gdocs provides bidirectional synchronization between org-mode files and Google Docs. Open, edit, create, and push Google Docs entirely from within Emacs, using org-mode as the native editing format.

The package addresses three main workflows:

• Publish org to Google Docs. Create a Google Doc from an existing org file to share with collaborators. The two files remain in sync: edits to either propagate to the other.
• Read and edit shared Google Docs. Open a Google Doc shared by someone else as an org-mode buffer in Emacs. Edit without leaving Emacs.
• Import existing Google Docs. Import old Google Docs into org files. The files remain synchronized, but you may later choose to unlink or delete the Google Doc.

Under the hood, gdocs handles OAuth 2.0 authentication with multi-account support, bidirectional format conversion through an intermediate representation, incremental diffing via a longest-common-subsequence algorithm so only changes are sent over the wire, and a side-by-side conflict resolution UI when local and remote edits collide. All API operations are fully asynchronous via plz.el, so Emacs never blocks during network requests.

The gdocs-mode minor mode activates automatically on linked buffers, providing auto-push on save, a modeline sync indicator, and keybindings under the C-c g prefix for push, pull, status, and browser access.

gdocs requires Emacs 29.1 or later.

(package-vc-install "https://github.com/benthamite/gdocs")

(use-package gdocs
  :ensure (gdocs :host github :repo "benthamite/gdocs"))

(straight-use-package
 '(gdocs :type git :host github :repo "benthamite/gdocs"))

• plz (0.7+) — asynchronous HTTP requests
• dash (2.19+) — list manipulation utilities
• s (1.13+) — string manipulation utilities
• org (9.6+) — built into Emacs

1. Obtain OAuth credentials:

   1. Go to the Google Cloud Console and sign in.
   2. Create a new project (or select an existing one).
   3. Go to APIs & Services > Library and enable the Google Docs API and the Google Drive API.
   4. Go to APIs & Services > OAuth consent screen. Select External as the user type. Fill in the required fields (app name, your email). On the Scopes page, add https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents and https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive. On the Test users page, add your own email address.
   5. Go to APIs & Services > Credentials. Click Create Credentials > OAuth client ID. Select Desktop app, enter a name, and click Create. Copy the Client ID and Client secret.

2. Configure your credentials:

   (setopt gdocs-accounts
           '(("personal" . ((client-id . "YOUR-CLIENT-ID")
                            (client-secret . "YOUR-CLIENT-SECRET")))))

3. Authenticate: M-x gdocs-authenticate. Your browser will open to Google's consent screen. Grant access and the tokens will be stored locally.

4. Open an existing Google Doc: M-x gdocs-open.

5. Or create a new Google Doc from an org file: M-x gdocs-create.

Once a buffer is linked, changes are pushed to Google Docs on every save (when gdocs-auto-push-on-save is non-nil), and you can pull remote changes at any time with M-x gdocs-pull.

For a comprehensive description of all user options, commands, and functions, see the manual.

• Comments side buffer for viewing and managing Google Docs comments (add, reply, resolve, delete)
• Suggesting mode — toggle between direct editing and suggestions, with changes sent as Google Docs suggestions rather than direct edits
• Accept/reject suggestions from other collaborators
• Periodic polling for remote changes with configurable interval

• Google Drive browser — a dired-like buffer for browsing, searching, and managing files in Google Drive
• Org export backend (C-c C-e g d) — export to Google Docs via the standard org export dispatcher

GPL-3.0