Google Drive integration
Forward connects to your Google Workspace Drive — or a personal Google account — via Google’s OAuth flow. Indexes spec PDFs, finish schedules, redlines, equipment cut sheets, field photos, and any other text-indexable doc your team keeps in Drive.
What Forward reads
- Whole Drive, or a single project folder you pick on connect
- Shared Drives (if your IT has them) for team-wide project docs
- Specifications, finish schedules, as-builts
- Equipment cut sheets, submittal archives
- Photos archived from the field
- Google Docs, Sheets, Slides — exported as PDF on read
Forward indexes the configured folder on connect. Re-indexes incrementally as files change. Reads only — no writes, no edits, no deletes.
Google OAuth + permissions
- Scopes requested:
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonlyandhttps://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email. - No write scope; Forward physically can’t modify or delete your Drive files.
access_type=offline+prompt=consentare set so we receive a refresh token and can keep the connection alive without re-prompting your team.- Revoke at any time from myaccount.google.com → Third-party access. Revocation terminates Forward’s access on the next API call.
Why Google Drive matters
Procore + Autodesk hold the project-management surface (RFIs, drawings, submittals). But specs, finish schedules, and equipment cut sheets often live in the GC’s or architect’s Google Drive — especially for shops on Google Workspace. Without Drive indexed, the bot can’t quote spec section 09 51 13 verbatim. With it indexed, spec retrieval is a 4-second text round trip.
See /use-cases/spec-search for the spec-section retrieval flow.
Setup time
~10 minutes of OAuth + folder selection. The initial index typically completes in 5-15 minutes depending on file count. Re-indexing on file changes is automatic.