Google Workspace · Drive
Google Workspace integration
Google Workspace integration means your app uses Google identity and — after scopes — Calendar, Drive or Gmail, so you do not invent a parallel office landscape. The same discipline as [Microsoft 365](/articles/integrations/microsoft-365-integration): minimise scopes, choose delegated vs service account on purpose, and build admin approval in Workspace when you are a product entering the customer’s domain. Drive for files, Calendar for meetings, Gmail only if you truly must send as the user. Google Login is not Workspace integration. Login is identity. Drive and Calendar are data. Spec them separately. The customer decides whether the house is Google or Microsoft. You build what they already pay for.
The Gemini API is a different socket from Workspace. Mix them only if you have thought the scopes through — see Gemini integration. Automation on top of the Google office.
The same discipline as 365
- Minimise scopes
- Delegated vs service account on purpose
- Admin approval in Workspace when you are a product entering the customer’s domain
- Drive for files, Calendar for meetings, Gmail only if you truly must send as the user
Google Workspace
- The house lives in Gmail and Drive
- Calendar is already the truth
- Login is identity — Drive is data
Microsoft 365
- The house lives in Outlook and SharePoint
- Graph and admin consent
- Build what they already pay for
Identity
Google Login if you need to know who is there.
Calendar / Drive
Own scopes. Own admin approvals.
Gmail
Only if you must send as the user. That is the heavy scope.
What to do now
Say whether you need login, calendar, Drive or send-as-the-user. One of them in version 1. That is how the scope holds. See packages.
FAQ about Google Workspace integration
Is Google Login the same as Workspace integration?
No. Login is identity. Drive and Calendar are data. Spec them separately.
Google or Microsoft?
The customer decides. You build what they already pay for. Two stacks in the same SME is something you should talk them out of.
Do we need the Gmail scope in version 1?
Only if you truly must send as the user. Otherwise it is the scope that knocks over admin approval.
Service account or delegated?
Delegated when the action is on behalf of a user. Service account when a job runs without a person — and only with the drives you can explain.
Does Gemini automatically mix in Drive data?
No. The Gemini API and Workspace are two sockets. See the Gemini article.