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Overview

The Google Docs API allows you to create, read, and update Google Docs documents programmatically. API Name: docs
Version: v1
Official Documentation: Docs API Reference

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Common Resources

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Documents

Create and manage Google Docs.
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documentId
string
required
The document ID (found in the URL)
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title
string
The document title

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Common Methods

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Create Document

gws docs documents create --json '{
  "title": "Project Proposal"
}'
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documentId
string
The ID of the created document
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title
string
The document title

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Get Document

gws docs documents get --params '{
  "documentId": "1a2b3c4d5e6f7g8h9i"
}'
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documentId
string
The document ID
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title
string
The document title
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body
object
The document body containing content

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Batch Update

gws docs documents batchUpdate \
  --params '{"documentId": "1a2b3c4d5e6f7g8h9i"}' \
  --json '{
    "requests": [
      {
        "insertText": {
          "location": {"index": 1},
          "text": "Hello, World!\n"
        }
      }
    ]
  }'

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Document Operations

gws docs documents batchUpdate \
  --params '{"documentId": "1a2b3c4d5e6f7g8h9i"}' \
  --json '{
    "requests": [{
      "insertText": {
        "location": {"index": 1},
        "text": "This is a new paragraph.\n"
      }
    }]
  }'

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Response Format

Create document response: 
{
  "documentId": "1a2b3c4d5e6f7g8h9i",
  "title": "Project Proposal",
  "body": {
    "content": [
      {
        "endIndex": 1,
        "sectionBreak": {
          "sectionStyle": {}
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "revisionId": "abc123",
  "documentStyle": {}
}
Get document response: 
{
  "documentId": "1a2b3c4d5e6f7g8h9i",
  "title": "Project Proposal",
  "body": {
    "content": [
      {
        "startIndex": 1,
        "endIndex": 20,
        "paragraph": {
          "elements": [
            {
              "startIndex": 1,
              "endIndex": 20,
              "textRun": {
                "content": "Hello, World!\n"
              }
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}
  • +write - Append text to a document

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Key Resources

  • documents - Create, read, and update documents

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Common Request Types

The batchUpdate method accepts various request types:
  • insertText - Insert text at a location
  • deleteContentRange - Delete a range of content
  • updateTextStyle - Format text (bold, italic, color, etc.)
  • updateParagraphStyle - Change paragraph formatting
  • insertTable - Insert a table
  • insertInlineImage - Insert an image
  • createNamedRange - Create a named range
  • replaceAllText - Find and replace text

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Advanced Examples

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Replace All Text

gws docs documents batchUpdate \
  --params '{"documentId": "1a2b3c4d5e6f7g8h9i"}' \
  --json '{
    "requests": [{
      "replaceAllText": {
        "containsText": {"text": "{{name}}"},
        "replaceText": "Alice Smith"
      }
    }]
  }'

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Create Heading

gws docs documents batchUpdate \
  --params '{"documentId": "1a2b3c4d5e6f7g8h9i"}' \
  --json '{
    "requests": [
      {
        "insertText": {
          "location": {"index": 1},
          "text": "Introduction\n"
        }
      },
      {
        "updateParagraphStyle": {
          "range": {"startIndex": 1, "endIndex": 14},
          "paragraphStyle": {"namedStyleType": "HEADING_1"},
          "fields": "namedStyleType"
        }
      }
    ]
  }'

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Learn More

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Schema Inspection

Before calling any method, inspect its schema: 
gws schema docs.documents.create
gws schema docs.documents.batchUpdate