Unlock Google Workspace with gws: The All‑In‑One CLI for AI‑Powered Office Automation

Overview

gws is an open‑source command‑line interface that wraps the entire Google Workspace API suite (Drive, Gmail, Calendar, Sheets, Docs, etc.). It automatically fetches Google’s discovery documents at runtime, builds commands dynamically, handles pagination, and performs OAuth 2.0 authentication, returning all responses as structured JSON.

Key technical advantages

Dynamic command construction : Commands are generated from the latest discovery documents, so newly released Workspace endpoints are supported without updating the tool.

JSON‑first output : Every API response is returned as JSON, enabling AI agents or scripts to consume data without additional parsing.

Native MCP support : gws mcp -s drive,gmail,calendar launches an MCP server that exposes Workspace APIs to any AI‑agent platform (e.g., Claude Desktop, Cursor) with a single configuration step.

100+ ready‑to‑use Agent Skills : Pre‑built skills cover common workflows such as file management, email sending, calendar editing, and spreadsheet handling.

Installation

npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli

Authentication setup

Before using gws, install the Google Cloud SDK ( gcloud) and create a Google Cloud project. Then run: gws auth setup The wizard guides you through creating OAuth client credentials and enabling the required Workspace APIs (Drive, Gmail, Calendar are recommended). Authentication fails if gcloud is missing or the APIs are not enabled.

Typical usage examples

List the latest 10 files in Drive:

gws drive files list --params '{"pagesize": 10}'

Create a spreadsheet named "Q1 Budget":

gws sheets spreadsheets create --json '{"properties": {"title": "Q1 Budget"}}'

Send a notification to Google Chat (dry‑run):

gws chat spaces messages create --params '{"parent": "spaces/xyz"}' --json '{"text": "Deploy complete."}' --dry-run

Stream all pages of Drive files and extract names:

gws drive files list --params '{"pagesize": 100}' --page-all | jq -r '.files[].name'

Inspect the request/response schema of any method:

gws schema drive.files.list

MCP server for AI agents

Start an MCP server exposing selected services: gws mcp -s drive,gmail,calendar Configure the AI‑agent client to point to the MCP endpoint; the client can then invoke Workspace actions directly.

Agent Skills installation

All skills can be added with a single command:

npx skills add https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli

Alternatively, synchronize the skills to OpenClaw:

ln -s $(pwd)/skills/gws-* ~/.openclaw/skills/

OpenClaw integration

If OpenClaw is installed, the symlink above keeps the skill set up‑to‑date automatically. The gws‑shared skill also installs gws via npm on‑demand when OpenClaw detects it missing.

Caveats and best‑practice tips

Authentication requires a GCP project and the gcloud CLI; install gcloud before running gws auth setup.

gws is currently in a testing preview phase; avoid production use until a stable release is announced.

Some less common APIs (Slides, Forms, Classroom, etc.) are disabled by default and must be manually enabled during the auth setup.

Repository

https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli