Hey everyone! I’m working on a project where I need to fetch publicly shared files from Google Drive through their API. The thing is, I want to do this without requiring any user authentication or login process.
I’ve seen that files have a downloadUrl field, but from what I understand, these URLs are only valid for a short time period. The documentation doesn’t clearly specify the exact expiration time, which makes it unreliable for my use case.
What I’m really looking for is a way to make direct API calls to retrieve public files without going through the OAuth flow. I remember reading something about anonymous API requests being possible for publicly accessible content, but I can’t find concrete examples.
Has anyone successfully implemented this? Are there specific endpoints or parameters I should be using? Any help would be appreciated!
You’re trying to access publicly shared Google Drive files without using OAuth, and you’re encountering difficulties with unreliable download URLs. You need a reliable method to retrieve the content of these public files.
TL;DR: The Quick Fix:
Use webContentLink instead of downloadUrl to access publicly shared Google Drive files. webContentLink provides persistent URLs that don’t expire, unlike the temporary URLs returned by downloadUrl. You’ll need an API key (not OAuth), but you can access public files using files.get requests. Ensure your files are set to “Anyone with the link can view.”
Understanding the “Why” (The Root Cause):
The downloadUrl property in the Google Drive API, when used for publicly shared files, returns temporary URLs that expire after a short period. This makes them unsuitable for applications requiring consistent access to file content. The webContentLink provides a more stable and reliable solution by directly linking to the file’s content, eliminating the issue of expiring URLs. Using an API key instead of OAuth is appropriate since no authentication is needed for public files, as long as the necessary sharing settings are correctly configured on the Google Drive side.
Step-by-Step Guide:
Set File Sharing Permissions: Ensure your Google Drive file is shared publicly. In Google Drive, go to the file’s sharing settings and change the permission to “Anyone with the link can view.”
Obtain the File ID: Locate the file ID in the shareable link for your Google Drive file. The file ID is the string of characters between /d/ and /view. For example, in the link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef/view?usp=sharing, the file ID is 1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef.
Get the webContentLink using the Drive API: Make a GET request to the Google Drive API’s files.get endpoint using your file ID. Include the fields parameter to specifically request the webContentLink field. Remember to include your API key. Here’s how you can do it using curl:
Replace {FILE_ID} with your file’s ID and {YOUR_API_KEY} with your Google Cloud API key. The response will be a JSON object containing the webContentLink.
Access the File: Use the webContentLink obtained in the previous step to directly access the file content. You can download it using curl, wget, or your preferred HTTP client library. For example, using curl:
curl "{webContentLink}" -o downloaded_file.ext
Replace {webContentLink} with the URL from the API response and .ext with the appropriate file extension.
Common Pitfalls & What to Check Next:
API Key: Ensure you have a valid Google Cloud API key and that it’s correctly included in your API requests.
File Sharing Permissions: Double-check that the Google Drive file sharing settings are correctly set to “Anyone with the link can view.” Incorrect sharing settings will prevent anonymous access.
File ID: Verify the accuracy of the extracted file ID. An incorrect ID will result in an API error.
Rate Limits: Be mindful of the Google Drive API’s rate limits. If you’re making many requests, you might need to implement strategies to handle rate limiting (like pausing requests or using exponential backoff). The response will include information about any rate limits exceeded.
MIME Type Handling: Different file types might have different behaviors or require different processing steps. The response includes the MIME type of the file, so account for this in your code to handle different file types appropriately.
Still running into issues? Share your (sanitized) config files, the exact command you ran, and any other relevant details. The community is here to help!
Had this exact nightmare building a file sync pipeline. Download URLs dying randomly killed me for weeks.
The real problem isn’t getting files - it’s handling edge cases. Public files going private, random rate limits, different file types needing different export formats.
I ditched custom retry logic and manual link monitoring. Built everything in Latenode instead. One workflow does it all - extracts file IDs from messy Drive URLs, pulls content using proper endpoints, auto-retries when things break.
Best part? You can chain file processing in the same flow. Grab file, convert formats, push to database, send notifications - whatever.
No more babysitting API calls or debugging OAuth tokens for public files.
You’re trying to access publicly shared Google Drive files without using OAuth, and you’re encountering difficulties with unreliable download URLs. You need a reliable method to retrieve the content of these public files.
Understanding the “Why” (The Root Cause):
The downloadUrl field provided by the Google Drive API for publicly accessible files generates temporary URLs that expire after a short time. This makes them unsuitable for applications that need persistent access to the file content. Using the file ID directly via the Drive API v3 provides a more stable and reliable solution.
Step-by-Step Guide:
Obtain the File ID: Extract the file ID from the Google Drive share link. The file ID is the long string of characters between /d/ and /view?usp=sharing (or a similar ending). For example, in the link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef/view?usp=sharing, the file ID is 1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef.
Construct the API Request URL: Use the file ID to construct the API request URL for the Google Drive API v3. This URL will directly fetch the file’s metadata and content. The URL structure will look like this:
Replace {fileId} with the actual file ID obtained in step 1. The alt=media parameter instructs the API to return the file’s content instead of metadata. No authentication is needed if the file is publicly accessible, but you must include an API key as a query parameter (key={YOUR_API_KEY}). Obtain an API key from the Google Cloud Console.
Make the API Request: Use a tool like curl (command-line) or your preferred programming language’s HTTP client library (e.g., requests in Python) to make a GET request to the URL constructed in Step 2. The response will be the content of the public Google Drive file.
Replace YOUR_FILE_ID and YOUR_API_KEY with the correct values. The -o flag specifies the output file name. Adjust the .ext according to the file type.
Handle the Response: Process the downloaded file appropriately, based on its type.
Common Pitfalls & What to Check Next:
API Key: Ensure that you’ve correctly obtained and included a valid Google Cloud API key in your request. Without a valid API key, the request will be rejected.
File ID: Double-check that you’ve accurately extracted the file ID from the share link. Any errors in the ID will result in a failed request.
File Permissions: Verify that the Google Drive file is actually set to “Anyone with the link can view.” Otherwise, the anonymous API request will fail.
Rate Limits: Google Drive API has rate limits. If you are making many requests, you might exceed the limit and receive errors. Implement error handling and implement strategies to manage rate limits (such as pausing requests or using exponential backoff).
Still running into issues? Share your (sanitized) config files, the exact command you ran, and any other relevant details. The community is here to help!
Yeah, you can access public Google Drive files without OAuth, but dealing with expiring tokens and API limits manually is a pain.
I hit this same problem last year building a content sync system. Rather than fight Google’s API directly, I just automated everything with Latenode.
Set up a workflow that finds public files, handles temporary URLs automatically, and refreshes them when they expire. Latenode deals with all the API mess so you don’t have to.
Just give it your public Drive links and it does the work. No more token expiration headaches or auth problems. Runs on schedule or triggers from events.
Saved me weeks of debugging API calls and filling in Google’s doc gaps. If you need to process the files after, just chain that into the same workflow.
there’s actually a simpler approach - use google’s export links for docs/sheets. unlike downloadUrl, these don’t expire. for regular files, try https://drive.google.com/uc?id={FILE_ID}&export=download - works without auth if the file’s public. i’ve been using this for scraping public drive content and it’s way more stable than messing with api tokens.
Hit this same issue building a research portal that pulls from multiple public Drive repos. Here’s what worked: use the Files API with anonymous requests, but first you need to get how Drive’s sharing permissions work. Files set to “Anyone with the link” are public but still need proper API calls. I had success with files.get using fields=webViewLink,webContentLink,exportLinks - gets you multiple access methods in one shot. The exportLinks field is clutch since it gives format-specific URLs that are way more stable than downloadUrl. Watch out though - Google’s API acts differently depending on file MIME types, so you’ll need conditional logic for documents vs binary files. These methods don’t need OAuth, but you still need a valid API key and should respect rate limits or you’ll get blocked.
Understanding the “Why” (The Root Cause):
Step-by-Step Guide:
Common Pitfalls & What to Check Next:
Still running into issues? Share your (sanitized) config files, the exact command you ran, and any other relevant details. The community is here to help!