copy Section

gws auth setup requires the gcloud CLI to automate project creation. You have three options:

1. Install gcloud and use gcloud directly.
2. Re-run gws auth setup which wraps gcloud calls.
3. Skip gcloud entirely — set up OAuth credentials manually in the Cloud Console

redirect_uri_mismatch ')" title="Copy section prompt for LLMs"> Copy Section

The OAuth client was not created as a Desktop app type. In the Credentials page, delete the existing client, create a new one with type Desktop app, and download the new JSON.

API not enabled — accessNotConfigured ')" title="Copy section prompt for LLMs"> Copy Section

If a required Google API is not enabled for your GCP project, you will see a
403 error with reason accessNotConfigured:

{
  "error": {
    "code": 403,
    "message": "Gmail API has not been used in project 549352339482 ...",
    "reason": "accessNotConfigured",
    "enable_url": "https://console.developers.google.com/apis/api/gmail.googleapis.com/overview?project=549352339482"
  }
}

gws also prints an actionable hint to stderr:

💡 API not enabled for your GCP project.
   Enable it at: https://console.developers.google.com/apis/api/gmail.googleapis.com/overview?project=549352339482
   After enabling, wait a few seconds and retry your command.

Steps to fix:

1. Click the enable_url link (or copy it from the enable_url JSON field).
2. In the GCP Console, click Enable.
3. Wait ~10 seconds, then retry your gws command.

APIs for your project automatically.

Development Copy Chapter

cargo build                       # dev build
cargo clippy -- -D warnings       # lint
cargo test                        # unit tests
./scripts/coverage.sh             # HTML coverage report → target/llvm-cov/html/

License Copy Chapter

Apache-2.0

Disclaimer Copy Chapter