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