I’m working on a web application that handles a lot of content. We get around 1000 new files each month and about 100 new users every week.
Here’s what I’m trying to accomplish:
When a user visits the documents section of my site
They should only see files they have permission to view
I found out that Google’s API lets you check permissions for individual documents one by one. But this seems really inefficient for my use case.
Is there a way to get all documents a specific user has access to with just one API call? I’m looking for something similar to how you can get calendars owned by a user, but for documents and including shared ones too.
Right now it looks like I would need to go through thousands of document entries and check each permission list to see if the user is included. That sounds like a nightmare to implement and would be super slow.
Am I missing something obvious here? There has to be a better approach for this common scenario.
u can’t grab all docs at once. google drive api is better for files you own. for shared ones, it gets messy with search queries if there’s too many. gotta find a workaround.
Hit this exact bottleneck building a tool for our marketing team. You’re right - checking permissions in real-time kills performance. Here’s what worked: combine Drive API with backend indexing. Run a background job every few hours that syncs file permissions using files.list with proper queries. Store user-file relationships in your own database with indexed foreign keys. When users load the documents page, you’re hitting your fast database instead of hammering Google’s API hundreds of times. The sync job does the heavy work during off-peak hours. Scales way better than real-time checks as you grow. More upfront work, but you’ll avoid rate limiting nightmares.
honestly the drive api search isn’t perfect but works decently. try using q='me' in readers parameter with files.list - way faster than looping through permissions. just cache results for like 30min since checking 1000+ files every time is brutal.
Google Drive API has limits, but there’s a middle ground that works. I hit the same volume issues building a content portal for remote teams. Here’s what worked: combine the ‘me’ query for readers/writers with smart chunking and caching. Don’t do one massive API call or check permissions individually. Instead, batch requests in smaller chunks during initial load and progressively load users as needed. I use a hybrid approach - cache frequently accessed docs locally but still make fresh API calls for recently modified files using modifiedTime. This keeps permissions current without the full sync overhead. The corpora=‘user’ parameter helps narrow scope significantly. With decent error handling and request throttling, response times stay reasonable even as file count grows. More work than the automated solutions others mentioned, but you get better control over data flow.
Both approaches work, but there’s a cleaner solution. I hit this exact scaling problem at my last company with similar file volumes.
The real issue isn’t just getting files - it’s managing the whole workflow efficiently without building tons of custom logic for API calls, caching, pagination, and keeping everything synced.
I automated the entire process. Built a workflow that runs Drive API calls automatically, handles filtering and permission checks, then updates our database. Users get instant responses since the data’s always current.
Automation handles pagination, caches smartly, and deals with API rate limits. You can trigger updates when files change instead of manual refreshes.
With 100 new users weekly, you need something that scales without constantly tweaking code. Automation handles all the API complexity while you focus on actual app features.
I use Latenode for workflow automation like this. It connects directly to Google Drive API and handles the technical stuff automatically. Way simpler than coding from scratch.
Had the same issue last year building a document management system. Google Drive API doesn’t have one endpoint for all accessible docs, but I found a solid workaround. Skip checking permissions individually - just use files.list with the query ‘me’ in owners or ‘me’ in writers or ‘me’ in readers. Gets everything the user can access without looping through permission lists. With your file volume, you’ll want pagination and caching. I cached results for a few hours and filtered by mimeType if I only needed Google Docs. Response times stayed decent even with thousands of files once caching kicked in. Way better than the permission-checking mess I started with.
Ran into this same issue building a doc sharing platform for legal teams. Google’s API assumes you know which docs to check - it’s not built for discovering everything you can access. The Drive API files.list with ownership queries works but misses tons of stuff. Shared drives and inherited permissions don’t show up with basic ‘me in readers’ searches. I missed critical docs that users could definitely access through group memberships. Here’s what actually worked: two-phase approach. Use Drive API for owned and directly shared files, then hit shared drives separately with corpora parameters. Treat them as different document sources instead of trying to grab everything in one query. Also heads up - Workspace domains handle permissions differently than personal accounts, so build in flexibility. More API calls but you’ll get complete coverage without the permission headaches.
Been there, done that - this scaling nightmare sucks. Everyone’s throwing Drive API tricks at you, but you’ll still be stuck building and babysitting all that mess.
It’s not just one API call. You need rock-solid syncing, error handling for when Google craps out, smart caching that doesn’t go stale, clean database updates, and permission changes as users come and go.
Skip coding all that infrastructure. Automate the whole pipeline instead. Set up workflows that watch for file changes, sync permissions on their own, and keep your database fresh without you lifting a finger.
At your growth rate, you need something that survives API failures and scales without you constantly fixing it. Automation handles pagination, rate limits, delta syncing, and all those edge cases that kill custom builds.
I’ve watched teams burn months building this from scratch when automation does it better. Latenode hooks into Drive API and runs the whole workflow automatically. You get bulletproof syncing minus the headaches.
Been dealing with this for two years in enterprise setups. The Drive API works, but you’re missing proper error handling and incremental syncing. Most solutions break when Google’s API hiccups or hits deeply nested folders with complex sharing permissions. Delta tokens from the changes endpoint saved me. Track changes since your last sync instead of polling everything repeatedly. Add exponential backoff for API failures and set up webhooks for real-time updates when you can. The performance difference is huge - I went from 30+ second load times to under 2 seconds with 10k+ files. Also batch your database updates during sync to avoid locking issues.