BuildWithMatija
  1. Home
  3. Blog
  5. Tools
  7. rclone Google Drive client_id: Create Your Own OAuth App

rclone Google Drive client_id: Create Your Own OAuth App

Step-by-step guide to create a Google OAuth app and use its client_id/client_secret with rclone to avoid Drive API…

31st March 2026·Updated on:6th April 2026··
Tools
rclone Google Drive client_id: Create Your Own OAuth App

📚 Get Practical Development Guides

Join developers getting comprehensive guides, code examples, optimization tips, and time-saving prompts to accelerate their development workflow.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

Related Posts:

  • •OAuth for MCP Server: Complete Guide to Protecting Claude
  • •Payload Import Triggers: 4 Essential Ways to Queue Imports
  • •Google Drive OAuth for Payload CMS: Complete Guide
📄View markdown version
0

Frequently Asked Questions

About the author

Matija Žiberna

Matija Žiberna

Full-stack developer, co-founder

AboutResume

Self-taught full-stack developer sharing lessons from building software and startups.

I'm Matija Žiberna, a self-taught full-stack developer and co-founder passionate about building products, writing clean code, and figuring out how to turn ideas into businesses. I write about web development with Next.js, lessons from entrepreneurship, and the journey of learning by doing. My goal is to provide value through code—whether it's through tools, content, or real-world software.

You might be interested in

OAuth for MCP Server: Complete Guide to Protecting Claude
OAuth for MCP Server: Complete Guide to Protecting Claude

7th December 2025

Payload Import Triggers: 4 Essential Ways to Queue Imports
Payload Import Triggers: 4 Essential Ways to Queue Imports

2nd April 2026

Google Drive OAuth for Payload CMS: Complete Guide
Google Drive OAuth for Payload CMS: Complete Guide

13th March 2026

Contents

  • Google Drive `client_id` for rclone, headless server setup
  • Why this matters
  • What I had to create
  • Steps
  • Notes
  • Useful rclone command
  • Result
On this page:
  • Google Drive `client_id` for rclone, headless server setup
Build with Matija logo

Build with Matija

Modern websites, content systems, and AI workflows built for long-term growth.

Services

  • Headless CMS Websites
  • Next.js & Headless CMS Advisory
  • AI Systems & Automation
  • Website & Content Audit

Resources

  • Case Studies
  • How I Work
  • Blog
  • CMS Hub
  • E-commerce Hub
  • Dashboard

Headless CMS

  • Payload CMS Developer
  • CMS Migration
  • Multi-Tenant CMS
  • Payload vs Sanity
  • Payload vs WordPress
  • Payload vs Contentful

Get in Touch

Ready to modernize your stack? Let's talk about what you're building.

Book a discovery callContact me →
© 2026Build with Matija•All rights reserved•Privacy Policy•Terms of Service
BuildWithMatija
Get In Touch

Here is a short reference doc you can keep:

Google Drive client_id for rclone, headless server setup

Because the default rclone Google Drive client_id is shared by many users, it can hit Google rate limits more easily. For a more stable setup, create your own Google OAuth app and use its client_id and client_secret in rclone.

Why this matters

  • Better reliability than the shared default rclone client
  • Lower chance of quota and rate-limit issues
  • Better for production and multiple services

What I had to create

When creating the Google OAuth app, I had to choose:

  • Application type: Desktop app

This is correct for rclone authentication, even if the final usage is on a headless Ubuntu server.

Steps

  1. Open the Google API Console and create or select a project.

  2. Enable Google Drive API.

  3. Open Credentials.

  4. Configure the OAuth consent screen.

    • App name: anything, for example rclone
    • Audience: usually External
    • Add yourself as a test user

  5. In Data Access, add these scopes:

    • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/docs
    • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive
    • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.metadata.readonly

  6. Save the consent screen settings.

  7. Create an OAuth client.

  8. Choose Desktop app.

  9. Copy the generated:

    • client_id
    • client_secret

  10. Put them into your rclone Google Drive remote config.

  11. Reconnect/authenticate the remote.

Notes

  • Even on a headless server, the OAuth client type should still be Desktop app.
  • Google may show an unverified app warning during login. That is expected for a personal setup.
  • For External apps, adding yourself as a test user is important.

Useful rclone command

To reconnect the remote after adding your own credentials:

bash
rclone config reconnect hetzner-dev:

Result

After reconnecting, I was able to download files from Google Drive directly to:

bash
~/smow/db_dumps

If you want, I can turn this into a cleaner README.md version you can paste into your project.