Listing Google Drive files returning empty list (Python)

Question

I am testing my python connection to Google Drive using Python Google API Client. I am able to establish a connection, but I am not getting back a list of objects from Google Drive. I wonder if a lack of permission in my API key is giving a silent error.

from googleapiclient.discovery import build, Resource

def test_gdrive(gdrive):
    #connect to google drive.
    #gdrive is a custom class that returns a Resource object from googleapiclient
    service Resource = gdrive.connect_to_service('drive', gdrive.credentials, 'v3')
    assert service is not None # this passes
    # I simply want it to list the first page of all the results in my drive.
    results = service.files().list(q="'root' in parents and mimeType = 'application/vnd.google-apps.folder'"
                                   spaces='drive', 
                                   fields='nextPageToken, files(id, name)', 
                                   ).execute()
    items = results.get('files', [])
    if not items:
        raise AssertionError(f'No files found in test_gdrive. Results is {results}')
    else:
        assert items[0]['id'] is not None

I am getting the custom error. AssertionError: No files found in test_gdrive. Results is {'files': []}

I have also tried the query f"name='{self.folder_name}' and mimeType='application/vnd.google-apps.folder' and 'root' in parents" to search for a specific folder in the root that I know exists. It is also coming up empty.

I was expecting at least one result from the API call.

The file is not shared, but I am authenticating as myself. The scope is " 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file',"

Steve Scott · Accepted Answer · 2025-02-05 17:19:02Z

1

To list files you need more than the scope

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file

You also need to add the scope

'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.metadata.readonly'

answered Feb 5 at 17:19

Steve Scott

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Raghavendra N · Accepted Answer · 2025-02-04 15:15:39Z

0

Well, you got the query string wrong:

q="'root' in parents and mimeType = 'application/vnd.google-apps.folder'"

The mimetype filter application/vnd.google-apps.folder will only show the folders. It will exclude all other filetypes.

To list all files and folders in the root folder try with this query string:

q="'root' in parents"

You can also test if your query string is working or not directly in the Google's API explorer.

answered Feb 4 at 15:15

Raghavendra N

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2 Comments

Steve Scott Feb 5 at 16:43

Why did I get an empty list instead of a list of folders?

Steve Scott Feb 5 at 16:55

The query q="'root' in parents" is also returning an empty list.

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