Sending Google Drive files as email attachments using Nodemailer

Other Questions Google drive
1

I’m working on a project where I need to send Google Drive files as email attachments using Nodemailer. I’ve managed to get the file data from Drive API, but I’m running into an issue.

Here’s what I’m doing:

// Get file from Drive API
const fileData = await driveClient.files.export({
  fileId: 'file123xyz',
  mimeType: 'application/pdf'
}, { responseType: 'arraybuffer' });

// Attach to email
const attachments = [{
  filename: 'Document.pdf',
  content: Buffer.from(fileData.data),
  contentType: 'application/pdf'
}];

The email sends successfully with the attachment, but when I open the PDF, it’s just blank pages. The number of pages matches the original file, but there’s no content.

Has anyone encountered this before? Any ideas on how to fix it? I’m stumped and could really use some help!

2

I encountered a similar issue when working with Google Drive files and Nodemailer. The problem might be related to how you’re handling the file stream. Instead of using ‘files.export’, try ‘files.get’ with an ‘alt’ parameter set to ‘media’. This approach directly fetches the file content:

const fileData = await driveClient.files.get({
  fileId: 'file123xyz',
  alt: 'media'
}, { responseType: 'arraybuffer' });

Then, use the attachment setup you already have. This method worked for me when dealing with various file types from Google Drive. If you’re still having issues, double-check the file permissions and ensure your app has the necessary scope to access and download the file content.

3

hey emmad, i’ve run into similar issues before. have u tried encoding the buffer as base64? sometimes that helps. try changing ur attachment object to:

{
  filename: 'Document.pdf',
  content: fileData.data.toString('base64'),
  encoding: 'base64',
  contentType: 'application/pdf'
}

see if that fixes it. good luck!

4

I’ve dealt with this exact problem before, and it can be frustrating. One thing that worked for me was to stream the file directly from Google Drive to Nodemailer. This approach avoids potential buffer issues:

const stream = await driveClient.files.get(
  { fileId: 'file123xyz', alt: 'media' },
  { responseType: 'stream' }
);

const attachments = [{
  filename: 'Document.pdf',
  content: stream,
  contentType: 'application/pdf'
}];

This method ensures the file content is properly transferred without intermediate processing. Also, double-check that you’re using the correct MIME type for the file you’re exporting. Some Google Docs might require ‘application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document’ instead of ‘application/pdf’.

If you’re still having issues, try logging the file size before and after processing to ensure no data is lost along the way. Good luck with your project!