Google Workspace Cli

Google Workspace CLI

Runtime Assumption

• gws is preinstalled in the runtime.
• Verify availability with gws --help.
• If it is unexpectedly missing, install:
• npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli

Auth Setup (Customer-Assisted)

One-time permanent setup (do this once per machine)

Run auth with file-based keyring so the encryption key is stored on disk — no OS keyring dependency, token auto-refreshes indefinitely via refresh_token:

GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_KEYRING_BACKEND=file gws auth login -s sheets

After success, persist the env var so every future gws call uses it automatically:

echo 'export GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_KEYRING_BACKEND=file' >> ~/.zshrc

Never run gws auth logout unless you intend to re-authenticate — it deletes the credentials and refresh token.

Keeping the process alive during OAuth

Critical: gws auth login must stay running to receive the OAuth callback on localhost. If the process dies before the user clicks the URL, the token is never saved.

Wrong — process dies immediately, token lost:

gws auth login -s sheets &   # background dies before callback

Correct — use async shell mode that stays alive:

# Start as async shell, read URL from output, keep alive until user authenticates
gws auth login -s sheets
# (runs in foreground; user authenticates; token saved automatically)

When orchestrating via agent tools, use mode="async" with a shellId and read_bash to retrieve the URL. Do not use shell & backgrounding — that kills the process.

Steps

1. Check if already authenticated: GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_KEYRING_BACKEND=file gws auth status
2. If "token_valid": true — skip auth, proceed directly.
3. If not valid, start login (keeping process alive): GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_KEYRING_BACKEND=file gws auth login -s
4. Send the printed URL to the user and wait for completion notification.
5. Verify: GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_KEYRING_BACKEND=file gws auth status | grep token_valid

Multi-Account Control

• Use a dedicated config directory per account via GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CONFIG_DIR.
• If the active profile (~/.config/gws) already has OAuth app credentials, bootstrap a new profile by copying only client_secret.json:
• mkdir -p ~/.config/gws.
• cp ~/.config/gws/client_secret.json ~/.config/gws./client_secret.json
• chmod 600 ~/.config/gws./client_secret.json
• Do not copy credentials.enc or token_cache.json when creating a separate account profile.
• Example:
• Work account login:
• GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CONFIG_DIR=~/.config/gws-work gws auth login -s drive,gmail,calendar
• Personal account login:
• GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CONFIG_DIR=~/.config/gws-personal gws auth login -s drive,gmail,calendar
• Run all commands with the same account-specific config dir:
• GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CONFIG_DIR=~/.config/gws-work gws gmail messages list --query "is:unread" --limit 5
• GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CONFIG_DIR=~/.config/gws-personal gws calendar events list --time-min now --limit 10

Important Notes

• Always use GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_KEYRING_BACKEND=file (or set in ~/.zshrc) — OS keyring causes token loss across sessions.
• Always send the printed login URL to the customer immediately; it can expire.
• Each gws auth login picks a random localhost port — URLs from dead processes are invalid, generate a fresh one.
• If auth stalls, stop the process and rerun gws auth login.
• Scope mismatch: 403 "insufficient authentication scopes" means re-auth with missing scope. Check with gws auth status first.
• Required scope per service: sheets → spreadsheets, drive, gmail, calendar.
• Never use shell & to background gws auth login — the process must stay alive to receive the OAuth callback.
• Use per-account status checks:
• GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CONFIG_DIR=~/.config/gws-work gws auth status
• Logout per account context (use sparingly — deletes refresh token):
• GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_CONFIG_DIR=~/.config/gws-work gws auth logout

Common Commands

• Drive files: gws drive files list --query "name contains 'spec'" --limit 10.
• Unread Gmail: gws gmail messages list --query "is:unread" --limit 5.
• Upcoming Calendar events: gws calendar events list --time-min now --limit 10.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: dzianisv
• Source: dzianisv/skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.