Authenticate with Google Drive

You can authenticate with Google Drive to create your own instance of the Google Drive element through the UI or through APIs. Once authenticated, you can use the element instance to access the different functionality offered by the Google Drive platform.

Authenticate Through the UI

Use the UI to authenticate with Google Drive and create an element instance. Google Drive authentication follows the typical OAuth 2 framework and you will need to sign in to Google Drive as part of the process.

If you are configuring events, see the Events section.

To authenticate an element instance:

  1. Sign in to Cloud Elements, and then search for Google Drive in our Elements Catalog. Search
  2. Hover over the element card, and then click Authenticate. Create Instance
  3. Enter a name for the element instance.
  4. In Document Root Folder enter a Google Drive directory.
  5. Optionally type or select one or more Element Instance Tags to add to the authenticated element instance.
  6. Click Create Instance.
  7. Provide your Google Drive credentials, and then allow the connection.

After successfully authenticating, we give you several options for next steps. Make requests using the API docs associated with the instance, map the instance to a virtual data resource, or use it in a formula template.

Authenticate Through API

Authenticating through API is a multi-step process that involves:

1
Redirect URL

2
Authenticate Users

3
Authenticate Instance

Getting a Redirect URL

1
Redirect URL

2
Authenticate Users

3
Authenticate Instance

Use the following API call to request a redirect URL where the user can authenticate with the API provider. Replace {keyOrId} with the element key, googledrive.

GET /elements/{keyOrId}/oauth/url?apiKey=<api_key>&apiSecret=<api_secret>&callbackUrl=<url>

Query Parameters

Query Parameter Description
apiKey The key obtained from registering your app with the provider. This is the OAuth Client ID that you recorded in API Provider Setup section.
apiSecret The secret obtained from registering your app with the provider. This is the OAuth Client Secret that you recorded in API Provider Setup section.
callbackUrl The URL that will receive the code from the vendor to be used to create an element instance. This is the Callback URL that you noted at the end of the Endpoint Setup section.

Example cURL

curl -X GET
-H 'Content-Type: application/json'
'https://api.cloud-elements.com/elements/api-v2/elements/googledrive/oauth/url?apiKey=fake_api_key&apiSecret=fake_api_secret&callbackUrl=https://www.mycoolapp.com/auth'

Example Response

Use the oauthUrl in the response to allow users to authenticate with the vendor.

{
  "oauthUrl": "https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth?access_type=offline&approval_prompt=force&client_id=fake_api_key&redirect_uri=https://www.mycoolapp.com/auth&response_type=code&scope=https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive&state=googledrive",
  "element": "googledrive"
}

Authenticating Users and Receiving the Authorization Grant Code

1
Redirect URL

2
Authenticate Users

3
Authenticate Instance

Provide the response from the previous step to the users. After they authenticate, Google Drive provides the following information in the response:

  • code
  • state
Response Parameter Description
code The Authorization Grant Code required by Cloud Elements to retrieve the OAuth access and refresh tokens from the endpoint.
state A customizable identifier, typically the element key (googledrive) .

Authenticating the Element Instance

1
Redirect URL

2
Authenticate Users

3
Authenticate Instance

Use the /instances endpoint to authenticate with Google Drive and create an element instance. If you are configuring events, see the Events section.

To create an element instance:

  1. Construct a JSON body as shown below (see Parameters):

    {
      "element": {
        "key": "googledrive"
      },
      "providerData": {
        "code": "<AUTHORIZATION_GRANT_CODE>"
      },
      "configuration": {
        "oauth.callback.url": "<CALLBACK_URL>",
        "oauth.api.key": "<CONSUMER_KEY>",
        "oauth.api.secret": "<CONSUMER_SECRET>",
        "document.root.folder.name": "<DIRECTORY_NAME>"
      },
      "tags": [
        "<Add_Your_Tag>"
      ],
      "name":"API Instance"
    }
    
  2. Call the following, including the JSON body you constructed in the previous step:

    POST /instances
    
  3. Locate the token and id in the response and save them for all future requests using the element instance.

Example cURL

curl -X POST \
  https://api.cloud-elements.com/elements/api-v2/instances \
  -H 'authorization: User <USER_SECRET>, Organization <ORGANIZATION_SECRET>' \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "name": "GoogleDrive_Instance",
  "element": {
    "key": "googledrive"
  },
  "providerData": {
    "code": "xoz8AFqScK2ngM04kSSM"
  },
  "configuration": {
    "oauth.callback.url": "https://www.mycoolapp.com/auth",
    "oauth.api.key": "fake_api_key",
    "oauth.api.secret": "fake_api_secret",
    "document.root.folder.name": "Documents"
  },
  "tags": [
    "For Docs"
  ]
}'

Parameters

API parameters not shown in Cloud Elements are in code formatting.

Parameter Description Data Type
'key' The element key.
googledrive
string
Name
name
The name for the element instance created during authentication. Body
oauth.callback.url The Callback URL that was registered when creating credentials in your Google Drive project. This is the Callback URL that you noted at the end of the Endpoint Setup section.
oauth.api.key The OAuth Client ID from Google Drive. This is the Client ID that you noted at the end of the Endpoint Setup section string
oauth.api.secret The OAuth Client Secret from Google Drive. This is the Client Secret that you noted at the end of the Endpoint Setup section string
Document Root Folder
document.root.folder.name
The directory on Google Drive that contains the documents that you want to connect. string

Example Response

{
  "id": 427188,
  "name": "GoogleDrive_Instance",
  "createdDate": "2017-06-06T18:54:51Z",
  "token": "7/1+qpTUzoU6OlqvIeynPKJKCztvKYTlx1AD+au3bfk=",
  "element": {
    "id": 21,
    "name": "Google Drive",
    "key": "googledrive",
    "description": "Add a Google Drive Instance to connect your existing Google Drive account to the Cloud Storage and Documents Hub, allowing you to manage files and folders. You will need your Google Drive account information to add an instance.",
    "image": "elements/provider_googledrive.png",
    "active": true,
    "deleted": false,
    "typeOauth": true,
    "signupURL": "https://drive.google.com",
    "transformationsEnabled": false,
    "bulkDownloadEnabled": false,
    "bulkUploadEnabled": false,
    "cloneable": false,
    "extendable": false,
    "beta": false,
    "authentication": {
      "type": "oauth2"
    },
    "hub": "documents",
    "private": false
  },
  "elementId": 21,
  "disabled": false,
  "eventsEnabled": false
}