Question

How can I upload a local CSV file to Google Drive using the Drive API v2 so that the uploaded file is in the native Google Spreadsheet format. Preferably in Python, but a raw HTTP request will suffice.

What I tried:

1. request body content-type: ‘application/vnd.google-apps.spreadsheet’, media_body content-type: ‘text/csv’. –> 401 Bad Request

2. request body content-type: ‘application/vnd.google-apps.spreadsheet’, media_body content-type: ‘application/vnd.google-apps.spreadsheet’. –> 400 Bad Request

3. … (a couple of others such as leaving a property out and similar, usually got 400 or Drive didn’t recognise it as a native spreadsheet)

Answer 1

Your insert request should specify text/csv as the content-type.
The trick to get the file converted is to add the ?convert=true query parameter to the request url:

https://developers.google.com/drive/v2/reference/files/insert