googleapis

google-api-nodejs-client [alpha]

google-api-nodejs-client is the Google's officially supported node.js client library for accessing Google APIs, it also supports authorization and authentication with OAuth 2.0.

Note: This library is currently in alpha status, meaning that we can make changes in the future that may not be compatible with the previous versions.

Installation

The library is distributed on npm. In order to add it as a dependency, run the following command:

$ npm install googleapis

Guide

Dynamically load any Google API and start making requests:

var googleapis = require('googleapis');

googleapis.load('urlshortener', 'v1', function(err, client) {
  var params = { shortUrl: 'http://goo.gl/DdUKX' };
  var request = client.urlshortener.url.get(params);
  request.execute(function (err, response) {
    console.log('Long url is', response.longUrl);
  });
});

Supported APIs are listed on Google APIs Explorer.

API Clients

Client libraries are generated during runtime by metadata provided by Google APIs Discovery Service. Metadata provided by Discovery Service is not cached, but requested each time you load a client. We're making changes to improve the situation for short-lived node processes. Below, there is an example of loading a client for URL Shortener API.

googleapis.load('urlshortener', 'v1', function(err, client) {
  if (!err) {
    console.log('Client is loaded successfully');
  }
});

Alternatively, you may like to configure the client to append an API key to all requests you are going to make. Once you load a client library, you can set an API key:

 googleapis.load('urlshortener', 'v1', function(err, client) {
   client.withApiKey('YOUR API KEY HERE');
   // make requests
 });

To learn more about API keys, please see the documentation.

Requests

Following sample loads a client for URL Shortener and retrieves the long url of the given short url:

googleapis.load('urlshortener', 'v1', function(err, client) {
  // ...
  client
    .urlshortener
    .url
    .get({ shortUrl: 'http://goo.gl/DdUKX' })
    .execute(function(err, result) {
      // result.longUrl contains the long url.
    });
});

Batch requests

You can combine multiple requests in a single one by using batch requests.

googleapis.load('urlshortener', 'v1', function(err, client) {
  // ...
  var request1 =
      client.urlshortener.url.get({ shortUrl: 'http://goo.gl/DdUKX' });
  var request2 =
      client.urlshortener.url.insert(null, { longUrl: 'http://goo.gl/A5492' });
  // create from raw action name
  var request3 = client.newRequest('urlshortener.url.list');

  client
    .newBatchRequest()
    .add(request1)
    .add(request2)
    .add(request3)
    .execute(function(err, results) {

    });
});

Authorization and Authentication

This client comes with an OAuth2 client allows you to retrieve an access token and refreshes the token and re-try the request seamlessly if token is expired. The basics of Google's OAuth 2.0 implementation is explained on Google Authorization and Authentication documentation.

A complete sample application that authorizes and authenticates with OAuth2.0 client is available at examples/oauth2.js.

Consent Page Url

In order to ask for permissions from user to retrieve an access token, you should redirect them to a consent page. In order to create a consent page URL:

var googleapis = require('googleapis'),
    OAuth2Client = googleapis.OAuth2Client;

var oauth2Client =
    new OAuth2Client(CLIENT_ID, CLIENT_SECRET, REDIRECT_URL);

// generates a url allows offline access and asks permissions
// for Google+ scope.
var url = oauth2Client.generateAuthUrl({
  access_type: 'offline',
  scope: 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/plus.me'
});

Retrieving Tokens

Once user has given permissions on the consent page, Google will redirect the page to the redirect url you have provided with a code query parameter.

GET /oauthcallback?code={authorizationCode}

With the code returned, you can ask for an access token as shown below:

oauth2Client.getToken(code, function(err, tokens) {
  // contains an access_token and optionally a refresh_token.
  // save them permanently.
});

Making Authenticated Requests

And you can start using oauth2Client to authorize and authenticate your requests to Google APIs with the retrieved tokens. If you provide a refresh_token, in cases when access_token is expired, it asks for a new access_token and replays the request.

Following sample retrieves Google+ profile of the authenticated user.

oauth2Client.credentials = {
  access_token: 'ACCESS TOKEN HERE',
  refresh_token: 'REFRESH TOKEN HERE'
};

client
  .plus.people.get({ userId: 'me' })
  .withAuthClient(oauth2Client)
  .execute(callback);

License

google-api-nodejs-client is licensed with Apache 2.0. Full license text is available on COPYING file.

Contributors

Before making any contributions, please sign one of the contributor license agreements below.

Fork the repo, develop and test your code changes.

Install all dependencies including development requirements by running:

$ npm install -d

Tests use mocha. To run all tests you can use

$ npm test

which looks for tests in the ./tests directory.

Your code should honor the Google JavaScript Style Guide. You can use Closure Linter to detect style issues.

Submit a pull request. The repo owner will review your request. If it is approved, the change will be merged. If it needs additional work, the repo owner will respond with useful comments.

Contributor License Agreements

Before creating a pull request, please fill out either the individual or corporate Contributor License Agreement.

• If you are an individual writing original source code and you're sure you own the intellectual property, then you'll need to sign an individual CLA.
• If you work for a company that wants to allow you to contribute your work to this client library, then you'll need to sign a corporate CLA.

Follow either of the two links above to access the appropriate CLA and instructions for how to sign and return it. Once we receive it, we'll add you to the official list of contributors and be able to accept your patches.