Create and Configure a Google Shared Drive with Claude Code (gws recipe)

Has your assistant create a Google Shared Drive and add members with the right roles, using the gws command line.

Installs: 30.6K; on skills.sh
Stars: 32K; on GitHub
Updated: Oct 2026; last repo commit

This is a three-step recipe from the googleworkspace/cli repo. It creates a shared drive, adds a member with the writer role and lists the members.

It loads gws-drive first and runs the gws program for every step. The drive name, request ID and email address in the recipe are placeholders.

The example sets requestId to unique-id-123, a placeholder you replace with your own value for each new drive. Step 2 adds one member as writer with supportsAllDrives on, and the drive ID for steps 2 and 3 comes from the step 1 response. The recipe shows only the writer role.

Good for

Workspace admins and team owners who set up shared drives
People whose AI assistant can already run terminal commands and who use the gws command line

Install recipe-create-shared-drive

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the recipe-create-shared-drive skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

npx skills add https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli --skill recipe-create-shared-drive --skill gws-drive --skill gws-shared

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.

This installs 3 skills: the recipe, the gws skills it loads (gws-drive) and gws-shared, which those skills tell the agent to read for sign-in and safety rules. The skills only wrap the gws program, so install gws first and sign in once with gws auth login. The README says an unverified Google app limits consent to about 25 scopes, so choose only the services you need when you sign in.

From the vendor's docs. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Create a Google Shared Drive and add members with appropriate roles.

Sections in SKILL.md

Steps

Key facts

Author: googleworkspace (GitHub organization)
License: Apache-2.0
Installs on skills.sh: 30,649 (Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars: 32,038 for the whole repo (Nov 2, 2026)
Status: Not an officially supported Google product
What installs: 1 file (SKILL.md). It tells the agent to load gws-drive first.
Needs: The gws program on your PATH, plus a Google sign-in
Last commit: Oct 30, 2026 (repo)

What it includes

Creates a shared drive with a name and request ID
Runs drives create with a unique requestId and a name such as Project X.
Try: “Create a shared drive called Project X.”
Write · Create shared drive
Gives a person the writer role on the drive
Creates a Drive permission with role writer for the email address, with supportsAllDrives turned on.
Try: “Add member@company.com to Project X as a writer.”
Write · Add a member
Lists who has access to the drive
Lists the drive's permissions so you can check who was added.
Try: “Show me who has access to Project X.”
Network · List members

From the official docs

Permissions

Medium risk

The assistant can create a shared drive and give people access to it. Check every email address before you approve a member.

What it can do

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

Watch out for

It creates a shared drive and adds people to it
Steps 1 and 2 create a shared drive and give a member writer access. Check each email address, since members can reach everything in that drive. github.com
Needs the gws program and a Google sign-in first
The skill only wraps the gws command line. Install gws and run its sign-in before the first use, as the README describes. github.com

Technical details

Turning on read-only	The skill has no read-only switch. gws-shared tells the agent to confirm write and delete commands with you and to prefer --dry-run for destructive operations. You can also sign in with only the services you need.
Talks to	Google Workspace APIs, through the gws program
Sign-in and keys	gws keeps your Google sign-in encrypted on your machine, with the key in your operating system keyring, per the README.

Questions

What does the recipe-create-shared-drive skill do?

It tells your assistant how to create a Google Shared Drive, add a member and list the members. All steps run through the gws command line.

How do I install it?

Use the install box above. It installs this recipe, the gws skills it loads and gws-shared. The gws program itself is a separate install, and you sign in to Google once before the first run.

Do I need an API key?

No key is named in the skill. You need the gws program and a Google account with access to Google Workspace. The README says gws needs a Google Cloud project for OAuth sign-in credentials. gws auth setup creates one but requires the gcloud CLI, so without gcloud you set up OAuth by hand in the Cloud Console.

Does it work in the Claude app or ChatGPT?

The repo documents no route for them. The skill's steps are gws shell commands, so you need an assistant that can run commands on your computer, such as a coding agent.

Can I add several people?

The recipe adds one member per call. Ask the assistant to repeat step 2 for each person, and then run step 3 to check the list.

Is it safe?

It creates a shared drive and changes who can reach it. Check each address before approving. The skill bundles no scripts of its own.

Is this an official Google skill?

No. The README says gws is not an officially supported Google product, although the repo sits under the googleworkspace GitHub organization.

How is it different from the other Drive recipes?

It creates a new shared drive, where recipe-share-folder-with-team shares an existing folder and gives one person editor and another viewer access. recipe-organize-drive-folder builds folders and moves files. recipe-share-doc-and-notify shares one doc and emails the link. Here the access change is on the whole drive.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: googleworkspace/cli
Folder: skills/recipe-create-shared-drive

googleworkspace/cli skills.sh

Sources

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

Show all 10

googleworkspace/cli README · github.com
recipe-create-shared-drive SKILL.md · github.com
gws-drive SKILL.md · github.com
skills CLI commands · github.com
recipe-share-folder-with-team SKILL.md · github.com
recipe-organize-drive-folder SKILL.md · github.com
recipe-share-doc-and-notify SKILL.md · github.com
googleworkspace/cli LICENSE · github.com
recipe-create-shared-drive on skills.sh · skills.sh
gws-shared SKILL.md · github.com