name: gdown-public-drive-access

description: Access public Google Drive folders without OAuth using gdown Python package

category: devops

Access Public Google Drive Folder Without OAuth

When to use

Need to access a Google Drive folder but:

• - OAuth is complex (browser-based, needs human confirmation)
• - rclone token expired and can't reconnect without browser
• - gcloud not installed
• - No Service Account access
• - Drive folder can be made public

Approach

1. Make the Drive folder public (anyone with link can view)

2. Use gdown Python package to download files

Setup

`bash

pip3 install gdown

`

Usage

`bash

Download entire folder (recursive)

gdown --folder "https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/FOLDER_ID?usp=sharing" -O /target/path/

Download specific file by ID

gdown "https://drive.google.com/file/d/FILE_ID/view?usp=sharing" -O /target/path/

Download with continue flag (resume interrupted)

gdown --continue --folder "https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/FOLDER_ID" -O /target/path/

`

Key insight

Making the folder public (via Drive sharing settings) is the simplest path when OAuth isn't available. The gdown package handles public folder access without any authentication — it just follows the share link.

gdown --json parsing pitfall

gdown --folder --json outputs a warning to stdout first:

`

WARNING: --json is in beta. Please report issues.

[{"path": "...", "url": "..."}]

`

The warning breaks JSON parsing if you pipe stdout directly to json.loads().

Correct parsing approach (Python):

`python

text = process.stdout

idx = text.find('[\n {') # Find where JSON actually starts

data = json.loads(text[idx:])

`

Wrong approach (returns empty or 0 items):

`python

lines = [l for l in text.split('\n') if l.startswith('[') or l.startswith('{')]

data = json.loads(lines[0]) # Gets only '[' character

`

Authentication expiry (critical)

Even "public" Drive folders can fail with:

`

Cannot retrieve the public link of the file. You may need to change the permission to 'Anyone with the link'

`

This happens when cookies/token used for listing expire. The listing endpoint is public, but the download URL requires a valid Google cookie session.

Symptoms:

• - gdown --folder --json still works (lists files)
• - Individual file download fails: Error: Cannot retrieve the public link
• - gdown --folder -O times out

Fix: Re-authenticate. Options:

1. Export fresh cookies from a logged-in browser session to /tmp/gdown_cookies.json

2. Use gdown --oauth to get a fresh OAuth token (requires browser confirmation)

3. Re-run rclone config to refresh Drive token

Cookie export format (/tmp/gdown_cookies.json):

`json

{"cookies": [{"domain": ".google.com", "name": "NID", "value": "..."}], "token": "..."}

`

Alternatives that failed

• - rclone: Token expires, reconnect requires browser OAuth (can't automate)
• - Google OAuth via gdown --oauth or rclone config: Needs human confirmation, can't be done headlessly
• - gcloud: Not installed on VPS
• - Service Account: Requires Google Cloud Console access

Notes

• - Works for publicly shared folders only
• - Works for files shared with "anyone with the link"
• - gdown uses requests under the hood — no special Drive API scopes needed
• - For large folders, use --continue flag to resume interrupted downloads
• - gdown --folder -O can timeout on large folders — use --json to list first, then download files individually with gdown -O