Gets a file's metadata or content by ID. If you provide the URL parameter alt=media, then the response includes the file contents in the response body. Downloading content with alt=media only works if the file is stored in Drive. To download Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides use files.export instead. For more information, see Download & export files.

Scopes

You will need authorization for at least one of the following scopes to make a valid call:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.appdata
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.metadata
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.metadata.readonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.photos.readonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly

If unset, the scope for this method defaults to https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.metadata.readonly. You can set the scope for this method like this: drive2 --scope <scope> files get ...

Required Scalar Argument

  • <file-id> (string)
    • The ID for the file in question.

Optional Output Flags

The method's return value a JSON encoded structure, which will be written to standard output by default.

As this method supports media download, you may specify the -p alt=media flag to set the output to be an octet stream of the underlying media. In that case, you will not receive JSON output anymore.

  • -o out
    • out specifies the destination to which to write the server's result to. It will either be a JSON-encoded structure, or the media file you are downloading. The destination may be - to indicate standard output, or a filepath that is to contain the received bytes. If unset, it defaults to standard output.

Optional Method Properties

You may set the following properties to further configure the call. Please note that -p is followed by one or more key-value-pairs, and is called like this -p k1=v1 k2=v2 even though the listing below repeats the -p for completeness.

  • -p acknowledge-abuse=boolean

    • Whether the user is acknowledging the risk of downloading known malware or other abusive files.

  • -p include-labels=string

    • A comma-separated list of IDs of labels to include in the labelInfo part of the response.

  • -p include-permissions-for-view=string

    • Specifies which additional view's permissions to include in the response. Only published is supported.

  • -p projection=string

    • Deprecated: This parameter has no function.

  • -p revision-id=string

    • Specifies the Revision ID that should be downloaded. Ignored unless alt=media is specified.

  • -p supports-all-drives=boolean

    • Whether the requesting application supports both My Drives and shared drives.

  • -p supports-team-drives=boolean

    • Deprecated: Use supportsAllDrives instead.

  • -p update-viewed-date=boolean

    • Deprecated: Use files.update with modifiedDateBehavior=noChange, updateViewedDate=true and an empty request body.

Optional General Properties

The following properties can configure any call, and are not specific to this method.

  • -p $-xgafv=string

    • V1 error format.

  • -p access-token=string

    • OAuth access token.

  • -p alt=string

    • Data format for response.

  • -p callback=string

    • JSONP

  • -p fields=string

    • Selector specifying which fields to include in a partial response.

  • -p key=string

    • API key. Your API key identifies your project and provides you with API access, quota, and reports. Required unless you provide an OAuth 2.0 token.

  • -p oauth-token=string

    • OAuth 2.0 token for the current user.

  • -p pretty-print=boolean

    • Returns response with indentations and line breaks.

  • -p quota-user=string

    • 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.

  • -p upload-type=string

    • Legacy upload protocol for media (e.g. "media", "multipart").

  • -p upload-protocol=string

    • Upload protocol for media (e.g. "raw", "multipart").