Programming Tutorials

  There are few things more frustrating in backend development than a 403 Forbidden error after you have successfully authenticated. You have your   credentials.json , your Service Account is active, and the OAuth handshake returns a 200 OK. Yet, the moment you attempt to read or write to a Google Doc, the API rejects you with   insufficientFilePermissions . If you are working with Google Drive API v3 or the Google Docs API, this error usually stems from a misunderstanding of how Service Account identities function within the Google Workspace permissions model. This guide provides a root-cause analysis of the "Ghost User" problem and delivers a production-ready TypeScript solution for handling Shared Drives correctly. The Root Cause: The "Ghost User" Isolation To fix the error, you must understand the identity model. A Service Account (SA) is not an alias for you or your Google Workspace administrator. It is a distinct, non-human user. When you create a Service Acco...