Environment:Vibrantlabsai Ragas Google Drive Backend Environment

Knowledge Sources	Ragas GDrive Backend
Domains	Infrastructure, Storage
Last Updated	2026-02-12 10:00 GMT

Overview

Google Drive backend environment requiring Google API client libraries and OAuth/service account credentials for storing Ragas datasets and experiments on Google Drive.

Description

The Google Drive backend (`GDriveBackend`) enables persistent storage of Ragas datasets and experiments as Google Sheets on Google Drive. It requires the Google API Python client library, authentication libraries, and either OAuth credentials or a service account JSON file. The backend creates a folder structure on Drive and manages spreadsheet-based storage with automatic schema handling.

Usage

Use this environment when you want to store and share Ragas datasets and experiment results on Google Drive. This is an optional backend; the default backends (InMemory, LocalCSV, LocalJSONL) do not require these dependencies. Activate this environment when using `ragas.backends.gdrive_backend.GDriveBackend`.

System Requirements

Category	Requirement	Notes
OS	Linux, macOS, Windows	Cross-platform support
Network	Internet access	Required for Google Drive API calls
Google Account	Google Workspace or personal account	Must have Drive access

Dependencies

Python Packages

• `google-api-python-client` >= 2.178.0
• `google-auth` >= 2.40.3
• `google-auth-oauthlib` >= 1.2.2

Install via the optional dependency group:

pip install ragas[gdrive]

Credentials

The following environment variables configure Google Drive authentication:

• `GDRIVE_CREDENTIALS_PATH`: Path to the OAuth credentials JSON file (downloaded from Google Cloud Console).
• `GDRIVE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PATH`: Path to the service account JSON file (alternative to OAuth).
• `GDRIVE_TOKEN_PATH`: Path to store the OAuth token file (default: `token.json`).

Authentication Flow:

1. If `service_account_path` is provided, service account auth is used (no browser required).
2. If `credentials_path` is provided, OAuth flow runs (opens browser for consent on first use).
3. The OAuth token is cached at `GDRIVE_TOKEN_PATH` for subsequent runs.

Quick Install

# Install Google Drive backend dependencies
pip install ragas[gdrive]

# Or install individually
pip install google-api-python-client>=2.178.0 google-auth>=2.40.3 google-auth-oauthlib>=1.2.2

# Set credentials
export GDRIVE_CREDENTIALS_PATH="/path/to/credentials.json"
# OR for service account
export GDRIVE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PATH="/path/to/service-account.json"

Code Evidence

Availability check from `src/ragas/backends/gdrive_backend.py:10-30`:

try:
    from google.auth.transport.requests import Request
    from google.oauth2.credentials import Credentials as UserCredentials
    from google.oauth2.service_account import Credentials
    from google_auth_oauthlib.flow import InstalledAppFlow
    from googleapiclient.discovery import build
    from googleapiclient.errors import HttpError

    GDRIVE_AVAILABLE = True
except ImportError:
    GDRIVE_AVAILABLE = False

Credential resolution from `src/ragas/backends/gdrive_backend.py:99-104`:

self.credentials_path = credentials_path or os.getenv("GDRIVE_CREDENTIALS_PATH")
self.service_account_path = service_account_path or os.getenv(
    "GDRIVE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PATH"
)
self.token_path = token_path or os.getenv("GDRIVE_TOKEN_PATH", "token.json")

Import error on missing dependencies from `src/ragas/backends/gdrive_backend.py:91-95`:

if not GDRIVE_AVAILABLE:
    raise ImportError(
        "Google Drive backend requires additional dependencies. "
        "Install with: pip install google-api-python-client google-auth google-auth-oauthlib"
    )

Common Errors

Error Message	Cause	Solution
`ImportError: Google Drive backend requires additional dependencies`	Google API libraries not installed	`pip install ragas[gdrive]`
`FileNotFoundError: credentials.json`	OAuth credentials file not found at specified path	Download credentials from Google Cloud Console and set `GDRIVE_CREDENTIALS_PATH`
`HttpError 403: insufficient permissions`	Drive API not enabled or insufficient scopes	Enable Google Drive API in Cloud Console and re-authenticate

Compatibility Notes

• Service Account vs OAuth: Service accounts are preferred for CI/CD pipelines (no browser required). OAuth is suitable for interactive use.
• Entry Point Registration: The backend is registered as `gdrive` via the `ragas.backends` entry point in `pyproject.toml`.