gdcli

Why it's ranked here

The command set covers a useful slice of everyday Drive administration without a broad framework around it. Pagination, query filters, multiple accounts, permission management, and Workspace document exports make it practical. The credential setup and local token storage demand care, while the documented deletion behavior conflicts with the service implementation.

What's good

It supports both interactive browser authorization and a manual flow for browserless machines. Listings expose identifiers, types, sizes, modification times, and pagination tokens. Downloads automatically export documents and presentations to PDF, spreadsheets to CSV, and drawings to PNG. Sharing supports public links or named users with reader and writer roles.

Tradeoffs

Setup requires creating a Google Cloud project, enabling the Drive API, configuring OAuth branding and users, then downloading client credentials. Client secrets and account tokens live in local JSON storage. Search builds full-text queries, not a richer local index. Most importantly, help text promises trashing, while the service code performs a delete operation.

How to use it well

Use it for scripts and terminal workflows that need direct, account-scoped Drive operations with visible file identifiers. It suits uploads, downloads, searches, folder maintenance, and permission changes. Keep its configuration directory protected and test deletion behavior before automation. It does not provide synchronization, document editing, or a graphical file browser.

Observed

License

MIT

Primary language

TypeScript

Install surface

Global npm package @mariozechner/gdcli

Interfaces

Command-line interface and typed Node.js library entry

Runtime

Node.js 20 or newer

API integration

Google Drive API v3 through googleapis

Authentication

OAuth 2.0 with browser callback and manual pasted-redirect flows

Platform handling

Browser launching accounts for macOS, Windows, and Linux commands