What is it?
gcloud
is a client library for accessing Google
Cloud Platform services that significantly reduces the boilerplate
code you have to write. The library provides high-level API
abstractions so they're easier to understand. It embraces
idioms of Node.js, works well with the standard library, and
integrates better with your codebase.
All this means you spend more time creating code that matters
to you.
gcloud
is configured to access Google Cloud Platform
services and authenticate (OAuth 2.0) automatically on your behalf.
With a one-line install and a private key, you are up and ready
to go. Better yet, if you are running on a Google Compute Engine
instance, the one-line install is enough!
Example: Upload a file to Cloud Storage
Examples
- Getting Started with Compute Engine and Node.js (source) - A tutorial for building a web application on Google Cloud Platform.
- TodoMVC (source) - TodoMVC backend using gcloud-node and Express.
- gcloud-kvstore - Use a gcloud-node dataset as a Key/Value store.
- gitnpm (source) - Easily lookup an npm package's GitHub repo using gcloud-node and Google App Engine.
FAQ
What is the relationship between the gcloud
package
and the gcloud
command-line tool?
Both the gcloud
command-line tool and
gcloud
package are a part of the Google Cloud SDK: a collection
of tools and libraries that enable you to easily create and manage
resources on the Google Cloud Platform. The gcloud
command-line
tool can be used to manage both your development workflow and your
Google Cloud Platform resources while the gcloud
package is the
Google Cloud Client Library for Node.js.
What is the relationship between gcloud
and the Google APIs Node.js Client?
The
Google APIs Node.js Client is a client library for
using the broad set of Google APIs.
gcloud
is built specifically for the Google Cloud Platform
and is the recommended way to integrate Google Cloud APIs into your
Node.js applications. If your application requires both Google Cloud Platform and
other Google APIs, the 2 libraries may be used by your application.