Create a shortcut file to content stored by your app

    Third-party shortcuts in Google Drive are metadata-only files that link to other files on external, third-party owned, storage systems. These shortcuts act as reference links to the "content" files stored by an application outside of Drive, usually in a different datastore or cloud storage system.

    To create a third-party shortcut, use the files.create method of the Google Drive API and set the MIME type to application/vnd.google-apps.drive-sdk . Don't upload any content when creating the file. For more information, see Google Workspace and Google Drive supported MIME types .

    You cannot upload or download third-party shortcuts.

    The following code samples show how to create a third-party shortcut using a client library:

    Java

    drive/snippets/drive_v3/src/main/java/CreateShortcut.java
     import 
  
 com.google.api.client.googleapis.json.GoogleJsonResponseException 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.api.client.http.HttpRequestInitializer 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.api.client.http.javanet.NetHttpTransport 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.api.client.json.gson.GsonFactory 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.api.services.drive.Drive 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.api.services.drive.DriveScopes 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.api.services.drive.model.File 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.auth.http.HttpCredentialsAdapter 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials 
 ; 
 import 
  
 java.io.IOException 
 ; 
 import 
  
 java.util.Arrays 
 ; 
 /* Class to demonstrate Drive's create shortcut use-case */ 
 public 
  
 class 
 CreateShortcut 
  
 { 
  
 /** 
 * Creates shortcut for file. 
 * 
 * @throws IOException if service account credentials file not found. 
 */ 
  
 public 
  
 static 
  
 String 
  
 createShortcut 
 () 
  
 throws 
  
 IOException 
  
 { 
  
 /* Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment. 
 TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity for 
 guides on implementing OAuth2 for your application.*/ 
  
 GoogleCredentials 
  
 credentials 
  
 = 
  
 GoogleCredentials 
 . 
 getApplicationDefault 
 () 
  
 . 
 createScoped 
 ( 
 Arrays 
 . 
 asList 
 ( 
 DriveScopes 
 . 
 DRIVE_FILE 
 )); 
  
 HttpRequestInitializer 
  
 requestInitializer 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 HttpCredentialsAdapter 
 ( 
  
 credentials 
 ); 
  
 // Build a new authorized API client service. 
  
 Drive 
  
 service 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 Drive 
 . 
 Builder 
 ( 
 new 
  
 NetHttpTransport 
 (), 
  
 GsonFactory 
 . 
 getDefaultInstance 
 (), 
  
 requestInitializer 
 ) 
  
 . 
 setApplicationName 
 ( 
 "Drive samples" 
 ) 
  
 . 
 build 
 (); 
  
 try 
  
 { 
  
 // Create Shortcut for file. 
  
 File 
  
 fileMetadata 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 File 
 (); 
  
 fileMetadata 
 . 
 setName 
 ( 
 "Project plan" 
 ); 
  
 fileMetadata 
 . 
 setMimeType 
 ( 
 "application/vnd.google-apps.drive-sdk" 
 ); 
  
 File 
  
 file 
  
 = 
  
 service 
 . 
 files 
 (). 
 create 
 ( 
 fileMetadata 
 ) 
  
 . 
 setFields 
 ( 
 "id" 
 ) 
  
 . 
 execute 
 (); 
  
 System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 "File ID: " 
  
 + 
  
 file 
 . 
 getId 
 ()); 
  
 return 
  
 file 
 . 
 getId 
 (); 
  
 } 
  
 catch 
  
 ( 
 GoogleJsonResponseException 
  
 e 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // TODO(developer) - handle error appropriately 
  
 System 
 . 
 err 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 "Unable to create shortcut: " 
  
 + 
  
 e 
 . 
 getDetails 
 ()); 
  
 throw 
  
 e 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 } 
 }

    Python

    drive/snippets/drive-v3/file_snippet/create_shortcut.py
     import 
  
 google.auth 
 from 
  
 googleapiclient.discovery 
  
 import 
 build 
 from 
  
 googleapiclient.errors 
  
 import 
 HttpError 
 def 
  
 create_shortcut 
 (): 
  
 """Create a third party shortcut 
 Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment. 
 TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity 
 for guides on implementing OAuth2 for the application. 
 """ 
 creds 
 , 
 _ 
 = 
 google 
 . 
 auth 
 . 
 default 
 () 
 try 
 : 
 # create drive api client 
 service 
 = 
 build 
 ( 
 "drive" 
 , 
 "v3" 
 , 
 credentials 
 = 
 creds 
 ) 
 file_metadata 
 = 
 { 
 "name" 
 : 
 "Project plan" 
 , 
 "mimeType" 
 : 
 "application/vnd.google-apps.drive-sdk" 
 , 
 } 
 # pylint: disable=maybe-no-member 
 file 
 = 
 service 
 . 
 files 
 () 
 . 
 create 
 ( 
 body 
 = 
 file_metadata 
 , 
 fields 
 = 
 "id" 
 ) 
 . 
 execute 
 () 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 'File ID: 
 { 
 file 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 "id" 
 ) 
 } 
 ' 
 ) 
 except 
 HttpError 
 as 
 error 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "An error occurred: 
 { 
 error 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 return 
 file 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 "id" 
 ) 
 if 
 __name__ 
 == 
 "__main__" 
 : 
 create_shortcut 
 ()

    PHP

    drive/snippets/drive_v3/src/DriveCreateShortcut.php
    < ?php 
 use Google\Client; 
 use Google\Service\Drive; 
 use Google\Service\Drive\DriveFile; 
 function createShortcut() 
 { 
 try { 
 $client = new Client(); 
 $client->useApplicationDefaultCredentials(); 
 $client->addScope(Drive::DRIVE); 
 $driveService = new Drive($client); 
 $fileMetadata = new DriveFile(array( 
 'name' => 'Project plan', 
 'mimeType' => 'application/vnd.google-apps.drive-sdk')); 
 $file = $driveService->files->create($fileMetadata, array( 
 'fields' => 'id')); 
 printf("File ID: %s\n", $file->id); 
 return $file->id; 
 } catch(Exception $e) { 
 echo "Error Message: ".$e; 
 } 
 }

    .NET

    drive/snippets/drive_v3/DriveV3Snippets/CreateShortcut.cs
     using 
  
 Google.Apis.Auth.OAuth2 
 ; 
 using 
  
 Google.Apis.Drive.v3 
 ; 
 using 
  
 Google.Apis.Services 
 ; 
 namespace 
  
 DriveV3Snippets 
 { 
  
 // Class to demonstrate Drive's create shortcut use-case 
  
 public 
  
 class 
  
 CreateShortcut 
  
 { 
  
 /// <summary> 
  
 /// Create a third party shortcut. 
  
 /// </summary> 
  
 /// <returns>newly created shortcut file id, null otherwise.</returns> 
  
 public 
  
 static 
  
 string 
  
 DriveCreateShortcut 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 try 
  
 { 
  
 /* Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment. 
 TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity for 
 guides on implementing OAuth2 for your application. */ 
  
 GoogleCredential 
  
 credential 
  
 = 
  
 GoogleCredential 
  
 . 
 GetApplicationDefault 
 () 
  
 . 
 CreateScoped 
 ( 
 DriveService 
 . 
 Scope 
 . 
 Drive 
 ); 
  
 // Create Drive API service. 
  
 var 
  
 service 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 DriveService 
 ( 
 new 
  
 BaseClientService 
 . 
 Initializer 
  
 { 
  
 HttpClientInitializer 
  
 = 
  
 credential 
 , 
  
 ApplicationName 
  
 = 
  
 "Drive API Snippets" 
  
 }); 
  
 // Create Shortcut for file. 
  
 var 
  
 fileMetadata 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 Google 
 . 
 Apis 
 . 
 Drive 
 . 
 v3 
 . 
 Data 
 . 
 File 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 Name 
  
 = 
  
 "Project plan" 
 , 
  
 MimeType 
  
 = 
  
 "application/vnd.google-apps.drive-sdk" 
  
 }; 
  
 var 
  
 request 
  
 = 
  
 service 
 . 
 Files 
 . 
 Create 
 ( 
 fileMetadata 
 ); 
  
 request 
 . 
 Fields 
  
 = 
  
 "id" 
 ; 
  
 var 
  
 file 
  
 = 
  
 request 
 . 
 Execute 
 (); 
  
 // Prints the shortcut file id. 
  
 Console 
 . 
 WriteLine 
 ( 
 "File ID: " 
  
 + 
  
 file 
 . 
 Id 
 ); 
  
 return 
  
 file 
 . 
 Id 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 catch 
  
 ( 
 Exception 
  
 e 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // TODO(developer) - handle error appropriately 
  
 if 
  
 ( 
 e 
  
 is 
  
 AggregateException 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 Console 
 . 
 WriteLine 
 ( 
 "Credential Not found" 
 ); 
  
 } 
  
 else 
  
 { 
  
 throw 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 } 
  
 return 
  
 null 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 } 
 }

    Node.js

    drive/snippets/drive_v3/file_snippets/create_shortcut.js
     /** 
 * Create a third party shortcut 
 * @return{obj} shortcut Id 
 * */ 
 async 
  
 function 
  
 createShortcut 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 // Get credentials and build service 
  
 // TODO (developer) - Use appropriate auth mechanism for your app 
  
 const 
  
 { 
 GoogleAuth 
 } 
  
 = 
  
 require 
 ( 
 'google-auth-library' 
 ); 
  
 const 
  
 { 
 google 
 } 
  
 = 
  
 require 
 ( 
 'googleapis' 
 ); 
  
 const 
  
 auth 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 GoogleAuth 
 ({ 
  
 scopes 
 : 
  
 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive' 
 , 
  
 }); 
  
 const 
  
 service 
  
 = 
  
 google 
 . 
 drive 
 ({ 
 version 
 : 
  
 'v3' 
 , 
  
 auth 
 }); 
  
 const 
  
 fileMetadata 
  
 = 
  
 { 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 'Project plan' 
 , 
  
 mimeType 
 : 
  
 'application/vnd.google-apps.drive-sdk' 
 , 
  
 }; 
  
 try 
  
 { 
  
 const 
  
 file 
  
 = 
  
 await 
  
 service 
 . 
 files 
 . 
 create 
 ({ 
  
 requestBody 
 : 
  
 fileMetadata 
 , 
  
 fields 
 : 
  
 'id' 
 , 
  
 }); 
  
 console 
 . 
 log 
 ( 
 'File Id:' 
 , 
  
 file 
 . 
 data 
 . 
 id 
 ); 
  
 return 
  
 file 
 . 
 data 
 . 
 id 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 catch 
  
 ( 
 err 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // TODO(developer) - Handle error 
  
 throw 
  
 err 
 ; 
  
 } 
 }

    How third-party shortcuts work

    When you create a third-party shortcut using the files.create method, it uses a POST request to insert the metadata and create a shortcut to your app's content:

     POST https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files
Authorization: AUTHORIZATION_HEADER 
{
  "title": " FILE_TITLE 
",
  "mimeType": "application/vnd.google-apps.drive-sdk"
}

    When the third-party shortcut is clicked, the user is redirected to the external site where the file is housed. The Drive file ID is contained in the state parameter. For more information, see Handle an Open URL for app-specific documents .

    The third-party app or website is then responsible for matching the file ID in the state parameter to the content housed within their system.

    Add custom thumbnails and indexable text

    To increase the discoverability of files associated with third-party shortcuts, you can upload both thumbnail images and indexable text when inserting or modifying the file metadata. For more information, see Manage file metadata .
    Design a Mobile Site
    View Site in Mobile | Classic
    Share by: