An Unofficial Google+ JavaScript API
It has been 6 months since we have seen any Circle/Posts/Followers Write/Read API for Google+. Since Google+ is by nature asynchronous we could tap into their XHR calls and imitate the requests.
Who uses this API:
My Hangouts Chrome Extension https://plus.google.com/116935358560979346551/about
Who made this:
Core Contributors
- Mohamed Mansour (Maintainer, Core Dev), - https://github.com/mohamedmansour
- Tzafrir Rehan (Core Dev) - https://github.com/tzafrir
Contributors
- Jingqin Lynn (Contributed newPost)
- Ryan Peggs (Contributed Bug fixes)
What is it about:
I provide you a very basic asynchronous Google+ API, in the current release, you can do the following:
- Create, Modify, Sort, Query, Remove Circles
- Query, Modify your Profile Information
- Add, Remove, Move People from and to Circles
- Real-Time Search
- Lookup Posts, Manage comments by reporting and deleting.
This is a fully read and write API.
Native Examples:
// Create an instance of the API.
var plus = new GooglePlusAPI();
// Initialize the API so we could get a new session if it exists we reuse it.
plus.init();
// Refresh your circle information.
plus.refreshCircles(function() {
// Let us see who added me to their circle.
plus.getPeopleWhoAddedMe(function(people) {
console.log(people);
});
// Let us see who is in my circles.
plus.getPeopleInMyCircles(function(people) {
console.log(people);
});
// Let us see who is in our circles but didn't add us to theirs.
plus.getDatabase().getPersonEntity().find({in_my_circle: 'Y', added_me: 'N'}, function(people) {
console.log(people);
});
});
As you see, it is pretty easy to query everything. The possibilities are inifinite since the data is backed up in a WebSQL DataStore, so querying, reporting, etc, would be super quick.
If you want to place that in an extension, I have created a bridge, so you can use this in a content script context and extension context safely. To do so, you send a message as follows:
// Initialize the API so we get the authorization token.
chrome.extension.sendRequest({method: 'PlusAPI', data: {service: 'Plus', method: 'init'}}, function(initResponse) {
chrome.extension.sendRequest({method: 'PlusAPI', data: {service: 'Plus', method: 'refreshCircles'}}, function() {
// etc ... The method is the same method we defined previously in the raw example.
});
});
Another example, lets say we want to search for a hash tag:
// Initialize the Google Plus API Wrapper.
var api = new GooglePlusAPI();
// Lets initialize it so we can get the current logged in users session.
api.init();
// Search for the API. You have the following enums to choose from for searching:
//
// GooglePlusAPI.SearchType.EVERYTHING
// GooglePlusAPI.SearchType.PEOPLE_PAGES;
// GooglePlusAPI.SearchType.POSTS
// GooglePlusAPI.SearchType.SPARKS
// GooglePlusAPI.SearchType.HANGOUTS
// GooglePlusAPI.SearchType.HASHTAGS
//
// So lets search for hashtags that have Microsoft inside them.
api.search(function(resp) {
console.log("Hash results for Microsoft: " + resp.data.join(", "));
}, "microsoft", { type: GooglePlusAPI.SearchType.HASHTAGS });
A full blown example will be released by the end of this week showing how powerful this could be. As you already know, I am creating a simple circle management utility so you can manage your circles.
API Documentation
AbstractEntity Members:
String getName()- The table name that this entity holds.void tableDefinition()- Abstract method that you override to describe the table.void initialize()- Private method that creates the DDL to execute from tableDefinitionvoid drop(Function:doneCallback)- Drops the table from cache including the definition.void clear(Function:doneCallback)- Removes all rows from the table, keeps the definition.void create(Object[]:obj, Function<Object{status, data}>:callback)- Inserts object(s) into the table.void destroy(String[]:id, Function<Object{status, data}>:callback)- Deletes object(s) into the table.void update(Object[]:obj, Function<Object{status, data}>:callback)- Updates object(s) into the table.void find(Object:obj, Function<Object{status, data}>:callback)- Find a specific object(s) in the table.void findAll(Function<Object{status, data}>:callback)- Queries for everthing, all the data.void count(Object:obj, Function<Object{status, data}>:callback)- Counts the number of rows in the table.void save(Object[]:obj, Function<Object{status, data}>:callback)- Updates otherwise it creates.
PlusDB Entities:
void open()- Opens the databasevoid clearAll(Function:doneCallback)- Drops all tables from the database.AbstractEntity getPersonEntity()- Returns the PersonEntityAbstractEntity getCircleEntity()- Returns the CircleEntityAbstractEntity getPersonCircleEntity()- Returns the PersonCircleEntity
Native querying:
PlusDB getDatabase()- Returns the native Database to do advanced queries
Initialization, fill up the database:
void init(Function:doneCallback)- Initializes session and data, you can call it at app start.void refreshCircles(Function:doneCallback, boolean:opt_onlyCircles)- Queries G+ Service for all circles and people information.void refreshFollowers(Function:doneCallback)- Queries G+ Service for everyone who is following me.void refreshFindPeople(Function:doneCallback)- Queries G+ Services for discovering similar people like me.void refreshInfo(Function:doneCallback(data))- Refresh my information. Rarely used.
Persistence:
void addPeople(Function:doneCallback, String:circleName, Array<String>:usersToAdd)- Adding people to a circle.void removePeople(Function:doneCallback, String:circleName, Array<String>:usersToRemove)- Removing people from a circlevoid createCircle(Function:doneCallback, String:circleName, String:optionalDescription)- Creating a circle.void removeCircle(Function:doneCallback, String:circleID)- Removing a circle.void sortCircle(Function:doneCallback, String:circleID, Number:index)- Sort a circle to the given index, G+ will deal with the ordervoid modifyCircle(Function:doneCallback, String:circleID, String:optionalName, String:optionalDescription)- Modifying circle meta.void modifyBlocked(Function:doneCallback, Array<String>:usersToModify, boolean:opt_block)- Modify the blocked state of people. Allows blocking and unblocking.void modifyMute(Function:doneCallback, String:activityID, Boolean:muteStatus)- Sets the mute status for a specific item.void modifyLockPost(Function:doneCallback, String:activityID, Boolean:toLock)- Sets the mute status for a specific item.void modifyDisableComments(Function:doneCallback, String:activityID, Boolean:toDisable)- Sets the mute status for a specific item.void addComment(Function:doneCallback, String: postId, String: content)- Adds a comment.void deleteComment(Function:doneCallback, String:commentId)- Deleting a comment.void deleteActivity(Function:doneCallback, String:activityId)- Deleting a post.void saveProfile(Function:doneCallback, String:introduction)- Save a new introduction.void reportProfile(Function:doneCallback, String:userId, opt_abuseReason)- Report an abusive profile.void newPost(Function:doneCallback, String:content)- Creates a new post on the stream.void fetchLinkMedia(Function:doneCallback(data), String:url- Fetches media items describing a URL such as images, title and description.
Read:
boolean isAuthenticated()void getProfile(Function({introduction}):callback, String:googleProfileID)void getInfo(Function({id, name, email, acl}:callback)void getCircles(Function(CircleEntity[]):callback)void getCircle(Function(String:circleID, CircleEntity):callback)void getPeople(Object:obj, Function(PersonEntity[]):callback)void getPerson(Function(String:googleProfileID, PersonEntity):callback)void getPeopleInMyCircles(Function(PersonEntity[]):callback)void getPersonInMyCircles(String:googleProfileID, Function(PersonEntity):callback)void getPeopleWhoAddedMe(Function(PersonEntity[]):callback)void getPersonWhoAddedMe(String:googleProfileID, Function(PersonEntity):callback)void search(Function(data):callback, String:query, Object:{category, precache, burst, burst_size})void lookupUsers(Function(data):callback, Array<String:googleProfileID>)void lookupPost(Function(data):callback, String:googleProfileID, String:postProfileID)void lookupActivities(Function(data):callback, String:circleID, String:personID, String:pageToken)void getPages(Function(data):callback)void getCommunities(Function(data):callback)void getCommunity(Function(data):callback, String:communityId)
Private Members (only for internal API):
Object _parseJSON(String:input)- Parses the Google Irregular JSONXMLHttpRequest _requestService(Function:callback, String:url, String:postData- Sends an XHR request to Google ServiceString _getSession()- Unique user session that authenticates to persist to your account.
Watch this space!