This page provides three detailed examples which demonstrate the library's functionality. Browse the project source for additional samples.
This snippet shows how to load an API and make a request. In this case, the request is going to Google Translate API. It's an example of "simple access", where the only credential required is the API key.
<html>
<head>
<script src="https://apis.google.com/js/api.js"></script>
<script>
function start() {
// Initializes the client with the API key and the Translate API.
gapi.client.init({
'apiKey': 'YOUR_API_KEY',
'discoveryDocs': ['https://www.googleapis.com/discovery/v1/apis/translate/v2/rest'],
}).then(function() {
// Executes an API request, and returns a Promise.
// The method name `language.translations.list` comes from the API discovery.
return gapi.client.language.translations.list({
q: 'hello world',
source: 'en',
target: 'de',
});
}).then(function(response) {
console.log(response.result.data.translations[0].translatedText);
}, function(reason) {
console.log('Error: ' + reason.result.error.message);
});
};
// Loads the JavaScript client library and invokes `start` afterwards.
gapi.load('client', start);
</script>
</head>
<body>
<div id="results"></div>
</body>
</html>
The following sample demonstrates how to get "authorized" access to a Google API using OAuth 2.0. See the full sample at authSample.html.
It's called "authorized" access because the user must give the application direct authorization to use personal data. Simple web-based applications using JavaScript usually get this authorization the way this example does: by displaying button for the user to click. This action triggers a call to a Google auth server, which pops up a standard authorization dialog. For details, see the Authentication page.
Note: Here we use gapi.load('client:auth2', ...)
to load both the client
module (for dealing with API requests) and the auth2
module (for dealing with OAuth 2.0) upfront. The gapi.client.init
fuction lazily loads auth2
if it is needed. If you are sure your app needs auth, loading the two modules 'client:auth2'
together before you call gapi.client.init
will save one script load request.
To make gapi.client.init
set up OAuth correctly, you would have to assign the clientID
variable the client ID generated when you registered your application (for instructions see Integrating Google Sign-In into your web app). The other parameter is scope
, which in this case is just the scope for user profile permission.
When the user clicks Authorize, the gapi.auth2.getAuthInstance().signIn()
function is called, which shows user a popup window to let user authorize. Note that the gapi.auth2.getAuthInstance().signIn()
can be only called from a user interaction context for most browsers (i.e. do not call it when your app starts, but call it in a button click handler).
Note: when you authorize your application using Oauth 2.0, you do not also need to set the API key as in the first example. However, it is a good practice to do so, in case your code ever expands to handle unauthorized requests.
The following code snippet shows how to load the library without blocking UI loading. (The onreadystatechange
is used to support old versions of IE.)
<html>
<head>
<script>
function start() {
gapi.client.init({
'apiKey': '...',
'discoveryDocs': [...],
...
}).then(...)
};
function loadClient() {
gapi.load('client', start);
}
</script>
<script async defer src="https://apis.google.com/js/api.js"
onload="this.onload=function(){};loadClient()"
onreadystatechange="if (this.readyState === 'complete') this.onload()"></script>
</head>
<body>
<div id="body-to-be-shown-before-gapi-load"></div>
</body>
</html>
The file authSample.html expands on the concepts on this page and provides a more complete example of making an authenticated call to the Google People API.