What's the correct method to retrieve all files from a specific Google Drive folder using PHP and cURL?

Other Questions Google drive
1

I’m trying to get a list of all files in a particular Google Drive folder using PHP and cURL. I’ve managed to fetch all files and folders from the main drive, but I’m stuck when it comes to a specific folder.

Here’s what I’ve done so far:

$token = 'my_access_token';
$headers = [
    "Authorization: Bearer $token",
    "Content-Type: application/json"
];

$curl = curl_init();
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, "GET");

// This works for all files
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files");

$result = curl_exec($curl);
print_r($result);

But when I try to get files from a specific folder (let’s call it ‘my_special_folder’), I get a 404 error:

$folder = 'my_special_folder';
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files?q='$folder' in parents");

Any ideas on what I’m doing wrong? How can I correctly fetch files from a specific folder?

2

hey bro, i had the same issue! try this:

$folderId = ‘your_folder_id_here’;
$query = urlencode(“‘$folderId’ in parents”);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, “https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files?q=$query”);

shud work. make sure u replace ‘your_folder_id_here’ with the actual ID. good luck!

3

I’ve dealt with a similar issue before, and I can share what worked for me. The problem is likely in how you’re constructing the query parameter.

For fetching files from a specific folder, you need to use the folder’s ID, not its name. Here’s the approach I used:

  1. First, get the folder ID using the folder name:
$folderName = 'my_special_folder';
$folderId = null;
$url = 'https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files?q=name=\'' . $folderName . '\' and mimeType=\'application/vnd.google-apps.folder\'';
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
$result = json_decode(curl_exec($curl), true);
if (isset($result['files'][0]['id'])) {
    $folderId = $result['files'][0]['id'];
}
  1. Then, use this folder ID to fetch files:
if ($folderId) {
    $url = 'https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files?q=\'' . $folderId . '\' in parents';
    curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
    $result = curl_exec($curl);
    print_r($result);
}

This approach worked reliably for me. Remember to handle potential errors and edge cases in your production code.

4

I’ve encountered this issue before, and the key is using the folder’s ID rather than its name. Here’s a more efficient approach:

  1. Fetch the folder ID first:
    $folderName = ‘my_special_folder’;
    $query = urlencode(“name=‘$folderName’ and mimeType=‘application/vnd.google-apps.folder’”);
    curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, “https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files?q=$query”);
    $result = json_decode(curl_exec($curl), true);
    $folderId = $result[‘files’][0][‘id’] ?? null;

  2. Then retrieve files using the folder ID:
    if ($folderId) {
    $query = urlencode(“‘$folderId’ in parents”);
    curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, “https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files?q=$query”);
    $files = curl_exec($curl);
    // Process $files as needed
    }

This method is more direct and avoids potential issues with special characters in folder names.