Connect Google Drive shared folders to Rapidflare to automatically ingest documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and PDFs into your AI Agent's knowledge base.

Overview

The Google Drive integration allows you to:

• Sync shared folders - Connect one or more shared Drive folders
• Support multiple formats - Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDFs, and more
• Automatic updates - Detect new and modified files automatically
• Preserve structure - Maintain folder hierarchy in document metadata

Supported File Types

Setting Up Google Drive

Step 1: Add a New Source

1. Navigate to Sources in your admin dashboard
2. Click Add Source
3. Select Google Drive Shared Folder

Step 2: Authenticate

1. Click Connect to Google Drive
2. Sign in with your Google account
3. Grant Rapidflare read-only access to your Drive files
4. Select the shared folder(s) you want to sync

Step 3: Configure Sync Settings

• Folder Selection - Choose which shared folders to include
• File Types - Optionally filter by file type
• Exclude Patterns - Skip files matching certain patterns (e.g., drafts, archives)

Step 4: Initial Ingestion

After saving your configuration, Rapidflare will begin the initial ingestion:

1. Discover all files in the selected folders
2. Download and extract content from each file
3. Index the content for retrieval

You can monitor progress from the source details page.

Best Practices

Organize Content Effectively

• Group related documents in folders by topic or product
• Use consistent naming conventions
• Keep a clean folder structure—the AI Agent inherits this context

Manage Access

• Use shared folders rather than individual file shares
• Ensure the authenticating account has stable, long-term access
• Consider using a service account for production deployments

Monitor Sync Status

• Check the source details page regularly for sync errors
• Review ingestion logs if documents aren't appearing
• Re-authenticate if you see permission errors

Troubleshooting

Files Not Appearing

• Verify the file is in a connected shared folder
• Check that the file type is supported
• Ensure the authenticating account has access
• Wait for the next sync cycle or trigger a manual refresh

Permission Errors

• Re-authenticate with Google Drive from the source settings
• Verify the shared folder permissions haven't changed
• Check that the folder is still shared with your account

Large Files

• Very large files (>50MB) may take longer to process
• Consider splitting large documents into smaller sections
• PDF files with many images will take longer to extract