Retrieving Google Drive file details using URL via API

Other Questions Google drive
1

Hey everyone! I’m trying to figure out how to get info about a file in Google Drive using just its URL through the API. I know I could probably grab the ID from the URL and use that, but I’m worried that might not always work.

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

drive_service = create_drive_service('v3', creds)

file_list = drive_service.files().list(
    pageSize=5,
    fields='nextPageToken, files(id, name, parentFolder, fileOwners)',
    query='parentFolder_id in ancestors'
).execute()

This kinda works, but it’s not exactly what I need. Is there a way to directly use the URL to fetch file details? It’d be super helpful if someone could point me in the right direction. Thanks!

2

I’ve worked extensively with the Google Drive API, and unfortunately, there’s no direct method to fetch file details using just the URL. The most reliable approach is indeed extracting the file ID from the URL. Here’s a snippet that might help:

import re

def get_file_id(url):
    pattern = r'/d/([a-zA-Z0-9-_]+)'
    match = re.search(pattern, url)
    return match.group(1) if match else None

file_id = get_file_id(your_url)
file_details = drive_service.files().get(fileId=file_id, fields='id,name,owners,parents').execute()

This method is quite robust and should work for most Google Drive URLs. Just ensure you have the necessary permissions to access the file.

3

hey john, i’ve dealt with this. no direct way to use the url with the api. best is extracting the file id from the url. extract the substring after ‘/d/’ and then call files().get() with that id. hope it helps!

4

I’ve been in your shoes, John. The Google Drive API can be tricky, but I found a workaround that’s been reliable for me. Instead of relying on the URL directly, I use a combination of the ‘files().list()’ method with a custom query. Here’s what I do:

file_name = 'Your File Name'
results = drive_service.files().list(
    q=f"name='{file_name}' and trashed=false",
    fields='files(id, name, owners, parents)'
).execute()

files = results.get('files', [])
if files:
    file_details = files[0]

This approach searches for the file by name across your Drive. It’s not foolproof if you have multiple files with the same name, but it’s been a solid solution for me when I can’t use the file ID directly. Just make sure you have the correct file name and necessary permissions. Hope this helps!