rclone - Google Drive CLI

Tool: rclone (open source, MIT license, 50k+ GitHub stars) Traffic: Direct PC ↔ Google API, no third-party middleman Config: ~\AppData\Roaming\rclone\rclone.conf Remote name: gdrive:

🚨 Critical Limitation

rclone is READ-ONLY for native Google formats:

• ✅ Download/export (Sheets→xlsx, Docs→docx, Slides→pptx)
• ✅ List, search, navigate folders
• ✅ Upload/create regular files (pdf, xlsx, images)
• ❌ CANNOT create native Google Sheets/Docs/Slides
• ❌ CANNOT duplicate files preserving native format
• ❌ CANNOT edit Google Sheets in place

For creating Google Sheets: Use Chrome automation to create/duplicate, then MCP for cell manipulation.