The Problem
Google Workspace APIs are great... if you enjoy drowning in REST docs, crafting endless curl commands, and debugging JSON payloads at 2 AM. For developers and sysadmins trying to automate Google Drive, Gmail, Calendar, or Sheets, the official tools are clunky, fragmented, and make even simple workflows painfully complicated. Managing all this with AI agents? Forget it.
What This Does
gws is one CLI to rule them all—Drive, Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Chat, Sheets, Admin, and pretty much every Google Workspace API under the sun. It dynamically builds its commands from the Google Discovery Service, so when Google adds a new API endpoint, gws supports it automatically. No more manually updating tools or dealing with outdated SDKs.
The real magic, though, is in the skills/ directory. This library of 90+ "agent skills" combines API calls into higher-level workflows like generating reports, triaging Gmail, or creating shared drives. These are prebuilt automations designed for both humans and bots. The src/ folder handles the heavy lifting: src/commands.rs defines the CLI structure, src/auth.rs wraps OAuth flows, and src/generate_skills.rs dynamically builds commands on the fly. It's clean, logical, and kind of genius.
And let's not ignore the AI angle. Every response is JSON-structured and bot-ready. Pair it with the skills library and your favorite LLM for full Workspace automation.
Real-World Use
Imagine you're onboarding a new hire. With gws, you could automate the entire process:
Or, say you're an AI bot tasked with managing documents. Use gws drive files list to fetch recent files, generate summaries with an LLM, and send updates via gws chat.
The Bottom Line
gws is a lifesaver for anyone working heavily with Google Workspace APIs. It’s not perfect—expect bugs and breaking changes since it’s still pre-1.0—but the potential here is massive. If you're automating Workspace, skip the SDKs and start here. Just don't expect handholding; this tool is for people who actually know what they're doing.