Support authentication without a Google Cloud project

[kitaekatt]

Summary

As a regular Google user (e.g., @gmail.com), I want to use gws to access my own Google Drive, Gmail, etc. without needing to set up a Google Cloud Console project, configure OAuth consent screens, or create OAuth client credentials.

Problem

Currently, all authentication paths require the user to either:

1. Run gws auth setup (requires gcloud CLI + a GCP project)
2. Manually create an OAuth client in the Google Cloud Console
3. Already have a credentials file or access token from another tool

This gates the CLI's value behind Google Cloud Console knowledge and setup — a significant barrier for the average Google Workspace user who just wants to interact with their own files, emails, and calendars from the terminal.

Why this matters

gws is described as "One CLI for all of Google Workspace — built for humans and AI agents." The target audience includes regular users of Google services, not just developers with GCP experience. Requiring a Cloud Console setup to get started contradicts this positioning — it turns a ~1 minute "install and go" experience into a ~10 minute detour through unfamiliar infrastructure.

Possible approaches

• Ship a default OAuth client ID with the CLI (the way gcloud and many other Google-integrated tools do), so users can just run gws auth login immediately after install
• Provide a hosted OAuth flow that handles consent without requiring users to create their own client credentials
• Document a zero-GCP path if one can be constructed from existing capabilities

Environment

• Regular Google account (@gmail.com)
• No Google Cloud Console project
• Installed via npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli

[alertNiKole]

Use of GitHub, npm and Command Line imply development experience as a requirement [even if your agent is the developer]

[reneehuang1]

huge +1 to this request.

[STRRL]

+1, but from an enterprise angle: this is not just friction, it is a hard blocker.

Many orgs restrict OAuth app creation to IT-approved GCP projects. Individual developers cannot create and register an OAuth client against company Workspace accounts.

We need either a bundled first-party client ID (like gcloud ships) or a hosted OAuth flow, something that carries Google's own trust rather than requiring each org to approve a custom app.