Google: Exports a Google Workspace document to the requested MIME type and returns exported byte content For more information, see Download and export files (https: developers google com workspace drive api guides manage-downloads) Note that the exported content is limited to 10 MB

← drive_files operations · Get started · OpenAPI downloads

Contract 2026-10-27 · Operation google.drive_files_export

Provider route: GET /drive/v3/files/{fileId}/export. Alter supplies the connection’s credentials and routing.

Call through Alter

Install @alter-ai/sdk @alter-ai/google with npm, or alter-sdk-google with pip. Supply your connected customer’s grant ID and the arguments described below.

import { App, BackendError, ProviderAPIError } from "@alter-ai/sdk";
import { GoogleIntegration } from "@alter-ai/google";

async function execute(input: Parameters<GoogleIntegration["driveFiles"]["driveFilesExport"]>[0]) {
  const app = new App({ apiKey: process.env.ALTER_API_KEY! });
  try {
    const provider = new GoogleIntegration(app, { grantId: process.env.PROVIDER_GRANT_ID! });
    const call = await provider.driveFiles.driveFilesExport(input);
    const result = await call.wait();
    if (result.statusCode < 200 || result.statusCode >= 300)
      throw new ProviderAPIError("Provider download failed", result.statusCode);
    if (result.response.bodyTruncated)
      throw new BackendError("Provider download was truncated");
    return result.bodyBytes();
  } finally {
    await app.close();
  }
}

import os
from alter_sdk import App
from alter_sdk.exceptions import BackendError, ProviderAPIError
from alter_sdk_google import GoogleIntegration

async def execute(arguments):
    async with App(api_key=os.environ["ALTER_API_KEY"]) as app:
        provider = GoogleIntegration(app, {"grant_id": os.environ["PROVIDER_GRANT_ID"]})
        call = await provider.drive_files.drive_files_export(arguments)
        result = await call.wait()
        if not 200 <= result.status_code < 300:
            raise ProviderAPIError("Provider download failed", result.status_code)
        if result.response.body_truncated:
            raise BackendError("Provider download was truncated")
        return result.body_bytes()

Input

Field	Type	Presence	Description and constraints
$	object	Root	Additional keys: not allowed
path	object	Required within parent	Additional keys: not allowed
path.fileId	string	Required within parent	The ID of the file.
query	object	Required within parent	Additional keys: not allowed
query.fields	string	Optional	Selector specifying which fields to include in a partial response.
query.prettyPrint	boolean	Optional	Returns response with indentations and line breaks. Default: true
query.quotaUser	string	Optional	Available to use for quota purposes for server-side applications. Can be any arbitrary string assigned to a user, but should not exceed 40 characters.
query.mimeType	string	Required within parent	Required. The MIME type of the format requested for this export. For a list of supported MIME types, see [Export MIME types for Google Workspace documents](/workspace/drive/api/guides/ref-export-formats).

Response

Response media type: application/octet-stream. The table describes the pinned successful response. Referenced models link to their complete fields.

Field	Type	Presence	Description and constraints
$	string	Root	Encoding: base64

Policy, approvals and errors

SDK function policy ID: google.drive_files_export. Catalog operation: drive.files.export. Rules can name either ID; function rules distinguish managed calls and conservatively cover raw calls sharing the route. Existing grant permissions and policy rules apply. wait() returns an immediate result or waits for a required approval; it never approves the request itself. Persist the approval ID to resume after a restart.

Provider errors retain their response; JSON decoding raises ProviderAPIError for provider failures. ManagedOperationError identifies contract/input/retention errors. See error handling and provider-specific behavior. Sensitive input may be refused before approval storage. A decoding error never resubmits a write.

Required provider scopes: ["https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive", "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file", "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.meet.readonly", "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly"]

Official provider source