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Connect Google Drive as a knowledge source. The AI agent can then search and reference Google Drive files when answering employee inquiries. You connect Google Drive with a Google Cloud service account. The service account reads Google Drive as a dedicated Google Workspace admin user, using Domain-Wide Delegation.
AI Helpdesk requests read-only access only and never modifies your Google Drive files.

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Prerequisites

  • Admin role in AI Helpdesk is required
  • You need a dedicated Google Workspace admin user for the service account to impersonate. This user needs the Groups Reader, User Management Admin, and Storage Admin roles
  • You need a Google Cloud service account and its service account key (JSON file)
  • Set up Domain-Wide Delegation so that the service account can impersonate the admin user above (see Prepare Google Workspace)
  • Knowledge sources must be initialized. If the Knowledge sources section shows the Initialize Knowledge sources button, click it and wait until initialization finishes
AI Helpdesk does not apply the sharing settings of Google Drive files. Imported files can be used to answer questions from every employee in your organization who uses AI Helpdesk.Take care when connecting drives that contain sensitive files. Before you start the first sync, limit what to import. For details, see Set what to import.

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Prepare Google Workspace

Before you connect, complete the following setup in Google Cloud and the Google Workspace Admin Console. A Google Workspace admin must do this.
1

Enable the APIs

In Google Cloud, open APIs & Services > Library for the project where you create the service account, and enable the following three APIs.
  • Google Drive API
  • Google Drive Activity API
  • Admin SDK API
2

Create a service account and key

Create a service account under APIs & Services > Credentials. On the details page of the service account, take note of its Unique ID. Create a key in JSON format, and keep the downloaded JSON file in a safe place.
3

Authorize the OAuth scopes in the Google Workspace Admin Console

Open https://admin.google.com and go to Security > Access and data control > API controls. Under Manage Domain Wide Delegation, click Add new.
  • Client ID: the Unique ID noted in the previous step
  • OAuth scopes: enter the six scopes below as a single comma-separated line
    • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly
    • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.metadata.readonly
    • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.user.readonly
    • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.group.readonly
    • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform
    • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/forms.body.readonly
    Copy the following line as-is (no whitespace between commas):
Click Authorize.
4

Create the admin user to impersonate

In the Admin Console, create a dedicated user under Directory > Users. Assign the Groups Reader, User Management Admin, and Storage Admin admin roles to this user. Enter this user’s email address in Admin Account Email (to impersonate) when you connect.

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Connect Google Drive

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Required information

1

Start connecting a source

Select Settings from the left navigation, then open the Integration tab. Click Connect a source in the Knowledge sources section and select Google Drive.
2

Choose the connection method

Select Service account.
3

Enter connection details

Fill in Admin Account Email (to impersonate) and Service Account Email. In the field below them, paste the value of private_key from the service account key (JSON file). Leave Enable Google Drive search on, then click Save.
4

Set what to import

On the Configure Google Drive screen, set what to import and click Save Settings (Set what to import). To set it later, click Skip for now.
5

Start the first sync

Click Start first sync. To run the sync later, click Skip for now.
6

Confirm the connection

A Google Drive row appears in the Knowledge sources section. When the sync finishes, the row’s badge shows Synced.

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Set what to import

Set the following on the Configure Google Drive screen when you connect. To change the settings later, click Edit Config in the menu (…) of the Google Drive row.
  1. Select at least one location to import from My Drive, Shared with me, and Shared drives. Only Shared drives is selected by default
  2. To import only specific shared drives, enter their IDs in Shared drives — optional, one ID per line. This field appears when you select Shared drives
  3. To filter by file type, select MIME types in Include MIME types — optional and Exclude MIME types — optional. For example, application/vnd.google-apps.document or application/pdf
  4. Click Save Settings
  • A shared drive ID is the ID part of the URL when you open the shared drive (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ID). The ID starts with “0A”
  • If Shared drives — optional is empty, all shared drives are included
  • If you select no MIME types, all supported MIME types are included
  • If the include and exclude settings conflict, the exclude setting takes precedence
  • Files larger than 25 MB are not imported

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Using Google Drive with the AI Agent

Once connected, the AI agent includes Google Drive in knowledge searches automatically. The AI agent does not access Google Drive each time it answers a question. Instead, it searches the content that each sync imports and indexes. Files you add or update in Google Drive appear in search results after the next sync. By default, the sync schedule is set to Manual (default). With Manual, Google Drive syncs only when you click Sync Now. You can find it in the menu (…) of the Google Drive row in the Knowledge sources section. To sync automatically, open Sync schedule in the same menu and change it to Every hour, Every 6 hours, Daily, or Weekly. You need the AI Helpdesk Admin role to run a sync or change the sync schedule. To explicitly reference Google Drive in a Playbook step, use the {{document_search}} tool.

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Check the sync history

To open the sync history, click the badge that shows the sync status of the Google Drive row (such as Synced). You can also click Sync history in the row’s menu (…). For what each count in the sync history means, see “Read the sync history” in Confluence integration.

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Disconnect Google Drive

1

Open Knowledge sources

Go to Settings > Integration tab and open the Knowledge sources section.
2

Disconnect

Click Disconnect in the menu (…) of the Google Drive row you want to disconnect. In the confirmation dialog, click Disconnect.For 5 seconds after you click the button in the dialog, you can click Undo in the notification to cancel the disconnection.
After disconnecting, the AI agent will no longer search Google Drive.
Disconnecting does not remove the Google Cloud service account or the Domain-Wide Delegation settings. If you no longer need them, delete them on the Google side.

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Troubleshooting

The row’s badge shows “Connection broken” or “Sync failed” Check the error in the sync history. If the problem is related to authentication, check the roles of the admin user and the Domain-Wide Delegation settings. If you created a new service account key, enter the connection details again from Edit credential in the row’s menu (…).
When you save from Edit credential, you need to enter the private key (the value of private_key) again.
Certain files do not appear in search results AI Helpdesk imports only files in the locations you selected (My Drive, Shared with me, Shared drives). If you set Shared drives — optional or the MIME type filters, only files that match those conditions are imported. Check the settings from Edit Config in the row’s menu (…).
Last modified on October 14, 2026