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Use cases → Documents and Drive

Send reminders for unread shared documents

Automatically notify users who haven't opened a document shared with them after a set period, using a delegated service account.

Who it is forTeams responsible for compliance or requiring acknowledgement of shared documents.
APIsDrive API, Gmail API
Typical scopesdrive.readonly, gmail.send

The problem

Critical documents are sent out but there's no guarantee recipients have read them. Relying on read receipts is impractical, and manual follow-ups don't scale.

How it works

  1. List the target documents and their expected recipients.
  2. Use the Drive API with a delegated account to check file access activity for each recipient.
  3. Identify users who have not opened the document after the required timeframe.
  4. Send reminder emails to those users via the Gmail API.

What changes

Recipients who miss important documents get a nudge automatically, and teams can track who actually interacted with shared files.

The trap in this one. Drive API activity logs only capture file opens when the user is online and using the web interface or supported clients; mobile or offline opens may not register. Additionally, activity events can be delayed by several minutes or occasionally drop entirely for rapid-fire access, so reminders may go to users who have in fact opened the document, just not in a way the API captured.

Questions people ask

Can I check if someone read the document contents?

No, the Drive API only shows if a file was opened or previewed—not whether it was actually read or understood.

How soon after sharing can I reliably trigger reminders?

Wait at least 15 minutes to allow Drive activity to propagate, but even then, some events may be delayed or missing.

Want this built?

This is a pattern we run in production. We will set up the delegation and build this on top of it — $500 per hour, most of it working the same day.

Talk to us Or read the setup guide

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