PyDrive

What it is and what it does

PyDrive is a wrapper around the Google Drive API that abstracts away much of the boilerplate needed to authenticate and interact with Google Drive from Python. It handles OAuth2 setup in a few lines, wraps Drive resources into object-oriented classes, and provides convenience methods for common tasks like file upload, download, and listing with automatic pagination.

The package has been abandoned since its last release on 2016-10-24 and is no longer maintained. While it has no runtime dependencies and installs easily, the underlying Google API client library and Google's authentication requirements have evolved significantly since then. Any new project should carefully evaluate whether this package will work with current Google Drive API versions and modern Python environments before committing to it.

Use it for:

• Automate file uploads and downloads to Google Drive from a Python script without writing extensive API boilerplate.
• List and iterate through Google Drive files with automatic pagination handling.
• Set up OAuth2 authentication to Google Drive in a small Python application with minimal configuration.
• Manage file metadata and perform batch operations on Google Drive files programmatically.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

PyDrive wraps the Google Drive API into Python classes, simplifying OAuth2 authentication and common file operations like upload, download, and listing on Google Drive.

No. The project is archived and abandoned since 2016-10-24 with no maintenance. While it has low install friction and no known vulnerabilities, the lack of updates means it will not work reliably with current Google Drive API versions or modern Python releases. Start a new project with an actively maintained alternative or use the underlying API library directly.

Install

pydrive on PyPI

pip install pydrive

uv add pydrive

poetry add pydrive

Installing PyDrive

Before you install

Installation is straightforward with no runtime dependencies, but the project is archived and abandoned since 2016 with no maintenance. Use only if you accept the risk of unpatched issues and no future updates.

License in practice

License treatment is unclear; the raw LICENSE file exists but SPDX classification is unavailable. Review the repository's LICENSE file directly before use to confirm terms.

Quickstart

from pydrive.auth import GoogleAuth
from pydrive.drive import GoogleDrive

gauth = GoogleAuth()
gauth.LocalWebserverAuth()
drive = GoogleDrive(gauth)
file_list = drive.ListFile({'q': "'root' in parents"}).GetList()

Requires a client_secrets.json file from Google API Console and local web server access for OAuth2 authentication flow.

Verify before relying

• Whether the package works with current Google Drive API versions and modern Python releases.
• Compatibility with recent google-api-python-client versions and any breaking changes.
• Whether OAuth2 flow still functions with current Google authentication requirements.

Package facts

Evidence: PyDrive-1.3.1-py2-none-any.whl

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