This library lets you load JSON-containing Google Docs. Loading is fingerprint-protected on macOS laptops or can be token-protected for servers and other computers.

There are two parts:

• an Apps Script you'll put in Google Drive
• A node module to load things from Google drive

Install

As of v4, node >= 24.0.0 is required and macOS with a fingerprint reader is recommended

npm install --save require-from-drive

Use

IMPORTANT: Each time the apps script is changed, you'll need to deploy a new version as a web app. Otherwise, your changes won't end up in the live version.

First, follow these steps to set up Google Drive:

1. Create a folder on Google Drive. Name it something like "app secrets"
2. Create an apps script in the folder, and paste the contents of packages/appsScript/server.js in it.
3. Get the folder ID and put it in the Apps Script's thisFolderId variable
4. Create a blank, single-column spreadsheet in the folder, and paste its entire URL in the Apps Script's spreadsheetLoggingUrl variable. Logs about requests will be stored in this spreadsheet.
5. Deploy as a web app, and copy the url.
6. Set the local REQUIRE_FROM_DRIVE_SERVER_ADDRESS environment variable to the web app url
7. Run npx require-from-drive generate-secret and follow the prompts to generate a secret. Repeat as necessary to generate separate tokens for each app or server that will request files.
8. Add sub-directories and Google Docs containing JSON. Paths to Docs are relative to the folder containing the apps script

Then do this!

import { requireFromDrive } from 'require-from-drive'

const config = await requireFromDrive({ path: 'path/to/project/config.json' })

A memory cache and a file cache are enabled by default. The file cache uses file names prefixed with .require-from-drive.

The memory cache can be disabled by setting the cache option to false. The file cache can be disabled by setting the cacheInFile option to false.

IMPORTANT: Because there's a file cache, you should add .require-from-drive* to your .gitignore

Test

To run the Apps Script tests, use the Apps Script IDE to select "test" from the "Run" menu. An error will be thrown and a message will pop up if any test fails.

To run the local tests, run npm test. If you're running them for the first time, many will fail. Follow the instructions printed after you run the test command to get set up for testing.