I need help figuring out why my Google Drive API integration is causing sync problems with the desktop client. I’m using PHP with google/apiclient: ^2.0 for this project.
Here’s my current workflow:
- Files get uploaded via Google Drive desktop app
- My server receives webhook notifications when folder contents change
- I fetch the file list using files.list API call and queue them for download
- Every minute my script attempts to download files using files.get with alt=‘media’ parameter, retrying until file size is greater than 0 bytes (since desktop client creates empty files initially)
- After successful download, I remove files using files.delete API call
The main issue:
During the API operations in steps 3-5, the desktop client displays upload errors (“An unknown error occurred”) and shows files as incomplete uploads. However, my server successfully downloads these files and they exist on my end.
Another problem is that sometimes the desktop client creates zero-byte files in Google Drive and then stops trying to upload them completely.
Any suggestions on what might be causing these conflicts? Even general guidance on where to focus my debugging efforts would be helpful. Thanks!
I encountered similar issues while developing a Drive API integration. The conflict arises when the desktop client is still processing files, leading to errors when you attempt to interact with them. To avoid this, you should first check for the existence of the md5Checksum in the files.get response; if it’s absent, it indicates the file is still being uploaded. Rather than regularly polling every minute, utilize the pageToken from the initial files.list API call to track changes more efficiently. This reduces the chances of stepping on the desktop client’s toes while it’s trying to upload. Implementing a 5-minute hold after receiving the webhook notification can also be beneficial, allowing the desktop client to complete its operations without interruptions.
sounds like you might hit some rate limits or the desktop client is getting confused with all the concurrent actions. i usually do exponential backoff between api calls & wait longer (like 2-3 mins) before processing new files after the webhooks come in. also, confirm you’re using the same oauth creds as the desktop client, otherwise it’ll just mess everything up.
The issues you’re experiencing are likely due to API call timing conflicts with the desktop client. From my experience, the desktop client may perceive your API deletions as sync conflicts, especially since it could still be uploading the files you’re attempting to delete. Instead of deleting the files immediately after downloading, consider moving them to a ‘processed’ folder using the files.update API to avoid this conflict. Additionally, for zero-byte files, examine the uploadStatus property in the API response to confirm whether files are still actively being uploaded. The desktop client often creates temporary placeholder files that appear empty until their upload is completed. I recommend enforcing a longer delay, around 30 seconds, before initiating further API operations, which should allow the desktop client to catch up.