Google Services & APIs

The ITGPG website relies heavily on Google Workspace APIs to act as a headless backend. This guide details how to manage the API Keys, the Google Cloud Console, and the Drive permissions.

1. The Google Cloud Project

The API keys and quotas for this repository are managed in a specific Google Cloud Project.

[!NOTE] If you do not have access to the Google Cloud Project, please meet with the lead developer or the managing faculty to request access.

Enabled APIs

To function, the Google Cloud Project must have the following APIs enabled:

• Google Drive API v3: Used for fetching certificates, study materials, and gallery images.
• YouTube Data API v3: Used for fetching study material playlists.

2. API Key Management

The site uses a single API key, stored in _data/site_config.yml:

API_KEY: "AIzaSy..."

Rotating the API Key

If the API key is compromised or accidentally deleted:

1. Log into the Google Cloud Console.
2. Navigate to APIs & Services > Credentials.
3. Click Create Credentials > API Key.
4. Copy the newly generated key.
5. Immediately click Edit API Key to apply security restrictions (see below).
6. Paste the new key into _data/site_config.yml and commit to main.

Security Restrictions (Crucial)

Because the API key is visible in the frontend JavaScript, it must be restricted. Otherwise, anyone could steal it and exhaust our quota.

Under the API Key settings in Google Cloud:

• Application Restrictions: Set to HTTP referrers (web sites).
• Website Restrictions: Add *itgpg.github.io/* and http://localhost:4000/*.
• API Restrictions: Restrict the key to only use the Google Drive API and YouTube Data API.

3. Google Drive Folder Permissions

The entire system breaks if the Drive folders are private.

Whenever a new folder is created for the website (e.g., a new semester’s study materials, or a new batch of certificates):

1. Right-click the folder in Google Drive.
2. Select Share.
3. Under “General access”, change the dropdown from “Restricted” to “Anyone with the link”.
4. Set the role to Viewer.

4. Quota Monitoring

Google provides a generous free tier (e.g., 10,000 queries per day for YouTube v3). However, sudden traffic spikes can exhaust this.

To monitor quotas:

1. Open Google Cloud Console.
2. Navigate to APIs & Services > Dashboard.
3. Check the traffic graphs for Google Drive and YouTube Data APIs.

If you consistently hit quotas, consider implementing a proxy server (like Cloudflare Workers) or increasing the strictness of the sessionStorage caching algorithms.