Google Drive

Architecture

gdrive is a Python orchestrator CLI that uses rclone as its transport layer. rclone handles all Google Drive API communication -- OAuth, file transfers, format conversion, retry/rate-limiting. gdrive adds the intelligence on top: a manifest that tracks synced files, format-aware push/pull that re-imports Google Docs as native format, conflict detection, and multi-remote management. Think of rclone as the engine and gdrive as the driver.

Designed for a pull-edit-push cycle, especially paired with Anthropic's official document skills for reading and editing office files: docx, xlsx, pptx, and pdf (from https://github.com/anthropics/skills).

Before First Use

Before running any gdrive command, ensure dependencies are available. Check and install silently -- don't ask the user for permission to install these.

rclone: Run which rclone. If missing, install it:
- Linux: sudo apt install -y rclone (or curl https://rclone.org/install.sh | sudo bash)
- macOS: brew install rclone
uv: Run which uv. If missing: curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
Project sync: Run uv sync --project <skill-dir> to ensure the venv and deps are ready.
Auth: Run gdrive ls. If it shows "No remotes configured", the user needs to run gdrive auth setup (interactive -- tell the user what's about to happen and that they'll need to complete OAuth in a browser).

For headless machines (no $DISPLAY), instruct the user to set up an SSH tunnel first:

ssh -L 53682:localhost:53682 <remote-host>

Then run gdrive auth setup on the remote host and open the printed URL on their local machine.

See references/setup.md for the full setup guide.

Invocation

All commands use this pattern:

uv run --project /path/to/skills/google-drive gdrive <command> [args]

For brevity, examples below use gdrive directly.

Commands

auth -- Manage remotes

gdrive auth setup     # interactive: configure rclone remotes (run once per machine)
gdrive auth status    # report which remotes are configured and authenticate
gdrive auth logout    # forget gdrive's remote registrations (rclone state stays)

ls -- List drives or files

# List configured remotes
gdrive ls

# List files at a remote path
gdrive ls mydrive:
gdrive ls mydrive:Projects/2025/

# Detailed listing
gdrive ls -l mydrive:Reports/

# Recursive listing
gdrive ls -R mydrive:Templates/

cp -- Copy files on remote

gdrive cp mydrive:Reports/Q4-Summary.docx mydrive:Archive/Q4-Summary.docx

Server-side copy. Works across different remotes (unlike mv). Does not update the manifest.

pull -- Download files

# Download to current directory
gdrive pull mydrive:Reports/Q4-Summary

# Download to specific location
gdrive pull mydrive:Reports/Q4-Summary ./reports/

# Force overwrite local changes
gdrive pull -f mydrive:Reports/Q4-Summary

# Pull all files in a folder
gdrive pull mydrive:Reports/

# Pull to a specific local directory
gdrive pull mydrive:Reports/ ./local-reports/

# Filter by glob pattern
gdrive pull mydrive:Reports/ --include "*.docx"

# Recursive pull (includes subdirectories)
gdrive pull -R mydrive:Projects/

Google Docs/Sheets/Slides are automatically exported:

Google Format	Exported As
Google Doc	.docx
Google Sheet	.xlsx
Google Slides	.pptx

The manifest tracks the original MIME type so push can re-import correctly.

push -- Upload files

# Push a tracked file (uses manifest for destination)
gdrive push ./Q4-Summary.docx

# Push to explicit destination
gdrive push ./report.docx mydrive:Reports/Q4-Summary.docx

# Force overwrite
gdrive push -f ./Q4-Summary.docx

# Push all locally-modified tracked files
gdrive push --all

# Filter batch push by remote
gdrive push --all -r mydrive

# Force batch push (skip conflict checks)
gdrive push --all -f

Format-aware upload: if a file was originally a Google Doc (per manifest), it's automatically re-imported as a Google Doc on push. For new files, you'll be prompted.

Conflict detection: if the remote file changed since last sync, push prompts before overwriting. Use -f to skip.

status -- Check sync state

# Show all tracked files
gdrive status

# Filter by remote
gdrive status -r mydrive

Categories:

Up to date -- local matches last sync
Local changes -- local file modified since last pull
Missing locally -- tracked file deleted or moved locally

mkdir -- Create directories

gdrive mkdir mydrive:Projects/2025/NewProject

mv -- Move files on remote

gdrive mv mydrive:old/path.docx mydrive:new/path.docx

Updates manifest entries referencing the moved path.

search -- Find files

# Search all configured remotes
gdrive search budget

# Search a specific remote
gdrive search mydrive: budget report

Uses Google Drive's name-contains query. Shows results with file type, date, and web link.

rm -- Delete remote files

gdrive rm mydrive:path/to/old-file.docx
gdrive rm -f mydrive:path/to/old-file.docx  # skip confirmation

Deletes the remote file and cleans up any matching manifest entries.

untrack -- Remove from manifest

gdrive untrack ./local-file.docx

Removes the file from manifest tracking without deleting anything locally or on the remote.

doctor -- Health check

gdrive doctor

Validates: rclone installed, config file exists, all remotes have working tokens, no orphaned rclone remotes, all manifest entries have existing local files.

open -- Get web URL

gdrive open mydrive:Reports/Q4-Summary

Prints the Google Drive web URL for the file.

link -- Get shareable link

gdrive link mydrive:Reports/Q4-Summary

Prints a shareable Google Drive link for the file.

share -- Set permissions

# Share with a user (default: reader)
gdrive share mydrive:Reports/Q4-Summary.docx user@example.com

# Share as writer
gdrive share mydrive:Reports/Q4-Summary.docx user@example.com --role writer

# Share as commenter
gdrive share mydrive:Reports/Q4-Summary.docx user@example.com --role commenter

# Share with anyone who has the link
gdrive share mydrive:Reports/Q4-Summary.docx --anyone

Calls the Google Drive API directly (rclone has no sharing support). Uses the OAuth token from rclone config.

Workflow: Pull-Edit-Push

The primary workflow for editing Google Drive documents:

# 1. Pull the document (exports Google Doc as .docx)
gdrive pull mydrive:Proposals/Client-Brief

# 2. Edit with a document skill
# (use docx, xlsx, or pptx skill to read/modify the file)

# 3. Check what changed
gdrive status

# 4. Push back (re-imports as Google Doc)
gdrive push ./Client-Brief.docx

Mixed editing (agent XML + user in Google Docs): If the user edited the doc directly in Google Docs between sessions, the pulled version may have different structure (reordered sections, removed content). Always re-inspect with pandoc before editing XML. Don't assume previous XML line numbers or structure.

Manifest

The manifest at ~/.config/skills/gdrive/manifest.json tracks:

Remote location and Google Drive file ID
Original MIME type (for format-aware re-import)
MD5 hashes at last sync (local and remote)
Timestamps for change detection

The manifest enables:

Pushing tracked files without specifying the remote path
Detecting local modifications via MD5 comparison
Re-importing exported Google Docs as native format on push
Detecting moved files by MD5 hash

Remote Naming Convention

Shared drives are configured as separate rclone remotes. Pick a short prefix per drive so commands stay readable, e.g.:

mydrive -- a personal My Drive
team-engineering -- an engineering shared drive
team-design -- a design shared drive

Lowercased, hyphenated names work best. The auth wizard suggests names based on each drive's title and lets you override.

Troubleshooting

"File not found" on pull -- Check the path with gdrive ls remote:path/ first. Google Docs don't have file extensions on the remote.

Push doesn't re-import as Google Doc -- Ensure the file was originally pulled (has manifest entry with Google MIME type). For new files, use --drive-import-formats flag.

Manifest out of sync -- Run gdrive untrack on stale entries, or delete ~/.config/skills/gdrive/manifest.json to reset.

General setup issues -- Run gdrive doctor to diagnose problems with rclone, remotes, and manifest health.

Configuration Files

Manifest: ~/.config/skills/gdrive/manifest.json
Config: ~/.config/skills/gdrive/config.json
rclone config: ~/.config/rclone/rclone.conf (managed by rclone)
Override the gdrive config dir with GDRIVE_CONFIG_DIR=/path/to/dir

Migrating from earlier versions

If upgrading from a build that stored config at ~/.config/gdrive/, run gdrive config migrate --apply to move the manifest and config to the new location. gdrive auth status emits a deprecation_warning until the migration runs.

The interactive wizard previously invoked as gdrive auth is now gdrive auth setup. The bare gdrive auth is now a command group containing setup, status, and logout.

Add to .gitignore in any repo using this skill:

.gdrive-manifest.json

google-drive