Google Drive API says some files do not exist when in fact they do

Question

So, I've gotten to the point in my app where I can retrieve a list of spreadsheet documents from a user's Google Drive account by using the Google Spreadsheet API. I populate the file list in a ui control that users can click on to then retrieve the list of its worksheets. It's working as expected in some cases, but in others it is not. In my request, I use the url that comes back from the file list, and even so, the API responds with:

Sorry, the file you have requested does not exist.
Make sure that you have the correct URL and that the owner of the file hasn't deleted it.

Well, surely the file wasn't deleted. I got it back in the response to my request for the files list. I also can get to the file via a normal web browser. Also, the URL is correct because that's the one the API responded with. My code does not manipulate the url that comes back in that initial files response. In fact, here is the URL that is used to grab the worksheets:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/feeds/worksheets/{long key here}/private/full

So, my question is why does my request for some worksheets come back with a response with the actual list of worksheets, but on others (which I have access to, and I know exists) I get the faulty response.

Thanks, Arie

Answer 1

My app is using OAuth 2.0 and I ran into the same error with new Google Sheets. What fixed that was making a change in scope param sent during OAuth's authorize call and then reauthorising (reinitiating OAuth flow and obtaining new tokens).

Until now scope in my app was just:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/feeds

Updated scope and solution to the issue in my case:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/feeds https://docs.google.com/feeds

Answer 2

I'm running into this in my own stuff. At least for what I'm running into, it seems to be an issue with New Sheets. I'm sorry to not have more of a solution (I'm still trying to find out what to fix on my end) but this may help you narrow down the issue.