# Technical Research: Document Export API Route

**Feature**: 002-document-export  
**Date**: 2026-03-09  
**Purpose**: Research technical patterns and best practices for implementing Google Drive document export functionality

## Research Areas

### 1. Google Drive Files.get API - Metadata Retrieval

**Decision**: Use Google Drive API v3 `files.get` endpoint with specific field selection

**Rationale**:
- Google Drive API v3 provides `files.get` endpoint: `GET https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/{fileId}`
- Field selection via `fields` query parameter reduces response size and improves performance
- Required fields: `id,name,mimeType,exportLinks`
- exportLinks returns map of available export formats for Google Workspace documents
- Native files (PDFs, images) don't have exportLinks field

**Implementation Pattern**:
```javascript
// In proxy.js - Google Drive API call
const metadataUrl = `https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/${documentId}`;
const params = {
  fields: 'id,name,mimeType,exportLinks',
  supportsAllDrives: true  // Support shared drives
};
const response = await axios.get(metadataUrl, {
  params,
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${accessToken}` }
});
```

**Alternatives Considered**:
- files.export endpoint directly → Rejected: Requires knowing export format upfront, can't query available formats
- files.list with query → Rejected: Less efficient, requires additional parsing

**References**:
- Google Drive API v3 Files.get: https://developers.google.com/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/files/get
- Field selection: https://developers.google.com/drive/api/guides/fields-parameter

---

### 2. Export Format Selection Strategy

**Decision**: Priority-based format selection (Markdown > HTML > PDF) with fallback to native file streaming

**Rationale**:
- Google Workspace documents (Docs, Sheets, Slides) provide exportLinks map: `{"text/plain": "url", "text/html": "url", ...}`
- Markdown (text/x-markdown) is most portable for downstream content processing
- HTML fallback provides rich formatting when Markdown unavailable
- PDF fallback ensures something is always available
- Native PDFs streamed directly using files.get with `alt=media` parameter

**Implementation Pattern**:
```javascript
// Format priority order
const EXPORT_FORMATS = [
  { mimeType: 'text/x-markdown', extension: 'md' },
  { mimeType: 'text/html', extension: 'html' },
  { mimeType: 'application/pdf', extension: 'pdf' }
];

// Selection logic
function selectExportFormat(exportLinks) {
  for (const format of EXPORT_FORMATS) {
    if (exportLinks && exportLinks[format.mimeType]) {
      return {
        url: exportLinks[format.mimeType],
        contentType: format.mimeType,
        extension: format.extension
      };
    }
  }
  return null;  // No export links available
}
```

**Alternatives Considered**:
- User-specified format via query parameter → Rejected: Out of scope per spec, adds complexity
- Always export as PDF → Rejected: Markdown preferred for content processing
- Try all formats in parallel → Rejected: Unnecessary, increases API calls

---

### 3. Native PDF File Streaming

**Decision**: Use Google Drive API `files.get` with `alt=media` parameter for direct file content download

**Rationale**:
- Native PDF files (mimeType: application/pdf) don't have exportLinks
- files.get with `alt=media` returns raw file bytes as response body
- Response is streamed directly to client (no buffering in proxy)
- Efficient for large files up to 10MB limit

**Implementation Pattern**:
```javascript
// For native PDFs (no exportLinks)
if (metadata.mimeType === 'application/pdf' && !metadata.exportLinks) {
  const fileUrl = `https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/${documentId}`;
  const response = await axios.get(fileUrl, {
    params: { alt: 'media' },
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${accessToken}` },
    responseType: 'stream'  // Stream response
  });
  
  // Pipe stream to client
  res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/pdf');
  res.setHeader('Content-Disposition', `inline; filename="${metadata.name}.pdf"`);
  response.data.pipe(res);
}
```

**Alternatives Considered**:
- Buffer entire file in memory → Rejected: Inefficient for large files, increases memory usage
- Download and re-upload → Rejected: Unnecessary overhead, adds latency

**References**:
- Google Drive API files.get with alt=media: https://developers.google.com/drive/api/guides/manage-downloads

---

### 4. Content-Disposition Header Format

**Decision**: Use `inline; filename="[name].[ext]"` format for Content-Disposition header

**Rationale**:
- `inline` disposition allows browser to display content (PDFs, HTML) in-browser
- Filename parameter provides sensible default if user saves file
- RFC 6266 compliant format
- Filename includes extension matching export format (.md, .html, .pdf)

**Implementation Pattern**:
```javascript
// Generate Content-Disposition header
function generateContentDisposition(filename, extension) {
  // Sanitize filename: remove special characters, limit length
  const sanitized = filename
    .replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9-_. ]/g, '_')  // Replace special chars
    .substring(0, 255);  // Limit length
  
  return `inline; filename="${sanitized}.${extension}"`;
}

// Usage
res.setHeader('Content-Disposition', generateContentDisposition(metadata.name, 'md'));
```

**Alternatives Considered**:
- `attachment` disposition → Rejected: Forces download, prevents in-browser viewing
- No filename parameter → Rejected: Browser uses document ID as filename (poor UX)
- RFC 2231 encoding for Unicode → Deferred: Simple ASCII sanitization sufficient for MVP

**References**:
- RFC 6266 Content-Disposition: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6266

---

### 5. Error Handling & HTTP Status Codes

**Decision**: Map Google Drive API errors to appropriate HTTP status codes with descriptive messages

**Rationale**:
- Google Drive API returns structured error responses with reason codes
- Map to standard HTTP status codes for consistent client experience
- Plain text error messages for simplicity (no JSON wrapper needed)

**Implementation Pattern**:
```javascript
// Error mapping
const ERROR_MAP = {
  'notFound': { status: 404, message: 'Document not found' },
  'authError': { status: 401, message: 'Unauthorized' },
  'forbidden': { status: 401, message: 'Unauthorized' },
  'insufficientPermissions': { status: 401, message: 'Unauthorized' },
  'rateLimitExceeded': { status: 502, message: 'Bad Gateway - Google Drive API unavailable' },
  'backendError': { status: 502, message: 'Bad Gateway - Google Drive API unavailable' }
};

// Error handler
function handleDriveError(error) {
  const reason = error.response?.data?.error?.errors?.[0]?.reason;
  const mapped = ERROR_MAP[reason] || { status: 500, message: 'Export failed - unable to retrieve document content' };
  
  return {
    status: mapped.status,
    message: mapped.message
  };
}
```

**Additional Error Scenarios**:
- Document > 10MB: Check Content-Length header, return HTTP 413
- Timeout > 30s: Use axios timeout option, return HTTP 504
- Unsupported mimetype: Check mimeType, return HTTP 403

**Alternatives Considered**:
- JSON error responses → Rejected: Plain text simpler per spec assumptions
- Retry logic → Rejected: Out of scope per spec
- Detailed error messages → Rejected: Security concern, could leak internal details

---

### 6. Request Timeout & Size Limits

**Decision**: Implement 30-second timeout with axios and 10MB size validation via Content-Length header

**Rationale**:
- axios supports timeout option for all requests
- Content-Length header available in Google Drive API responses before streaming
- Early validation prevents downloading oversized files
- Timeout prevents hanging requests from blocking proxy

**Implementation Pattern**:
```javascript
// Timeout configuration
const TIMEOUT_MS = 30000;  // 30 seconds
const MAX_SIZE_BYTES = 10 * 1024 * 1024;  // 10 MB

// Request with timeout
const response = await axios.get(url, {
  timeout: TIMEOUT_MS,
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${accessToken}` }
});

// Size validation
const contentLength = parseInt(response.headers['content-length'] || '0');
if (contentLength > MAX_SIZE_BYTES) {
  return res.status(413).send('Payload Too Large');
}
```

**Alternatives Considered**:
- Progressive timeout (short for metadata, long for content) → Rejected: Adds complexity, 30s sufficient
- No size validation → Rejected: Could stream partial files, poor UX
- Configurable limits → Rejected: Hard-coded per spec, no need for configuration

---

### 7. Streaming vs Buffering

**Decision**: Stream export content directly from Google Drive to client without buffering

**Rationale**:
- axios supports streaming via `responseType: 'stream'`
- Node.js streams allow piping directly to HTTP response
- No memory overhead for file contents (only metadata buffered)
- Efficient for documents approaching 10MB limit

**Implementation Pattern**:
```javascript
// Stream response
const exportResponse = await axios.get(exportUrl, {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${accessToken}` },
  responseType: 'stream',
  timeout: TIMEOUT_MS
});

// Set headers
res.setHeader('Content-Type', contentType);
res.setHeader('Content-Disposition', contentDisposition);

// Pipe stream
exportResponse.data.pipe(res);

// Handle stream errors
exportResponse.data.on('error', (err) => {
  if (!res.headersSent) {
    res.status(500).send('Export failed - unable to retrieve document content');
  }
});
```

**Alternatives Considered**:
- Buffer entire response → Rejected: Increases memory usage, adds latency
- Chunked encoding → Not needed: Google Drive provides Content-Length

---

## Summary of Technical Decisions

| Area | Decision | Rationale |
|------|----------|-----------|
| **Metadata API** | files.get with field selection | Minimal response size, single API call |
| **Format Selection** | Priority order: Markdown > HTML > PDF | Most portable to least portable |
| **Native PDFs** | files.get with alt=media streaming | Efficient, no conversion needed |
| **Headers** | Content-Disposition: inline with filename | Browser rendering + save support |
| **Error Mapping** | Google Drive errors → HTTP status codes | Consistent client experience |
| **Timeouts** | 30s axios timeout | Prevents hanging requests |
| **Size Limits** | 10MB via Content-Length validation | Early rejection, no partial downloads |
| **Streaming** | Direct pipe from Google Drive to client | Memory efficient, low latency |

All decisions align with constitution principles (monolithic architecture, simplicity, YAGNI) and specification requirements.