Save to Google Drive

Keep a file copy in your Google Drive from the SplatWorks office apps and creative tools. Drive saving is optional: local downloads and existing browser drafts remain available. These saves create files in Drive; they do not convert your work into Google Docs, Sheets or Slides, or automatically sync later edits. PlanSplat has a separate connected planner workflow: one Google sign-in loads your planner, automatically updates its Drive files and connects its separate PlanSplat calendar while authorization is active. See the PlanSplat guide.

Save your work

1. Open an app and create or open your work. In PDFSplat, open a PDF first; in MediaSplat, process a file first.
2. Choose the Drive action listed below.
3. Check the filename and choose Save to Google Drive.
4. Choose your Google account and allow the requested access. PDFSplat, VideoSplat and MediaSplat open a separate authorization window: choose Continue with Google there, complete sign-in, then return to the original app tab.
5. Wait for the app’s Saved result. Open in Google Drive lets you check the saved copy. Editing afterward requires another save for an updated copy.

The file stays open in its app while you authorize the save. Allow the authorization popup if your browser blocks it.

Apps, actions and formats

Reopen a saved copy: download the file from Drive, then open or import it in the corresponding app. MermaidSplat has Open .mmd. A rendered video or output ZIP contains exported results; keep the native project and source media when you need further editing.

For LayoutSplat, Drive may preview publication.json and README.txt inside the saved file. This is expected: .layoutsplat is a ZIP-based project. Download the whole .layoutsplat file and use File → Open in LayoutSplat. A real user-run upload, download and reopen succeeded on October 16, 2026; the downloaded one-page project passed archive and native-model validation with five stories, two embedded pictures and nine objects. This verifies that observed account/workflow; school account policies may differ.

The DrawSplat whiteboard’s Google Drive/Sheets saving, rooms and turn-ins use its separate Apps Script setup. You do not need to deploy Apps Script for the direct saves listed above.

Privacy and school accounts

Google sign-in loads after you choose Drive. The direct saves request drive.file access to files used with the app. Their access tokens stay in tab memory. The separate authorization page receives no project content. Cancelling or denying permission leaves your local work available; the new save actions do not enable sharing. Manage access in Google Drive.

If optional connections are off, open Privacy and enable them before saving to Drive. School Workspace administrators can restrict Google authorization, so use the account and workflow your school approves. Security, privacy and terms covers Google access and district review.

Troubleshooting

• Popup blocked: allow the authorization window for the site, then retry the Drive save.
• Permission denied or sign-in closed: your work stays open. Retry or use the local download.
• Transfer interrupted: retry when connected. Large files use resumable upload transport, but an interrupted save may need to start again. Check Drive for any completed copy before retrying.
• Different device or domain: browser drafts do not move automatically. Download the Drive file and open it in the appropriate app. VideoSplat manifests also need their original media.
• origin_mismatch: a self-hosted OAuth client must register the exact origin used in the address bar, including protocol and any port. Origins contain no app path.

District and self-hosted setup

Local editing needs no Google configuration. The public SplatWorks.org and DrawSplat.org sites use the configured public client. A district’s own host needs its own OAuth web client:

1. In the district’s Google Cloud project, enable the Google Drive API and configure the OAuth audience/consent settings for the intended users.
2. Under APIs & Services → Credentials, open the OAuth client of type Web application. Add the exact site under Authorized JavaScript origins and save. Use the host’s HTTPS origin; for localhost testing, register both http://localhost and http://localhost:PORT as Google’s setup guide requires. Keep any other required origins.
3. Add <meta name="google-drive-client-id" content="YOUR_CLIENT_ID.apps.googleusercontent.com"> before the app scripts in each app’s index.html. Retain it in index.vite.html when rebuilding Vite apps. GridSplat also supports VITE_GOOGLE_DRIVE_CLIENT_ID; AudioSplat retains its own build-time client setting. A client ID is public configuration; never distribute a client secret.
4. Deploy the included splatworks/shared/ folder. For PDFSplat, VideoSplat and MediaSplat, retain the editors’ isolation headers. Give /splatworks/shared/google-drive-auth and its .html form Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin-allow-popups and Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy: unsafe-none.
5. For Cloudflare Pages, use the current _headers file from the source repository, including when deploying an extracted ZIP. Configure equivalent rules on other servers. Allow Google Drive API connections from the editor and Google identity scripts/frames on the authorization page. Test using a permitted school account before student rollout.

PlanSplat Calendar setup

PlanSplat's Continue with Google requests Drive and app-created Calendar permissions together and connects both services with one authorization. Declining Calendar permission keeps Drive saving available; Connect Calendar in the header can enable it later. In the same Google Cloud project as the site's web OAuth client, enable Google Calendar API and add https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.app.created to the OAuth consent configuration for the intended audience. Keep the existing drive.file permission. No client secret or server-side token renewal is needed for the browser reconnect workflow.

The app requests access to secondary calendars created by the app, rather than all calendars. It verifies that Calendar and Drive belong to the same account, creates a separate PlanSplat calendar and stores its ID in the main planner file's Drive app properties. It updates only marked PlanSplat deadline/study events in that calendar. Calendar tokens stay in tab memory. Reloading requires reconnecting; closing the app pauses sync. Calendar changes do not update the planner.

If Calendar returns access denied, check API enablement, consent/audience restrictions and school Workspace policy. Drive autoload/autosave remains available independently. The public project owner enabled Calendar API on October 16, 2026, and a Google Workspace user confirmed dated-task creation in the PlanSplat calendar. Test the intended account and operations for each deployment before rollout. Google's scope reference documents this permission.

See Google’s OAuth client setup, modular hosting and district installation.