Google Drive

Connect Google Drive to bring project files, client documents, and shared resources into workflows you build with Tell Archi.

The Google Drive connector lets applications you build with Tell Archi work with files and documents stored in Google Drive.

You can use Google Drive for experiences such as:

Connect Google Drive. Define how files should be used. Tell Archi builds the workflow around them.

What You Can Build

Google Drive can become part of many application workflows.

Client portals

Show customers the files and documents associated with their projects.

Project management

Link project records to folders or documents stored in Google Drive.

Internal tools

Give team members access to approved company documents from inside the application.

Onboarding

Show new customers the onboarding documents associated with their account.

Document workflows

Allow users to choose a Drive document and use it as input for another application workflow.

The application determines how the files fit into the user experience.

Before You Start

You'll need a Google account with Google Drive, and access to the Google Cloud console.

Your app connects to Google Drive as a service account: a robot identity with its own email address, ending in .iam.gserviceaccount.com. It works inside one folder that you share with that address. There's no Google sign-in step.

Connect Google Drive to Tell Archi

Open your Tell Archi project and navigate to Connectors.

Find Google Drive and select it.

Tell Archi Google Drive

The connector page walks you through these steps:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, pick or create a project and enable the Google Drive API.
  2. Under Credentials, create a service account, add a JSON key to it, and download the key file.
  3. Paste the entire contents of the key file into the Service account key (JSON) field.
  4. In Google Drive, create a folder for this app, share it with the service account's email address, and give it Editor access.
  5. Open the folder, copy the ID from its address (the part after /folders/), and paste it into the Target folder ID field.

Tell Archi Google Drive Config

Once connected, you can begin asking Tell Archi to build Drive-powered functionality into your application.

Build Your First Drive Workflow

Suppose you're building a client portal.

Tell Tell Archi:

Add a Files section to each client project. Allow the application to display the Google Drive files associated with that project.

Conceptually:

Client Project
      ↓
Google Drive
      ↓
Project Files
      ↓
Client Portal

The customer interacts with your portal while Google Drive provides the underlying file source.

Application Records and Drive Files

A useful application usually needs to understand which files belong to which records.

For example:

Customer
   ↓
Project
   ↓
Drive Folder
   ↓
Project Files

You might tell Tell Archi:

Each project should have an associated Google Drive folder. Show the folder's approved documents inside the project detail page.

This connects application data with external file storage.

Example: Agency Client Portal

Imagine an agency manages multiple customers.

Each customer has projects, and each project has files.

You could ask:

Add a Files tab to the client portal. Show Google Drive files associated with the customer's projects and group them by project. Customers should only see files belonging to their own account.

This combines:

Conceptually:

Signed-In Customer
       ↓
Verify Project Access
       ↓
Find Associated Drive Files
       ↓
Display Approved Files

Example: Project Resources

For a project management application:

Add a Resources section to each project where team members can access documents stored in the project's connected Google Drive folder.

You might display:

Project Resources

Brand Guidelines.pdf
Campaign Brief.docx
Product Images
Research Notes

The application becomes a more convenient interface for accessing project resources.

Example: Customer Onboarding

Suppose new customers need onboarding documents.

You could ask:

After a customer completes onboarding, show the Welcome Guide, Implementation Checklist, and Training Resources from the connected Google Drive folder inside their dashboard.

Now Drive participates in the onboarding experience.

Example: Document Review

Google Drive can also provide files for AI-powered workflows.

For example:

Allow authorized users to select a Google Drive document and generate an executive summary using Claude.

Conceptually:

Google Drive
     ↓
Select Document
     ↓
Retrieve Content
     ↓
Claude
     ↓
Summary
     ↓
Tell Archi Application

This combines Google Drive with an AI provider.

Example: Proposal Workflow

Imagine you're building sales software.

You could create:

Opportunity
   ↓
Proposal
   ↓
Google Drive Document

Tell Tell Archi:

Allow sales representatives to attach an existing Google Drive proposal to an opportunity. Show the proposal from the deal detail page.

Now the CRM and file system are connected.

Folder Organization

For applications with many records, folder organization can matter.

For example:

Clients
├── Acme Ltd
│   ├── Website Redesign
│   └── SEO Campaign
│
├── Northstar
│   ├── Branding
│   └── Ads

You can describe how your application's records should relate to those folders.

For example:

Each client project should be associated with one Google Drive folder. Don't expose files from folders belonging to another customer.

Permissions Matter

A user being authenticated in your application doesn't automatically mean they should see every file in the shared Google Drive folder.

Your application still needs authorization rules.

For example:

Customers should only see Drive files associated with projects belonging to their account. Internal team members can see all files within their assigned workspace.

Public vs Private Files

Some files may be intended for:

Tell Tell Archi what access model you want.

For example:

Marketing resources can be viewed by all authenticated customers, but project documents should only be visible to users associated with that project.

This gives Tell Archi clearer requirements for the file experience.

File Metadata

Your application may want to display information such as:

For example:

Campaign Brief.pdf
PDF · Updated Aug 24

[Open]

You can ask Tell Archi to display the metadata that matters for your product.

Searching Files

If a project contains many files, users may need search.

For example:

Add search to the project Files section so users can search documents by filename.

Or:

Add filters for PDF, document, spreadsheet, and image files.

The exact functionality depends on what information the Drive integration makes available.

Uploading Files

If the connector supports the required upload workflow, you may want users to add files to Drive through your application.

For example:

Allow project managers to upload approved documents to the project's connected Google Drive folder from inside the application.

You should also define:

Deleting Files

File deletion is potentially destructive.

If your application allows it, define the permission rules carefully.

For example:

Customers can download files but cannot delete them. Only workspace Owners and Admins can remove Drive files from the project.

You may also want a confirmation step before destructive actions.

Updating Files

Google Drive files may change outside your Tell Archi application.

For example, someone might update a document directly in Drive.

Your application should ideally use the current Drive information rather than maintaining stale duplicate copies where appropriate.

Think carefully about whether your application needs to:

Reference the Drive file

or

Copy its contents into your own database.

Those are different architectures.

Google Drive vs Cloudinary

Google Drive and Cloudinary serve different use cases.

Cloudinary

Best suited to application media workflows such as:

Google Drive

Better suited to file and document workflows such as:

For example:

Property Photo
→ Cloudinary

while:

Signed Property Contract
→ Google Drive

The right connector depends on the type of content and how your product needs to use it.

Google Drive + AI

Drive becomes particularly interesting when combined with AI models.

For example:

Drive Document
     ↓
OpenAI / Claude / Gemini
     ↓
Summarize
     ↓
Extract
     ↓
Classify
     ↓
Tell Archi Application

You could ask:

Allow users to select a document from Google Drive and generate a structured summary containing key points, decisions, deadlines, and action items.

Or:

Analyze a selected proposal and extract the customer, price, scope, and delivery timeline into the CRM.

This turns files into usable application workflows.

Google Drive + Client Portal

A strong combined workflow could be:

Agency Uploads File
       ↓
Google Drive
       ↓
Project Record
       ↓
Client Portal
       ↓
Customer Opens File

You could then add:

Notify the customer through Resend whenever a new approved project file becomes available.

Now another connector joins the workflow.

Google Drive + Resend

For example:

When a project manager adds a new approved document to a customer's project, email the customer and include a link back to the Files section of their portal.

Conceptually:

New Project File
       ↓
Application
       ↓
Resend
       ↓
Customer Notification

Common Problems

Files don't appear

First determine whether:

Wrong customer's files appear

This is a serious authorization issue.

Tell Tell Archi:

Customer A can see Google Drive files belonging to Customer B. Audit the file authorization and project-to-folder relationship immediately. Ensure users can only access files associated with projects they are authorized to view.

Check whether the file still exists and whether the user's access model allows them to open it.

Files are outdated

Determine whether your application is storing stale metadata rather than retrieving the current Drive information where appropriate.

The folder can't be reached

Check:

Provide any Google error message to Debug Mode without sharing your service account key.

Debugging Google Drive

A good Debug Mode prompt might look like:

Expected: When a customer opens the Files tab, they should see documents associated with their projects.

Actual: The project loads correctly, but the Files tab is empty.

The Google Drive folder contains documents.

Other project functionality works normally.

Error: [PASTE ERROR IF AVAILABLE]

Debug the Google Drive integration and project-to-folder relationship without changing the rest of the portal.

This helps isolate the file workflow.

Test Your Drive Workflow

Before publishing, test:

Most importantly, test data isolation using different user accounts, not only your administrator account.

A Good Google Drive Prompt

Define:

For example:

Add a Files tab to each client project. Associate each project with its Google Drive folder and show the files from that folder inside the project. Customers should only see files belonging to projects associated with their account. Internal workspace members can see files for projects they have access to. Display filename, file type, and last updated date, and provide an Open action. Customers must not be able to delete files.

That's much stronger than:

Connect Google Drive.

Think in File Workflows

A useful mental model is:

APPLICATION RECORD
       ↓
DRIVE FILE / FOLDER
       ↓
ACCESS CONTROL
       ↓
USER EXPERIENCE
       ↓
OPTIONAL AUTOMATION

Google Drive stores and manages the files.

Tell Archi builds the application experience around them.

Next: Google Scholar

Next, we'll look at Google Scholar and how Tell Archi-built applications can present research.

We'll cover use cases such as:

Google Scholar

Connect Google Scholar to show publications and citations in your Tell Archi app.