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Google Drive

Google cloud storage service for files, folders, shared drives, permissions, and document activity.

Handles file collaboration around comments, sharing, copied files, template-created documents, and changes across drives or specific watched files.

Example Use Cases

These are the Google Drive actions Snow can use when building apps with you. Connecting an account does not make Snow run these on its own.

Create a folder

Creates a new folder in Google Drive, optionally within an EXISTING parent folder specified by its ID or name. The parent folder MUST already exist - use GOOGLEDRIVE_FIND_FOLDER first to verify the parent exists or find its ID. Google Drive permits duplicate folder names, so always store and reuse the folder ID returned by this action rather than relying on names for future lookups.

Create Comment

Tool to create a comment on a file in Google Drive. Returns a nested `data` object; extract `data.id` for the resulting comment identifier. Omit `anchor` and `quoted_file_content_*` for general file-level comments.

Create File or Folder

Creates a new file or folder in Google Drive. Supports both metadata-only creation (for folders and empty documents) and file upload with content. When file_to_upload is provided, uploads the actual file bytes; otherwise creates an empty file. Native Google file types (Docs, Sheets, Forms, etc.) and folders are created as empty shells when no content is provided; content must be added manually afterward. Newly created files are private by default — set sharing permissions afterward for collaboration. For shared-drive folders, use this tool with the target folder ID in `parents` rather than GOOGLEDRIVE_CREATE_FOLDER.

Create Permission

Tool to create a permission for a file or shared drive. Use when you need to share a file or folder with users, groups, domains, or make it publicly accessible. Warning: Concurrent permissions operations on the same file are not supported; only the last update is applied.

Create Reply

Tool to create a reply to a comment in Google Drive. Use when you need to respond to an existing comment on a file.

Create Shared Drive

Tool to create a new shared drive. Use when you need to programmatically create a new shared drive for collaboration or storage.

Create Shortcut to File/Folder

Tool to create a shortcut to a file or folder in Google Drive. Use when you need to link to an existing Drive item from another location without duplicating it. The shortcut receives its own distinct file ID (capture from response). No parent folder parameter exists; use GOOGLEDRIVE_MOVE_FILE after creation to place the shortcut in the desired location.

Delete Comment

Permanently deletes a comment thread (and all its replies) from a Google Drive file — this action is irreversible. To remove only a single reply within a thread, use GOOGLEDRIVE_DELETE_REPLY instead. Verify the exact comment content and comment_id before calling.

Delete Permission

Deletes a permission from a file by permission ID. Deletion is irreversible — confirm the target user, group, or permission type before executing. IMPORTANT: You must first call GOOGLEDRIVE_LIST_PERMISSIONS to get valid permission IDs. To fully revoke public access, the type='anyone' (link-sharing) permission must be explicitly deleted; revoking other permissions leaves the file publicly accessible via link. Use when you need to revoke access for a specific user or group from a file.

Delete Reply

Tool to delete a specific reply by reply ID. Deletion is irreversible; obtain explicit user confirmation before calling. Removes only the targeted reply, not the full comment thread — use GOOGLEDRIVE_DELETE_COMMENT to remove the entire thread.

Triggers

These are the trigger events currently available for Google Drive.

Comment Added (Docs/Sheets/Slides)

Triggers when a new comment is added to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.

File Created

Triggers when a new file is created in Google Drive.

File Deleted or Trashed

Triggers when a file is moved to trash or permanently deleted in Drive.

File Shared (Permissions Added)

Triggers when new sharing permissions are granted to a file or folder. Uses Drive's `changes.list` endpoint with inline `permissions` in the `fields` mask so each change carries the file's current permission set provider-atomically. We diff that against `seen_permission_keys` to identify newly added grants. Drive page tokens are the primary cursor; if Drive rejects a stored token, the trigger raises `PollingTriggerError` without clearing state rather than silently re-baselining and dropping events. Limitation: truly ephemeral permissions (added and revoked between two polls without any other file modification in between) are not detected. Drive Activity API would catch those but requires an additional OAuth scope and a different payload contract.

File Updated

Triggers when a file's metadata or content changes in Google Drive.

Google Drive Changes

Triggers when changes are detected in a Google Drive.

New File Matching Query

Triggers when a new Google Drive file matches a provided query. This is the legacy query-centric trigger: it preserves Drive API query config such as ``corpora`` / ``driveId`` aliases and emits the historical ``file_matching_query`` event type. ``FileCreatedTrigger`` covers the broader "new file" case and emits ``file_created``.