gws-install

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Quick install of the Google Workspace CLI (gws) on an additional machine using existing OAuth credentials. Requires client_secret.json from a previous gws-setup. Use when setting up gws on a new computer, reinstalling after a fresh OS, or configuring a second workstation. Triggers: "install gws", "gws on new machine", "gws install", "set up gws again".

3installs

Sourcejezweb/claude-skills

Added on2026-03-13

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add jezweb/claude-skills gws-install

SKILL.md Content

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Google Workspace CLI — Quick Install

Install

gws

on an additional machine using OAuth credentials from a previous setup. Produces an authenticated CLI with all agent skills ready to use.

Prerequisite: The user must have

client_secret.json

from a previous

gws-setup

(or from Google Cloud Console). If they don't have it, use the

gws-setup

skill instead.

Workflow

Step 1: Pre-flight Checks

bash

which gws && gws --version
ls ~/.config/gws/client_secret.json
gws auth status

If already authenticated with the right scopes, skip to Step 4.

Step 2: Install the CLI

bash

npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli
gws --version

Step 3: Set Up Credentials

Ask the user to provide their

client_secret.json

. Three options:

Option A — Paste the JSON content:

Ask the user to paste the JSON. Write it to

~/.config/gws/client_secret.json

:

bash

mkdir -p ~/.config/gws

Expected format:

json

{
  "installed": {
    "client_id": "...",
    "project_id": "...",
    "auth_uri": "https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth",
    "token_uri": "https://oauth2.googleapis.com/token",
    "client_secret": "...",
    "redirect_uris": ["http://localhost"]
  }
}

Option B — File path:

If the user has the file locally (e.g. in Downloads):

bash

mkdir -p ~/.config/gws
cp /path/to/client_secret.json ~/.config/gws/client_secret.json

Option C — Environment variables:

bash

export GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"
export GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"

Step 4: Authenticate

Ask which Google account to use, then run:

bash

gws auth login --full

Or with specific services to match the original setup:

bash

gws auth login -s gmail,drive,calendar,sheets,docs,chat,tasks

The user can check their original machine's scopes with

gws auth status

to see what was granted.

After browser approval, verify:

bash

gws auth status

Step 5: Install Agent Skills

bash

npx skills add googleworkspace/cli -g --agent claude-code --all

This installs 90+ skills into

~/.claude/skills/

. Safe to re-run if skills are already installed.

Step 6: Verify

bash

gws auth status
gws calendar +agenda --today
gws gmail +triage

Troubleshooting

"Auth error — credentials missing or invalid" (exit code 2)

Check
```
~/.config/gws/client_secret.json
```
exists and has valid JSON
Re-run
```
gws auth login
```

Token expired

If the GCP app is in "Testing" status, tokens expire after 7 days
Re-run
```
gws auth login
```
to refresh
For permanent tokens, push the app to Production in GCP Console OAuth consent screen

Skills not appearing in Claude Code

Skills load at session start — restart Claude Code after installing
Verify:
```
ls ~/.claude/skills/gws-* | wc -l
```
should show 30+ directories

gws-install

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Google Workspace CLI — Quick Install

Workflow

Step 1: Pre-flight Checks

Step 2: Install the CLI

Step 3: Set Up Credentials

Step 4: Authenticate

Step 5: Install Agent Skills

Step 6: Verify

Troubleshooting

"Auth error — credentials missing or invalid" (exit code 2)

Token expired

Skills not appearing in Claude Code

See Also