Google Contacts

Access the Google People API with managed OAuth authentication. Manage contacts, contact groups, and search your address book.

Quick Start

# List contacts
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/google-contacts/v1/people/me/connections?personFields=names,emailAddresses,phoneNumbers&pageSize=10')
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-contacts/{native-api-path}

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

Authentication

All requests require the Maton API key in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer $MATON_API_KEY

Environment Variable: Set your API key as MATON_API_KEY:

export MATON_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

Getting Your API Key

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

Connection Management

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

List Connections

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/connections?app=google-contacts&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

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
data = json.dumps({'app': 'google-contacts'}).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

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-contacts",
    "metadata": {}
  }
}

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

Delete Connection

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 Contacts connections, specify which one to use with the Maton-Connection header:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/google-contacts/v1/people/me/connections?personFields=names&pageSize=10')
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 include this header to ensure requests go to the intended account.

Security & Permissions

• Access is scoped to contacts, contact groups, and search your address book within the connected Google Contacts 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

Contact Operations

List Contacts

GET /google-contacts/v1/people/me/connections?personFields=names,emailAddresses,phoneNumbers&pageSize=100

Query Parameters:

• personFields (required): Comma-separated list of fields to return (see Person Fields section)
• pageSize: Number of contacts to return (max 1000, default 100)
• pageToken: Token for pagination
• sortOrder: LAST_MODIFIED_ASCENDING, LAST_MODIFIED_DESCENDING, FIRST_NAME_ASCENDING, or LAST_NAME_ASCENDING

Response:

{
  "connections": [
    {
      "resourceName": "people/c1234567890",
      "names": [{"displayName": "John Doe", "givenName": "John", "familyName": "Doe"}],
      "emailAddresses": [{"value": "john@example.com"}],
      "phoneNumbers": [{"value": "+1-555-0123"}]
    }
  ],
  "totalPeople": 1,
  "totalItems": 1,
  "nextPageToken": "..."
}

Get Contact

GET /google-contacts/v1/people/{resourceName}?personFields=names,emailAddresses,phoneNumbers

Use the resource name from list or create operations (e.g., people/c1234567890).

Create Contact

POST /google-contacts/v1/people:createContact
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "names": [{"givenName": "John", "familyName": "Doe"}],
  "emailAddresses": [{"value": "john@example.com"}],
  "phoneNumbers": [{"value": "+1-555-0123"}],
  "organizations": [{"name": "Acme Corp", "title": "Engineer"}]
}

Update Contact

PATCH /google-contacts/v1/people/{resourceName}:updateContact?updatePersonFields=names,emailAddresses
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "etag": "%EgcBAgkLLjc9...",
  "names": [{"givenName": "John", "familyName": "Smith"}],
  "emailAddresses": [{"value": "john.smith@example.com"}]
}

Note: Include the etag from the get/list response to ensure you're updating the latest version.

Delete Contact

DELETE /google-contacts/v1/people/{resourceName}:deleteContact

Batch Get Contacts

GET /google-contacts/v1/people:batchGet?resourceNames=people/c123&resourceNames=people/c456&personFields=names,emailAddresses

Batch Create Contacts

POST /google-contacts/v1/people:batchCreateContacts
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "contacts": [
    {
      "contactPerson": {
        "names": [{"givenName": "Alice", "familyName": "Smith"}],
        "emailAddresses": [{"value": "alice@example.com"}]
      }
    },
    {
      "contactPerson": {
        "names": [{"givenName": "Bob", "familyName": "Jones"}],
        "emailAddresses": [{"value": "bob@example.com"}]
      }
    }
  ],
  "readMask": "names,emailAddresses"
}

Batch Delete Contacts

POST /google-contacts/v1/people:batchDeleteContacts
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "resourceNames": ["people/c123", "people/c456"]
}

Search Contacts

GET /google-contacts/v1/people:searchContacts?query=John&readMask=names,emailAddresses

Note: Search results may have a slight delay for newly created contacts due to indexing.

Contact Group Operations

List Contact Groups

GET /google-contacts/v1/contactGroups?pageSize=100

Response:

{
  "contactGroups": [
    {
      "resourceName": "contactGroups/starred",
      "groupType": "SYSTEM_CONTACT_GROUP",
      "name": "starred",
      "formattedName": "Starred"
    },
    {
      "resourceName": "contactGroups/abc123",
      "groupType": "USER_CONTACT_GROUP",
      "name": "Work",
      "formattedName": "Work",
      "memberCount": 5
    }
  ],
  "totalItems": 2
}

Get Contact Group

GET /google-contacts/v1/contactGroups/{resourceName}?maxMembers=100

Use contactGroups/starred, contactGroups/family, etc. for system groups, or the resource name for user groups.

Create Contact Group

POST /google-contacts/v1/contactGroups
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "contactGroup": {
    "name": "Work Contacts"
  }
}

Delete Contact Group

DELETE /google-contacts/v1/contactGroups/{resourceName}?deleteContacts=false

Set deleteContacts=true to also delete the contacts in the group.

Batch Get Contact Groups

GET /google-contacts/v1/contactGroups:batchGet?resourceNames=contactGroups/starred&resourceNames=contactGroups/family

Modify Group Members

Add or remove contacts from a group:

POST /google-contacts/v1/contactGroups/{resourceName}/members:modify
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "resourceNamesToAdd": ["people/c123", "people/c456"],
  "resourceNamesToRemove": ["people/c789"]
}

Other Contacts

Other contacts are people you've interacted with (e.g., via email) but haven't explicitly added to your contacts.

List Other Contacts

GET /google-contacts/v1/otherContacts?readMask=names,emailAddresses&pageSize=100

Copy Other Contact to My Contacts

POST /google-contacts/v1/{resourceName}:copyOtherContactToMyContactsGroup
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "copyMask": "names,emailAddresses,phoneNumbers"
}

Person Fields

Use these fields with personFields or readMask parameters:

Field	Description
names	Display name, given name, family name
emailAddresses	Email addresses with type
phoneNumbers	Phone numbers with type
addresses	Postal addresses
organizations	Company, title, department
biographies	Bio/notes about the person
birthdays	Birthday information
urls	Website URLs
photos	Profile photos
memberships	Contact group memberships
metadata	Source and update information

Multiple fields: personFields=names,emailAddresses,phoneNumbers,organizations

Pagination

Use pageSize and pageToken for pagination:

GET /google-contacts/v1/people/me/connections?personFields=names&pageSize=100&pageToken=NEXT_PAGE_TOKEN

Response includes pagination info:

{
  "connections": [...],
  "totalPeople": 500,
  "nextPageToken": "...",
  "nextSyncToken": "..."
}

Continue fetching with pageToken until nextPageToken is not returned.

Code Examples

JavaScript

const response = await fetch(
  'https://api.maton.ai/google-contacts/v1/people/me/connections?personFields=names,emailAddresses&pageSize=50',
  {
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.MATON_API_KEY}`
    }
  }
);
const data = await response.json();

Python

import os
import requests

response = requests.get(
    'https://api.maton.ai/google-contacts/v1/people/me/connections',
    headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}'},
    params={
        'personFields': 'names,emailAddresses,phoneNumbers',
        'pageSize': 50
    }
)
data = response.json()

Notes

• Resource names for contacts follow the pattern people/c{id} (e.g., people/c1234567890)
• Resource names for contact groups follow the pattern contactGroups/{id} (e.g., contactGroups/abc123)
• System contact groups include: starred, friends, family, coworkers, myContacts, all, blocked
• The personFields parameter is required for most read operations
• When updating contacts, include the etag to prevent overwriting concurrent changes
• Mutate requests for the same user should be sent sequentially to avoid increased latency and failures
• IMPORTANT: When using curl commands, use curl -g when URLs contain brackets 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

Error Handling

Status	Meaning
400	Missing Google Contacts connection or invalid request
401	Invalid or missing Maton API key
403	Permission denied (check OAuth scopes)
404	Contact or group not found
429	Rate limited
4xx/5xx	Passthrough error from Google People API

Troubleshooting: API Key Issues

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-contacts. For example:

• Correct: https://api.maton.ai/google-contacts/v1/people/me/connections
• Incorrect: https://api.maton.ai/v1/people/me/connections

Resources

• Google People API Overview
• People Resource
• Contact Groups Resource
• Person Fields Reference
• Maton Community
• Maton Support