Share a Google Doc and Notify Collaborators with Claude Code (gws recipe)

Has your assistant share a Google Doc with edit access and email the collaborator a link, 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 finds a doc by name in Drive, gives a person writer access and sends them an email with the link.

It loads gws-drive, gws-docs and gws-gmail first and runs the gws program for every step. The doc name, address and message in the recipe are examples to replace.

Step 3 sends a real email from your account with gws gmail +send. gws-gmail-send documents --draft to save the message as a draft and --dry-run to show the request without sending, and the recipe uses neither, so ask for one of them if you want to see the message first. The link in the body is built by hand from the doc ID.

Good for

People who share documents for review and want the email sent too
People whose AI assistant can already run terminal commands and who use the gws command line

Install recipe-share-doc-and-notify

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the recipe-share-doc-and-notify skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

npx skills add https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli --skill recipe-share-doc-and-notify --skill gws-drive --skill gws-docs --skill gws-gmail --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 5 skills: the recipe, the gws skills it loads (gws-drive, gws-docs, gws-gmail) 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

Share a Google Docs document with edit access and email collaborators the link.

Sections in SKILL.md

Steps

Key facts

Author: googleworkspace (GitHub organization)
License: Apache-2.0
Installs on skills.sh: 30,561 (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, gws-docs, gws-gmail first.
Needs: The gws program on your PATH, plus a Google sign-in
Last commit: Oct 30, 2026 (repo)

What it includes

Searches Drive for a Google Doc by name
Runs a files list with a query on the file name and the Google Docs file type.
Try: “Find my Project Brief doc.”
Network · Find the doc
Gives a person writer access to the doc
Creates a Drive permission with role writer for the reviewer's email address.
Try: “Share it with reviewer@company.com as an editor.”
Write · Share with editor access
Sends an email containing the doc link
Runs gws gmail +send with the recipient, a subject and a body that holds the document URL. It sends from your Gmail account.
Try: “Email the reviewer the link and ask them to take a look.”
Write · Email the link

From the official docs

Permissions

Medium risk

The assistant can share a document and send an email from your Gmail account. Read the recipient and the message before it sends.

What it can do

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

Watch out for

It shares the doc and sends an email from your account
Step 2 gives a person writer access and step 3 emails them the link. Check the address and the message text before you approve the send. github.com
Your Drive file list passes through your assistant's provider
Step 1 searches Drive by name, so file names and IDs reach the assistant. 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-share-doc-and-notify skill do?

It tells your assistant how to share a Google Doc with edit access and email the link to the person. 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.

Does it send email on its own?

Step 3 sends an email from your Gmail account. Ask the assistant to show you the message and address first, then approve it.

Can I preview the email before it is sent?

gws-gmail-send documents --draft, which saves the message as a draft, and --dry-run, which shows the request without executing it. The recipe uses neither, so ask the assistant to add one.

Is it safe?

It changes who can edit a doc and sends a real email, so check both 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 sharing recipes?

It gives editor access to one Google Doc found by name, then emails the link. recipe-email-drive-link does the same with reader access for any Drive file. recipe-share-folder-with-team shares a folder with an editor and a viewer and sends no email. recipe-create-doc-from-template shares a new copy of a template.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: googleworkspace/cli
Folder: skills/recipe-share-doc-and-notify

googleworkspace/cli skills.sh

Sources

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

Show all 11

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