---
id: google-cloud
version: "0.34.0"
license: Apache 2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# google-cloud — API Client library for Google Cloud

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 4.8M/mo

## What it is and what it does

google-cloud is a deprecated umbrella package that once provided a single entry point to Google Cloud Platform services for Python. As of June 18, 2018, it stopped installing any service-specific dependencies and is no longer maintained for new development. The package has zero runtime dependencies and serves no functional purpose beyond historical compatibility.

If you encounter this package in an existing codebase, it is a signal to migrate to product-specific packages like google-cloud-storage, google-cloud-bigquery, google-cloud-pubsub, or others depending on which GCP services your application needs. The deprecation is explicit in the package metadata and description.

Use it for:

- Identifying and replacing deprecated google-cloud imports in legacy codebases that need to migrate to modern service-specific packages.
- Understanding the historical structure of Google Cloud Python client libraries before the shift to modular packages.
- Satisfying old dependency declarations in archived or frozen projects that no longer receive updates.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

A deprecated umbrella package that once provided unified access to Google Cloud Platform services; it no longer installs dependencies as of June 2018 and should not be used for new projects.

No. This package is deprecated, unmaintained since 2018, and explicitly warns that it will not install dependencies. Do not install it for new projects. If you encounter it in existing code, replace it with the specific google-cloud-* packages your application actually needs (e.g., google-cloud-storage, google-cloud-bigquery).

## Install

pip install google-cloud
uv add google-cloud
poetry add google-cloud

## Installing google-cloud

Before you install: Low install friction, but the package is marked Development Status :: 7 - Inactive and has not been updated since 2018-07-30. The repository remains active as of 2026-08-14, but this is a deprecated stub; new projects should use product-specific google-cloud-* packages instead.

License in practice: Licensed under Apache 2.0 (permissive), so there are no licensing restrictions on use or modification. However, the deprecation status is the real concern, not the license.

Quickstart:

pip install google-cloud==0.34.0

import google.cloud

# This package no longer installs service-specific dependencies;
# install google-cloud-storage, google-cloud-bigquery, etc. directly instead.

This package is deprecated and will not install any service dependencies. You must install product-specific packages (google-cloud-storage, google-cloud-bigquery, etc.) directly.

Verify before relying:

- Whether any active projects still depend on this stub package and what their migration path is.
- Whether the repository's active status reflects ongoing maintenance or is simply not yet archived.

## Package facts

- License: Apache 2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 4.8M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

google cloud python client, gcp api access, google cloud platform sdk, cloud service integration, google cloud deprecated package, deprecated, legacy-compatibility

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/google-cloud) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/google-cloud/)