Hey everyone,
I’m trying to figure out if there’s a way to get info from Google Docs that are shared with everyone, without having to log in or use any special keys.
What I want to do is use someone’s Google account ID to find all the docs they’ve made public. Even better if I could filter these docs based on specific tags or groups they belong to.
Has anyone done something like this before? Is it even possible with the Google Docs API? I’ve been scratching my head over this for a while now and could really use some help or guidance.
Thanks in advance for any tips or suggestions!
As someone who’s tinkered with Google APIs quite a bit, I can tell you it’s not straightforward to do what you’re asking. Google’s pretty strict about authentication, even for public docs. I’ve tried similar things before, and it always comes back to needing some form of auth.
That said, there might be a workaround using Google’s Drive API instead of Docs API. You could potentially search for public files owned by a specific user, but it’s not perfect. You’d still need to set up OAuth or use a service account, and the filtering options are limited.
If you’re dead set on this approach, you might need to get creative. Maybe look into combining the Drive API with some custom scraping? Just be careful with ToS and rate limits. Good luck with your project!
hey markseer, there’s no direct access to public docs without auth. google api req auth token normally. if at all, a service account route may work as workaround, but not exactly filter on tags as requested. might wanna check updated docs too.
I’ve explored this area before, and unfortunately, there’s no straightforward way to achieve what you’re looking for. Google’s API design prioritizes user privacy and data security, so accessing documents, even public ones, typically requires authentication. While there are some workarounds involving service accounts or OAuth 2.0, they don’t fully align with your specific requirements for filtering by tags or groups. Your best bet might be to reconsider your approach or explore alternative solutions that don’t rely on direct Google Docs access. Perhaps a custom web scraping solution could work, but be mindful of legal and ethical considerations.