How to add content to Google Docs using Google Drive API

Other Questions Google docs
1

I need help with adding text content to Google Docs through the API. Right now I can successfully create new documents using the Drive API, but they end up being completely empty. I want to either add text content during the creation process or update the document with text after it gets created.

Here’s my current Python code that generates empty documents:

file_details = {
    'name': 'my_document',
    'parents': [f'{parent_folder_id}'],
    'mimeType': 'application/vnd.google-apps.document'
}

try:
    new_file = drive_api.files().create(body=file_details).execute()
    doc_id = new_file.get("id")
except HttpError as err:
    print(f'Error happened: {err}')

What’s the best approach to populate these documents with actual text content?

2

Drive API only does file management - it won’t handle document content. You’ll need Google Docs API for text insertion. Create your document first, then initialize the Docs service and use batchUpdate with insertText requests. I always save the document ID from the Drive API call and pass it straight to the Docs API methods. Don’t forget to include both drive and docs scopes in your OAuth credentials or you’ll hit authorization errors when modifying content. batchUpdate is pretty powerful too - you can insert multiple text blocks, add formatting, and even drop in images all in one API call.

3

yea, u need the Docs API for sure - Drive API just creates empty files. also, set ur insertText index to 1, not 0, or it’ll break. dont forget the Docs scope in auth, or u might face perm errors!

4

Drive API can’t add text to Google Docs - you’ll need the Docs API too. Create your doc with Drive API like you’re already doing, then use Docs API to add content. Here’s what worked for me:

from googleapiclient.discovery import build

# After creating the doc with Drive API
docs_service = build('docs', 'v1', credentials=credentials)

requests = [{
    'insertText': {
        'location': {'index': 1},
        'text': 'Your content here'
    }
}]

docs_service.documents().batchUpdate(
    documentId=doc_id,
    body={'requests': requests}
).execute()

Enable both APIs in Google Cloud Console and add the Docs API scope to your auth. insertText is pretty straightforward, but there are other request types if you need fancy formatting.