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Why connect Google Drive

A large share of the context Gradial needs already lives in Drive. The campaign brief. The approved copy deck. The product spec. The spreadsheet listing 200 pages and what each one needs. Today that context reaches Grady by someone downloading a file and attaching it — which works, but means every request starts with a manual step, and the version attached is whatever was current when the person remembered to download it. Connecting Drive lets Grady go and get the file itself, and put results back where the rest of the team will look for them.

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What Grady can do

Nothing is ever deleted. The Drive connection has no delete, move, or share operation. Grady can read, create and upload — it cannot remove or relocate your files, and it cannot change who else can see them.

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How access is scoped

This is the part worth understanding before you set it up, because it differs from how most integrations work. Gradial connects using a Google service account — a distinct Google identity with its own email address. That identity starts with access to nothing. It can only reach a folder or file that someone has explicitly shared with it, exactly as you would share with a colleague. That means:
  • You control scope through Drive’s own sharing, not through a setting in Gradial. Share the three folders Grady should see, and those three folders are the entire world it can reach.
  • Revoking access is instant and happens in Drive. Un-share a folder and it becomes unreachable, with no change needed in Gradial.
  • There is no organization-wide access. The service account is not a domain-wide delegate; it cannot enumerate or reach content nobody has shared with it.

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Prerequisites

  • A Google Cloud project where you can create a service account
  • Permission to create a service account key (JSON)
  • A Google Drive user or administrator who can share folders with the service account address

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Set up the connection

1

Create a service account

In the Google Cloud console, create a service account dedicated to Gradial. Give it a name that makes its purpose obvious to whoever audits your Drive sharing later — gradial-drive rather than svc-account-3.Enable the Google Drive API on the project.
2

Create and download a JSON key

Generate a key for the service account and download the JSON file. Handle it as a credential — it grants whatever the service account can reach.
3

Choose the access level

Gradial connections carry exactly one scope. Pick the narrower one unless you need uploads.Even on the full scope, deletion and sharing changes remain unreachable — Gradial never constructs those requests.
4

Add the integration in Gradial

Go to Settings → Integrations, find Google Drive under Productivity & collaboration, and select Connect. Provide a name, paste the service-account JSON, and choose the scope from the previous step. Save — Gradial validates the credential against Drive and reports the result immediately.
5

Share the folders Grady should see

Copy the service account’s email address (it appears in the JSON as client_email, and ends in .iam.gserviceaccount.com). In Google Drive, share each folder Grady should work with to that address.Grant Viewer for read-only use, or Editor where you want Grady to be able to upload into that folder.
6

Confirm

Ask Grady to list what it can see in Drive. It should return exactly the folders you shared — no more. If a folder you expected is missing, it hasn’t been shared with the service account address.
A clean pattern: create one Drive folder called something like Gradial with subfolders for briefs in, deliverables out, and reference material. Share that one parent folder. Scope stays obvious, and anyone auditing later can see the whole arrangement in one place.

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Troubleshooting

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Who this is for

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Availability

Access: Must be enabled for your organization. Contact your Gradial team to get access.