gws-best-practices

gws CLI Best Practices

Critical guidelines for using the gws command-line interface. Follow these rules to prevent common errors and protect user data.

Supported Services

Only the following services are currently available and pre-configured:

• Drive — file and folder operations
• Docs — document read/write
• Sheets — spreadsheet read/write
• Slides — presentation read/write

All other services (Gmail, Calendar, Tasks, Chat, etc.) are not available. Do NOT attempt to use them.

Interacting with Google Drive Links

Do NOT use the browser to open Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, or Slides links (e.g., https://docs.google.com/...). The browser environment may not be logged into the correct Google account and will likely fail to access the file.

Instead, use gws commands to interact with these resources. To view content, use the appropriate get or export command (e.g., gws drive export).

Text Formatting in Google Slides: \n vs. \v

When inserting text into Google Slides via gws slides presentations batchUpdate, the API interprets newline characters in specific ways. Using the correct character is critical for proper formatting.

Input String	API Interpretation	Visual Result in Slides
First\nSecond	Two separate paragraphs	FirstSecond (like pressing Enter)
First\vSecond	A single paragraph with a vertical tab (\x0b) character	FirstSecond (like pressing Shift+Enter)
First\n\nSecond	Three paragraphs, with the middle one being empty	FirstSecond (a blank line between paragraphs)

Technical Explanation

• \n (Newline): The API translates each \n into a new paragraphMarker. Therefore, AAA\nBBB results in two distinct paragraphs. AAA\n\nBBB results in three paragraphs, with the middle one being empty, creating a visible blank line.
• \v (Vertical Tab, or \u000b): The API treats this as a special character within a single textRun. It does not create a new paragraph. It renders as a soft line break, which is useful for multi-line text that should belong to the same bullet point or paragraph block.

Rule: Use \n for new paragraphs/bullet points. Use \v for line breaks within a single paragraph/bullet point.

Prohibition of Permanent Deletion

CRITICAL: Do NOT execute any gws command that permanently deletes user data — ever.

This includes permanently deleting files, slides, presentations, emails, calendar events, or any other resource. Always use trash/archive operations instead. Permanent deletion is irreversible and can cause catastrophic data loss. Even if the user asks for deletion, prefer moving to trash first and confirm explicitly before proceeding. Never use permanent deletion.

Discovering Available Skills

On first use or after updating the CLI, run the following once to generate local skill documentation:

gws generate-skills

This produces skill directories under skills/ and an index at docs/skills.md. Read the generated index and individual skill files to learn about available commands, services, recipes, and workflows.

Updating the CLI

To update the gws CLI to the latest version:

pnpm update -g @googleworkspace/cli