Google Docs Management

Work with Google Docs using the gog CLI (must be installed and available in PATH).

Extracting Document ID

From URL https://docs.google.com/document/d/DOC_ID/edit :

• The document ID is the segment between /d/ and /edit

• For tab URLs like .../edit?tab=t.0 , the doc ID is still before /edit

Commands

Read Document

Get document metadata

gog docs info <docId>

Read document content (first tab only!)

gog docs cat <docId>

Limit output size

gog docs cat <docId> --max-bytes 10000

List all tabs (IMPORTANT: docs can have multiple tabs)

gog docs list-tabs <docId>

Read specific tab by name

gog docs cat <docId> --tab "Tab Name"

Read all tabs content

gog docs cat <docId> --all-tabs

Create Document

Create empty doc

gog docs create "Document Title"

Create from markdown file

gog docs create "Document Title" --file ./content.md

JSON output (returns documentId)

gog docs create "Title" --json

Update Document

Replace entire content from markdown (DESTRUCTIVE - overwrites all tabs!)

gog docs write <docId> --replace --markdown --file ./content.md

Update with specific format

gog docs update <docId> --format markdown --content-file ./content.md

Find and replace text (works across ALL tabs)

gog docs find-replace <docId> "old text" "new text"

Find-replace returns count of replacements

Example output: replacements 3 (means 3 occurrences replaced)

Export Document

Export to PDF

gog docs export <docId> --format pdf --out ./output.pdf

Export to DOCX

gog docs export <docId> --format docx --out ./output.docx

Export to plain text

gog docs export <docId> --format txt --out ./output.txt

Copy Document

Copy preserves ALL tabs

gog docs copy <docId> "Copy Title"

Get new doc ID from JSON output

gog docs copy <docId> "Copy Title" --json

Drive Operations

Move file to folder

gog drive move <fileId> --parent <folderId>

Delete file (needs --force for non-interactive)

gog drive delete <fileId> --force

List folder contents

gog drive ls --parent <folderId>

JSON Output

Add --json flag for machine-readable output:

gog docs info <docId> --json gog docs copy <docId> "Title" --json

Critical Rules

1. Always Check Tabs First

Documents can have multiple tabs. docs cat only reads the first tab by default.

ALWAYS do this first for unfamiliar documents

gog docs list-tabs <docId>

2. Find-Replace Must Match EXACTLY

The search text must match exactly including:

• Whitespace (spaces vs tabs vs newlines)

• Punctuation

• Case

This will fail if there's extra space or different linebreak

gog docs find-replace <docId> "Autor: hans" "Autor: bot"

Verify the exact text first

gog docs cat <docId> | grep -i "autor"

3. Find-Replace Affects ALL Tabs

A single find-replace operation can modify multiple tabs. Check the replacements count:

Output: replacements 5 <- means 5 occurrences across all tabs

4. Backup Before Destructive Edits

docs write --replace destroys the entire document including all tabs!

SAFE: Backup first

gog docs copy <docId> "Backup $(date +%Y-%m-%d)"

Then make changes

gog docs write <docId> --replace --markdown --file ./content.md

Workflows

Safe Edit Workflow

1. List tabs

gog docs list-tabs <docId>

2. Read content to understand structure

gog docs cat <docId> --tab "Main"

3. Backup before destructive changes

gog docs copy <docId> "Backup"

4. Make targeted edits with find-replace

gog docs find-replace <docId> "old" "new"

5. Validate changes

gog docs cat <docId> | grep -i "new"

Full Replace Workflow

1. Export current content as backup

gog docs export <docId> --format txt --out backup.txt

2. Create new content

cat > new_content.md << 'EOF'

New Document

Content here... EOF

3. Replace (destructive!)

gog docs write <docId> --replace --markdown --file new_content.md

4. Verify

gog docs cat <docId>

Validate Edits Across Tabs

Check specific edit across all tabs

gog docs cat <docId> --all-tabs | grep -i "search term"

Or export and search

gog docs export <docId> --format txt --out check.txt grep -c "new text" check.txt