gws-drive Skill for Claude: Manage Google Drive with the gws CLI

Makes Claude manage Google Drive files, folders, comments and sharing by running the gws command-line tool.

Installs: 75.5K; on skills.sh
Stars: 32K; on GitHub
Updated: Oct 2026; last repo commit

gws-drive makes Claude run the gws command-line tool against the Google Drive API. It covers files, shared drives, comments, replies, revisions and sharing permissions, and tells Claude to inspect a method with gws schema before calling it.

It needs the gws program installed and signed in to your Google account, and it tells Claude to read the separate gws-shared skill for sign-in, global flags and security rules first. Install both together.

Good for

Developers who want Claude to list, search, upload and organize Drive files from the terminal
Admins who audit Drive sharing, comments and file versions
Anyone already using the gws CLI for Google Workspace

Install gws-drive

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the gws-drive skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli
gws auth setup
npx skills add googleworkspace/cli --skill gws-shared --skill gws-drive -a claude-code

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Requires Node.js 18+, A Google account, gcloud CLI for gws auth setup.

The skills only work with the gws program installed and signed in, so run all three lines. The first two lines come from the README; the third names gws-shared and gws-drive because the skill tells the assistant to read gws-shared first. gws auth setup needs the gcloud CLI; without it, use the README's manual OAuth setup. To limit what you grant, the README suggests choosing only the services you need at sign-in, for example gws auth login -s drive.

From the vendor's docs. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Google Drive: Manage files, folders, and shared drives.

Sections in SKILL.md

Helper Commands
API Resources
about
accessproposals
approvals
apps
changes
channels
comments
drives
files
operations
permissions
replies
revisions
teamdrives

Key facts

Author: googleworkspace (GitHub org)
Repo: googleworkspace/cli
License: Apache-2.0
Installs on skills.sh: 75,485 (Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars (whole repo): 32,038 (Nov 2, 2026)
Last commit to the repo: Oct 30, 2026
skills.sh audits: Gen Agent Trust Hub pass, Socket pass, Snyk warn
Skill folder: 1 file: SKILL.md (counted from the GitHub folder)
Needs: The gws CLI on your PATH and the gws-shared skill; the SKILL.md says to read gws-shared first
Not an official Google product: The README says gws is not an officially supported Google product and may have breaking changes before v1.0

What it includes

The general command form
Claude runs gws drive with a resource such as files and a method such as list, plus flags. It can first run gws schema drive.<resource>.<method> to see parameters.
Runs code · gws drive <resource> <method>
Create, copy, download, export, get, list, update, labels and watch
The everyday file operations. Create and update change your Drive.
Write · files
Upload a file with automatic metadata
The one helper command listed. It has its own separate skill.
Write · +upload (gws-drive-upload skill)
Create, get, list, update and delete sharing permissions
Controls who can see or edit a file or shared drive. The SKILL.md warns that concurrent permission changes on one file are not supported and only the last update is applied.
Delete · permissions
Create, get, list, update, hide and unhide shared drives
Manages shared drives.
Write · drives
Create, get, list, update and delete
Works with file comments and replies, including deleting them.
Delete · comments and replies
Get, list, update and delete file versions
Delete permanently removes a version of a file with binary content.
Delete · revisions
Review access proposals and approvals on a file
Lists, gets and resolves access proposals, and gets and lists approvals.
Write · accessproposals and approvals
Account info, installed apps, change feeds and watch channels
Read-style helpers, plus watch and stop for change notifications.
Network · about, apps, changes, channels, operations
Deprecated; use drives instead
The SKILL.md marks the four teamdrives methods as deprecated.
teamdrives

From the official docs

Permissions

High risk

The skill makes Claude run commands that change your real Google Drive, including sharing and deletes. Sign in with only the Drive service, approve each write command and use --dry-run first.

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

It can change who can see your files
The permissions methods create, update and delete sharing. Approve each command and check the target before it runs.
It can delete comments and file versions
Revision delete permanently removes a version, and comments, replies and permissions can be deleted too. Use --dry-run and keep backups.
It needs a program and sign-in outside the skill
The gws binary and a Google OAuth login must be set up first. Choose only the Drive service when you sign in.
The tool is unofficial and changing
The README says gws is not an official Google product and may break before v1.0. Pin the version you tested.
The required gws-shared skill adds GitHub prompts
The gws-shared SKILL.md, which this skill tells Claude to read first, says to encourage users to star the repository and to direct bug reports to its issue tracker. Decline anything you did not ask for.

Technical details

Talks to	Google Drive API
Sign-in and keys	gws stores sign-in credentials encrypted (AES-256-GCM); the key sits in your OS keyring, or in ~/.config/gws/.encryption_key if you choose the file backend.
Scopes	Google Drive (choose with gws auth login -s drive)

Questions

How do I install gws-drive?

Use the install box above. It installs the gws program, signs you in, then adds gws-drive together with gws-shared, which this skill tells Claude to read first. Installing the folder alone leaves out that prerequisite.

How do I sign in to Google?

Run the sign-in steps in the install box. The README says gws auth setup walks you through a Google Cloud project and needs the gcloud CLI; without it, use the README's manual OAuth setup. Credentials are stored encrypted.

Why does sign-in fail with too many scopes?

The README says an unverified OAuth app in testing mode is limited to about 25 scopes, and the recommended preset has 85 or more. It suggests choosing only the services you need, for example gws auth login -s drive.

Does gws-drive work in the Claude app?

No documented route. The skill works by running the gws program on your computer, and the README documents the skills CLI install, not the Claude app.

Can Claude delete or share my files?

It can change sharing permissions and delete comments, replies, permissions and file versions through the methods the skill lists. The gws-shared rules tell Claude to confirm write and delete commands first and suggest --dry-run for destructive ones.

Is gws an official Google tool?

No. The README says it is not an officially supported Google product and expects breaking changes before v1.0.

Is gws-drive safe?

It acts on your real Drive with your account, so a wrong command can change or delete data. Sign in with only the Drive service, approve each write command, and use --dry-run first.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: googleworkspace/cli
Folder: skills/gws-drive

googleworkspace/cli skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 6

googleworkspace/cli README · github.com
skills CLI commands · github.com
gws-drive SKILL.md · github.com
gws-shared SKILL.md · github.com
gws-drive on skills.sh · skills.sh
googleworkspace/cli · github.com