I’m having trouble with my Python script that should download files from Google Drive using their API. I’m working with Python 3.6.5 and followed the official documentation but keep running into problems.
I started with the basic authentication example which worked fine. Then I tried to add file downloading functionality but that’s where everything went wrong. Here’s my current code:
from __future__ import print_function
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
from googleapiclient.http import MediaIoBaseDownload
from httplib2 import Http
from oauth2client import file, client, tools
import io
SCOPES = 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive'
def download_file():
storage = file.Storage('credentials.json')
credentials = storage.get()
if not credentials or credentials.invalid:
flow = client.flow_from_clientsecrets('client_secret.json', SCOPES)
credentials = tools.run_flow(flow, storage)
drive_service = build('drive', 'v3', http=credentials.authorize(Http()))
document_id = 'my_file_id_here'
media_request = drive_service.files().get_media(fileId=document_id)
file_handle = io.BytesIO()
media_downloader = MediaIoBaseDownload(file_handle, media_request)
download_complete = False
while not download_complete:
progress, download_complete = media_downloader.next_chunk()
print("Downloaded %d%%." % int(progress.progress() * 100))
with open('output_file.txt', 'wb') as output:
output.write(file_handle.getvalue())
if __name__ == '__main__':
download_file()
The main issue I’m facing is that I keep getting errors about MediaIoBaseDownload not being recognized or TypeError when trying to write the request object directly to a file. I think I’m missing some imports or using the wrong approach to handle the file download process. Can anyone help me figure out what I’m doing wrong?
The MediaIoBaseDownload import issue is usually from an incomplete import statement. You need to import it from googleapiclient.http - you’ve got that part right. But I see you’re using Python 3.6.5, which might clash with newer Google API client versions. I hit the same TypeError when my Python was too old for the library I installed. Try downgrading to google-api-python-client version 1.7.11 with pip install google-api-python-client==1.7.11 - that version works well with Python 3.6. Also, don’t forget file_handle.seek(0) before writing your output file, or you’ll get empty files even when downloads look successful.
Hey! Same thing happened to me last week. Check your google-api-python-client version - older ones break MediaIoBaseDownload. Also double-check the file_id and make sure the file isn’t restricted. Fixed it for me once I updated the package.
Your code looks mostly right, but there’s likely an issue with the file type you’re downloading. Google Drive handles native Google Docs differently than regular uploaded files. If you’re downloading a Google Doc, Sheet, or Slides file, you need to use export instead of get_media. Try replacing your media_request line with media_request = drive_service.files().export_media(fileId=document_id, mimeType='text/plain') for Google Docs. Also double-check your permissions scope and make sure your credentials.json file has the right access level. I had the same auth issues until I regenerated my client_secret.json from the Google Cloud Console.
Your code’s hitting the classic Google Drive API nightmare. I’ve wasted countless hours on the same authentication mess, file type issues, and version conflicts.
Skip the API wrestling and automate this with Latenode instead. Set up a workflow that connects to Drive, filters your files, and downloads everything automatically - no Python needed.
I use it at work for file operations like this. Drag in the Google Drive connector, authenticate once, and it handles all that MediaIoBaseDownload garbage for you. No more import errors or compatibility hell.
You can schedule it to run automatically or trigger from other apps. Way better than babysitting Python scripts that break whenever Google pushes updates.