Google Docs

Access the Google Docs API with managed OAuth authentication. Create documents, insert and format text, and manage document content.

Quick Start

CLI:

maton google-docs document view DOC_ID

maton api '/google-docs/v1/documents/{documentId}'

Python:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/google-docs/v1/documents/{documentId}')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Base URL

https://api.maton.ai/google-docs/{native-api-path}

Maton proxies requests to docs.googleapis.com and automatically injects your OAuth token.

Installation

NPM:

npm install -g @maton-ai/cli

Homebrew:

brew install maton-ai/cli/maton

Authentication

CLI:

maton login                          # Opens browser for API key
maton login --interactive            # Skip browser, paste API key directly
maton whoami                         # Show current auth state

Manual:

1. Sign in or create an account at maton.ai
2. Go to maton.ai/settings
3. Copy your API key
4. Set your API key as MATON_API_KEY:

export MATON_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

Connection Management

Manage your Google OAuth connections at https://api.maton.ai.

List Connections

CLI:

maton connection list google-docs --status ACTIVE

maton api -X GET /connections -f app=google-docs -f status=ACTIVE

Python:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/connections?app=google-docs&status=ACTIVE')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Create Connection

CLI:

maton connection create google-docs

maton api /connections -f app=google-docs

Python:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
data = json.dumps({'app': 'google-docs'}).encode()
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/connections', data=data, method='POST')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/json')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Get Connection

CLI:

maton connection view {connection_id}

maton api /connections/{connection_id}

Python:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/connections/{connection_id}')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

{
  "connection": {
    "connection_id": "{connection_id}",
    "status": "ACTIVE",
    "creation_time": "2025-12-08T07:20:53.488460Z",
    "last_updated_time": "2026-01-31T20:03:32.593153Z",
    "url": "https://connect.maton.ai/?session_token=...",
    "app": "google-docs",
    "metadata": {}
  }
}

Open the returned url in a browser to complete OAuth authorization.

Delete Connection

CLI:

maton connection delete {connection_id}

maton api -X DELETE /connections/{connection_id}

Python:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/connections/{connection_id}', method='DELETE')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Specifying Connection

If you have multiple Google Docs connections, specify which one to use:

CLI:

maton google-docs document view DOC_ID --connection {connection_id}

maton api /google-docs/v1/documents/{documentId} --connection {connection_id}

Python:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/google-docs/v1/documents/{documentId}')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Maton-Connection', '{connection_id}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

If you have multiple connections, always specify the connection to ensure requests go to the intended account.

Security & Permissions

• Access is scoped to documents, content, formatting, and document metadata within the connected Google Docs account.
• All write operations require explicit user approval. Before executing any create, update, or delete call, confirm the target resource and intended effect with the user.

API Reference

Get Document

GET /google-docs/v1/documents/{documentId}

Example:

maton google-docs document view DOC_ID            # human-readable summary (id, title, revision)
maton google-docs document view DOC_ID --json     # full document payload (body, styles, etc.)

Create Document

POST /google-docs/v1/documents
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "title": "New Document"
}

Example:

maton google-docs document create --title 'New Document'

Batch Update Document

POST /google-docs/v1/documents/{documentId}:batchUpdate
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "insertText": {
        "location": {"index": 1},
        "text": "Hello, World!"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Example:

maton google-docs document write DOC_ID --text 'Hello, World!'

Common batchUpdate Requests

Insert Text

{
  "insertText": {
    "location": {"index": 1},
    "text": "Text to insert"
  }
}

Delete Content

{
  "deleteContentRange": {
    "range": {
      "startIndex": 1,
      "endIndex": 10
    }
  }
}

Replace All Text

{
  "replaceAllText": {
    "containsText": {
      "text": "{{placeholder}}",
      "matchCase": true
    },
    "replaceText": "replacement value"
  }
}

Insert Table

{
  "insertTable": {
    "location": {"index": 1},
    "rows": 3,
    "columns": 3
  }
}

Update Text Style

{
  "updateTextStyle": {
    "range": {
      "startIndex": 1,
      "endIndex": 10
    },
    "textStyle": {
      "bold": true,
      "fontSize": {"magnitude": 14, "unit": "PT"}
    },
    "fields": "bold,fontSize"
  }
}

Insert Page Break

{
  "insertPageBreak": {
    "location": {"index": 1}
  }
}

Code Examples

CLI

# Create a new document
maton google-docs document create --title 'Sprint notes'

# View a document
maton google-docs document view DOC_ID

# Write text to a document
maton google-docs document write DOC_ID --text 'Hello!'

JavaScript

// Create document
const response = await fetch(
  'https://api.maton.ai/google-docs/v1/documents',
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.MATON_API_KEY}`
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ title: 'New Document' })
  }
);

// Insert text
await fetch(
  `https://api.maton.ai/google-docs/v1/documents/${docId}:batchUpdate`,
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.MATON_API_KEY}`
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      requests: [{ insertText: { location: { index: 1 }, text: 'Hello!' } }]
    })
  }
);

Python

import os
import requests

# Create document
response = requests.post(
    'https://api.maton.ai/google-docs/v1/documents',
    headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}'},
    json={'title': 'New Document'}
)

Notes

• Index positions are 1-based (document starts at index 1)
• Use endOfSegmentLocation to append at end
• Multiple requests in batchUpdate are applied atomically
• Get document first to find correct indices for updates
• The fields parameter in style updates uses field mask syntax
• IMPORTANT: When using curl commands, use curl -g when URLs contain brackets (fields[], sort[], records[]) to disable glob parsing
• IMPORTANT: When piping curl output to jq or other commands, environment variables like $MATON_API_KEY may not expand correctly in some shell environments. You may get "Invalid API key" errors when piping.

Error Handling

| Status | Meaning | |--------|---------| | 400 | Missing Google Docs connection | | 401 | Invalid or missing Maton API key | | 429 | Rate limited (10 req/sec per account) | | 4xx/5xx | Passthrough error from Google Docs API |

Troubleshooting: API Key Issues

CLI:

1. Check your auth state:

maton whoami

2. Verify the API key is valid by listing connections:

maton connection list

Manual:

1. Check that the MATON_API_KEY environment variable is set:

echo $MATON_API_KEY

2. Verify the API key is valid by listing connections:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/connections')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Troubleshooting: Invalid App Name

1. Ensure your URL path starts with google-docs. For example:

• Correct: https://api.maton.ai/google-docs/v1/documents/{documentId}
• Incorrect: https://api.maton.ai/docs/v1/documents/{documentId}

Resources

• Docs API Overview
• Get Document
• Create Document
• Batch Update
• Request Types
• Document Structure
• Maton CLI Manual
• Maton Community
• Maton Support