How do I get the direct link for a Google Drive video (Google Drive API v3)

Question

I'd like to make a function which converts Google Drive videos into VLC streamable links (eg vlc://https://WEBSITE.com/FILE_ID.mkv .

I've tried methods which were shared on stack overflow, such as modifying the Google Drive link to: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=FILE_ID

All the methods I've tried seem to not work anymore. Any ideas?

Answer 1

I've figured out the answer.

Google Drives' API has a download feature, you just need to make a request to https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/FILE_ID?alt=media&key=API_KEY

Now this doesn't generate a direct file path ending with .mp4 or .mkv but VLC and PotPlayer are able to recognize this link like this:

potplayer://https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/FILE_ID?alt=media&key=API_KEY vlc://https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/FILE_ID?alt=media&key=API_KEY

Edit: this doesn't work in development, Google prevents bots from making requests like that. To work around this you need to set a header in your request. eg

url = "https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/FILE_ID?alt=media&key=API_KEY"
r = requests.get(url, headers={"Authorization":"Bearer " + accessToken})

You get the accessToken from the Google Drive API

Answer 2

Just make the file public and copy your ID. You can find it here: /file/d/ YOUR ID /view?usp=sharing. Copy your ID and paste it in this: drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id= YOUR ID