Google Drive CLI

Installation

npm install -g @mariozechner/gdcli

Setup

Google Cloud Console (one-time)

1. Create a new project (or select existing)
2. Enable the Google Drive API
3. Set app name in OAuth branding
4. Add test users (all Gmail addresses you want to use)
5. Create OAuth client:
   • Click "Create Client"
   • Application type: "Desktop app"
   • Download the JSON file

Configure gdcli

gdcli accounts list

1. Ask if they have a Google Cloud project with Drive API enabled
2. If not, walk them through the Google Cloud Console steps above
3. Have them download the OAuth credentials JSON
4. Run:

   gdcli accounts credentials ~/path/to/credentials.json

5. Run:

   gdcli accounts add <email>

   (use

   --manual

   for browserless OAuth)

Usage

gdcli --help

• gdcli <email> ls [folderId]

  - List files/folders

• gdcli <email> ls --query "<query>"

  - List with Drive query filter

• gdcli <email> search "<text>"

  - Full-text content search

• gdcli <email> download <fileId> [destPath]

  - Download a file

• gdcli <email> upload <localPath> [--folder <folderId>]

  - Upload a file

• gdcli <email> mkdir <name>

  - Create a folder

• gdcli <email> share <fileId> --anyone

  - Share publicly

Search

• search "<text>"

  - Searches inside file contents (fullText)

• ls --query "<query>"

  - Filters by metadata (name, type, date, etc.)

ls --query

Query Syntax (for ls --query)

field operator value

and

or

()

=

!=

contains

<

>

<=

>=

# By filename
ls --query "name = 'report.pdf'"           # exact match
ls --query "name contains 'IMG'"           # prefix match

# By type
ls --query "mimeType = 'application/pdf'"
ls --query "mimeType contains 'image/'"
ls --query "mimeType = 'application/vnd.google-apps.folder'"  # folders

# By date
ls --query "modifiedTime > '2024-01-01'"

# By owner/sharing
ls --query "'me' in owners"
ls --query "sharedWithMe"

# Exclude trash
ls --query "trashed = false"

# Combined
ls --query "name contains 'report' and mimeType = 'application/pdf'"

Data Storage

• ~/.gdcli/credentials.json

  - OAuth client credentials

• ~/.gdcli/accounts.json

  - Account tokens

• ~/.gdcli/downloads/

  - Default download location