GLink

GLink opens Google Drive placeholder files such as .gdoc, .gsheet, and .gslides in embedded Obsidian views. It keeps a local mapping between each placeholder's vault path and its Google URL, so it does not need to read the placeholder contents or use the Google Drive API.

Platform support

GLink currently supports Obsidian desktop on Windows only. It is developed and tested with Google Drive for desktop on Windows 11.

• Automatic linking depends on the Windows Shell and PowerShell.
• Manual linking and embedded views may work elsewhere, but macOS and Linux are not currently tested or supported.
• Mobile is not supported.

macOS contributor wanted: help implementing and testing the native copy-link workflow for Google Drive on macOS would be very welcome. If you use Google Drive for desktop on a Mac and would like to help, please open an issue or pull request.

Features

• Opens Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, Apps Script projects, and other supported Google placeholders directly in Obsidian.
• Automatically obtains a link from Google Drive's Windows Explorer action, or accepts a manually pasted Google URL.
• Supports normal file views and ![[Folder/File.gsheet]] embeds.
• Keeps mappings distinct by complete vault-relative path and migrates them when files or folders are renamed.
• Includes an optional, adjustable dark filter for embedded Google pages.
• Provides registry import, export, update, copy, and removal controls.

Requirements

• Obsidian 1.8.0 or later on Windows desktop.
• Google Drive for desktop with Google placeholder files visible in the vault.
• Settings → Files and links → Detect all file extensions enabled.
• A Google account for documents that are not publicly accessible.

The embedded Google page manages its own sign-in session. It may not share the login state of your usual browser.

Usage

Select a supported Google placeholder in the file explorer. On first open, either link it automatically or paste its URL manually.

Automatic linking

Enable Settings → GLink → Automatic linking on Windows. When an unlinked file opens, GLink invokes Google Drive's Copy link to clipboard Windows Explorer action, validates the copied URL, saves it, and opens the embedded document.

This action temporarily changes the Windows clipboard. If Google Drive does not provide a new supported URL, GLink falls back to the manual flow.

Manual linking

1. Select Open original in browser.
2. Copy the Google document URL from the browser.
3. Select Paste Google URL.
4. Paste the URL, then select Save and open.

Later opens use the saved URL automatically. Right-click a placeholder to change, copy, or remove its saved link. Manage or back up all mappings under Settings → GLink.

Dark mode

Enable Settings → GLink → Dark mode for embedded Google files to apply an experimental softened dark filter. Use the hue, saturation, brightness, contrast, and inversion controls to tune it for your display and preferred Google font.

This only changes the embedded page's appearance. Cell colours and images may look different. Google dialogs hosted in separate iframes are outside the filter-correction scope and may retain visual artefacts. Printing is returned to native colours.

Supported extensions

.gdoc, .gsheet, .gslides, .gdraw, .gform, .gtable, .gscript, and .gjam.

Privacy and security

GLink:

• has no telemetry, analytics, advertising, or paid features;
• does not use the Google Drive API or OAuth;
• does not read Google placeholder contents;
• stores vault-relative paths and Google document URLs locally in the plugin's data.json;
• does not transmit vault contents, filenames, or saved mappings to a service operated by the plugin author;
• passes the selected placeholder's local path to the Windows Shell only when automatic linking is requested;
• changes the Windows clipboard while automatic linking is in progress; and
• opens Google pages in an embedded Chromium webview, which sends normal browser traffic to Google and is subject to Google's terms and privacy policy.

Opening the original file asks the operating system to handle the local Google placeholder. GLink does not change the document's Google sharing permissions.

Development

npm install
npm run build
npm run lint

Production builds generate a minified main.js. The generated file is ignored by Git and must be attached to a GitHub release alongside manifest.json and styles.css.

See CONTRIBUTING.md for contribution guidance.

Attribution

The file-view, embedded-webview, and extension-registration approach is derived from oilandrust/obsidian-gdocs, used under the MIT License.

GLink is a standalone plugin because it solves a different Google Drive storage case. GDocs obtains the document URL by reading the JSON stored in a Google shortcut file. With Google Drive's streamed-file mode on Windows, these entries can be exposed as cloud placeholders that standard file reads cannot open. In the affected setup, Google Drive does not expose an Available offline option for these placeholders, so downloading them for local parsing is not a viable workaround. GLink therefore uses a local URL registry, with an optional Windows Shell copy-link workflow, instead of reading shortcut contents.

License

MIT