I’m working on a project where I need to interact with Google Drive from within a serverless function. I’ve noticed there are several different JavaScript libraries available for working with Google’s services, but I’m not sure which approach is recommended.
My specific situation is that I have files in Google Drive that have been shared with my Cloud Function’s service account, and I need to read and process these files. What’s the most reliable and efficient way to establish this connection? Should I be using a particular npm package or authentication method?
I want to make sure I’m following best practices for both security and performance. Any guidance on the proper setup would be really helpful.
i tried the googleapis npm package too, it’s pretty straightforward! just ensure your service account’s got the necessary perms for the drive files. also, jwt auth is the way to go in serverless setup; avoids the hassle of refresh tokens!
Been through this exact situation - you’ll want solid error handling and connection management beyond the basic setup. The googleapis package works great, but definitely add retry logic for API calls. Drive operations timeout or hit rate limits more often than you’d think. I wrap all my Drive API calls in try-catch blocks with exponential backoff - saved me from so many random failures. If you’re dealing with large files, stream the data instead of loading everything into memory. Cloud Functions’ memory limits will catch you off guard otherwise. One gotcha I learned the hard way: shared files behave differently than files owned by the service account. Test both scenarios or you’ll run into weird issues later.
The Google APIs Node.js client library is your best bet. I’ve used it for similar setups and authentication with service accounts works great. Download the JSON key file and store it securely in your function’s environment, or use Google’s built-in service account auth if you’re on GCP. Pro tip I learned the hard way: cache the authenticated client instance instead of recreating it every time - your cold start performance will thank you. Don’t forget to set the right scopes when you initialize the client. For reading files, you’ll want ‘https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly’.