I’m implementing Google Drive API webhook notifications and receiving callbacks in my endpoint handler. The issue I’m facing is that both file modifications and file access events trigger notifications to my webhook URL. I can’t figure out how to tell the difference between File Access events and File Modification events from the notification data I receive.
Is there a way to identify the specific event type that triggered the webhook? I need to handle these two scenarios differently in my application but the notification payload seems similar for both cases.
Any guidance on how to solve this would be really helpful.
Google Drive API webhooks don’t specify the event type in the payload, which can be frustrating. A practical approach is to implement polling immediately after receiving the webhook notification. When your endpoint is notified, use the Files.get method to retrieve the file’s metadata and save the modifiedTime timestamp. Compare this with your previously stored timestamp; if it has changed, the file has been modified; if not, it’s likely just an access event. Additionally, you can check the viewedByMeTime, which updates upon file access. Though this requires local caching of file timestamps, it proves to be a reliable solution if executed promptly after receiving the webhook, preventing confusion from subsequent changes.
The webhook payload won’t tell you the event type directly, but here’s what I’ve found works: monitor the version field with the modification timestamps. When you get a webhook, immediately grab the file metadata and check both the version number and modifiedTime. File modifications bump the version number, but access events don’t touch it. This has worked reliably for me, though you’ll need to cache the previous version numbers locally. The trick is responding fast to the webhook before other changes hit the file. Not perfect, but it’s a solid way to tell the two event types apart.
yah, the drive api can be super tricky! what i do is keep track of the file’s revision id along with the timestamps. when i get the webhook, i compare it with the cached revisionId. if it changes, there’s been a modification; if not, just access. pretty solid method.
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