Prerequisites

• 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

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

Which setup should I use?

Manual OAuth setup (Google Cloud Console)

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

[!IMPORTANT] You must add yourself as a test user. In the OAuth consent screen, click Test users → Add users and enter your Google account email. Without this, login will fail with a generic "Access blocked" error.

Then run:

gws auth login

Install all skills at once

npx skills add https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli

Quick Start

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

Advanced Usage

Environment Variables

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

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

API not enabled — `accessNotConfigured`

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.

[!TIP] You can also run gws auth setup which walks you through enabling all required APIs for your project automatically.

Gemini CLI Extension

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.

Google Sheets — Shell Escaping

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

```bash

`gcloud` CLI not found

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

Troubleshooting