Setting Up Google Drive Access

This step-by-step guide will help you create a private Google Drive connection for Archmage. It allows you or your team to read shared Google Sheets and drive files securely. You do not need any coding or IT experience. The entire setup takes about 10 minutes.

Team Note

Only one person in your team needs to complete Steps 1 through 8. Once finished, you will share the credentials with your team members so everyone can access the shared sheets by following Step 9.

Step 1: Create a Project

1. Open your web browser and sign in to the Google Cloud Console using a personal Google account (preferably the one managing your team’s shared sheets).
2. Click the project button in the upper-left area of the top bar (it may say “Select a project” or show an existing project name).
3. In the pop-up window, click New Project in the upper-right corner.
4. For Project name, enter: Archmage.
5. Leave “Organization” and “Location” as they are, then click Create.
6. Wait a few seconds, then check the top navigation bar to ensure your active project is switched to Archmage.

Step 2: Enable the Google Drive API

1. In the search bar at the very top of the screen, type Google Drive API and press Enter.
2. Click on Google Drive API from the search results.
3. Click the blue Enable button and wait a moment for the setup to complete.

Step 3: Configure the Consent Screen

1. Click the main menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner.
2. Navigate to APIs & Services -> Google Auth Platform (on some accounts, this may still be named OAuth consent screen).
3. Click Get Started to open the quick setup:
   • App information:
     • App name: Enter Archmage.
     • User support email: Select your own Gmail address from the drop-down list.
     • Click Next.
   • Audience: Choose External, then click Next.
   • Contact Information: Type your Gmail address in the email field, then click Next.
   • Finish: Check the agreement box, then click Continue and Create.

Step 4: Add Google Drive Permission

1. In the left sidebar, click Data Access.
2. Click Add or remove scopes.
3. In the Filter field (showing “Enter property name or value”), type drive.readonly and press Enter.
4. Check the box next to .../auth/drive.readonly (description: See and download all your Google Drive files).
5. Scroll down to the bottom, click Update.
6. Back on the Data Access page, click Save.

Step 5: (Optional) Set Up a Simple Website with Google Sites

Publishing an external app requires a public home page and privacy policy link. If your team already has a website with a privacy policy page, you can skip this step and proceed directly to Step 6.

If you do not have a website, you can set one up using this prepared template:

1. Open the Simple GCP Site Template in Google Drive.
2. Right-click the Simple GCP Site file and select Make a copy.
3. Go to Google Sites and open your copied site (Copy of Simple GCP Site).
4. (Optional) Review and customize the Privacy Policy page content if needed.
5. Click the purple Publish button in the upper-right corner.
6. Enter a web address (e.g., archmage-team-site) and click Publish to take the site live.
7. Click the drop-down arrow next to the Publish button and select View published site.
8. Copy the Home page’s address from the address bar​ at the top of your browser and paste it somewhere temporary for later use.
9. Click Privacy Policy in the top-right navigation menu of the published site, copy that page’s address from the address bar, and paste it in the same place.

Step 6: Complete Branding Settings

1. Return to the Google Cloud Console. (If you closed the browser tab earlier, follow Step 1.1, 3.1, and 3.2 to get back to the Google Auth Platform page).
2. In the left sidebar, click Branding.
3. Scroll down to the App domain section:
   • Application home page: Paste your website’s home page link (from your own site or Step 5).
   • Application privacy policy link: Paste the privacy policy page link (from your own site or Step 5).
4. Scroll down to Authorized domains:
   • Click + Add domain.
   • If you used your own domain, enter your root domain (e.g., yourcompany.com).
   • If you used Google Sites in Step 5, enter: google.com.
5. Click Save at the bottom of the page.

Step 7: Publish the App

Important

You must complete this step. If you leave the app in ““Testing” mode, Google will force you to reconnect your account every 7 days, disrupting your work and your team’s.

1. In the left sidebar, click Audience.
2. Under the Publishing status section, click the Publish app button.
3. In the confirmation pop-up, click Confirm. The app’s status will change to In production.

Note

If you see a prompt saying “Submit for verification” or “Needs verification”, ignore it. You do not need Google’s official review for internal team or personal use.

Step 8: Get Your Client ID and Client Secret

1. In the left sidebar, click Clients.
2. Click + Create client:
   • Application type: Choose Desktop app.
   • Name: Leave the default name or enter Archmage Client.
3. Click Create.
4. A window will appear showing two values:
   • Client ID
   • Client Secret
5. Save both values — anyone running Archmage needs them.

Tip

Share them with your team:

• Convenient: put them directly into your shared scripts or configuration files, so your team gets them automatically with no setup.
• Safer: keep them out of version control — once committed, they’re hard to remove.

These credentials only grant read access to documents, so putting them in a shared script carries little risk for most teams.

Step 9: Instructions for Team Members (One-Time Sign-In)

Each team member needs the Client ID and Client Secret from Step 8 before starting.

Send this to your team

When you run archmage drive login, your browser will open a Google sign-in page:

1. Sign in: Choose the Google account that has access to the team’s shared Google Sheets.
2. Handle the warning: A warning screen will appear stating: “Google hasn’t verified this app”.

Note

Why this appears: The project is private to your team and has not gone through Google’s paid verification. This is completely expected for internal tools.

3. Click the small Advanced link in the bottom left.
4. Click the link that appears at the bottom: Go to Archmage (unsafe).
5. On the “Make sure you trust Archmage” screen, click Continue to complete the authorization.