How to debug “The caller does not have permission”

Question

I'm using Google Sheets API v4.

I have tested with some sheets and my code is working but with some it's not. All I'm doing is to swap out the sheets ID.

I use the code found here:

https://developers.google.com/sheets/quickstart/dotnet

All sheets I tested I can read and edit in my browser. The error I'm faced is:

Google.Apis.Requests.RequestError\r\nThe caller does not have permission [403]\r\nErrors [\r\n\tMessage[The caller does not have permission] Location[ - ] Reason[forbidden] Domain[global]\r\n]\r\n

What would be the steps to debug such issue?

Here is the complete source code:

public class Google_Sheets
{
    // If modifying these scopes, delete your previously saved credentials
    // at ~/.credentials/sheets.googleapis.com-dotnet-quickstart.json
    static string[] Scopes = { SheetsService.Scope.SpreadsheetsReadonly };
    static string ApplicationName = "Google Sheets API Quickstart";

    public static void Test()
    {
        UserCredential credential;

        using (var stream =
            new FileStream("Google Drive\\client_secret.json", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read))
        {
            string credPath = System.Environment.GetFolderPath(
                System.Environment.SpecialFolder.Personal);
            credPath = Path.Combine(credPath, ".credentials/sheets.googleapis.com-dotnet-quickstart.json");

            credential = GoogleWebAuthorizationBroker.AuthorizeAsync(
                GoogleClientSecrets.Load(stream).Secrets,
                Scopes,
                "user",
                CancellationToken.None,
                new FileDataStore(credPath, true)).Result;
            Console.WriteLine("Credential file saved to: " + credPath);
        }

        // Create Google Sheets API service.
        var service = new SheetsService(new BaseClientService.Initializer()
        {
            HttpClientInitializer = credential,
            ApplicationName = ApplicationName,
        });

        // Define request parameters.
        // https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms/edit

        // working
        //String spreadsheetId = "1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms";
        //String range = "Class Data!A2:E";

        // not working
        String spreadsheetId = "1KJtvpd8iROI7cZ-7--fyoTXTLjzdb8ZghmmQOWkKsh4";
        String range = "Sheet1!A1:G";

        SpreadsheetsResource.ValuesResource.GetRequest request =
                service.Spreadsheets.Values.Get(spreadsheetId, range);

        // Prints the names and majors of students in a sample spreadsheet:
        // https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms/edit
        ValueRange response = request.Execute();
        IList<IList<Object>> values = response.Values;
        if (values != null && values.Count > 0)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Name, Major");
            foreach (var row in values)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("{0}, {1}", row[0], row[1]);
            }
        }
        else
        {
            Console.WriteLine("No data found.");
        }
        Console.Read();
    }
}

Answer 1

Turns out my problems was that I was logged in two different Google accounts. I suppose that my tool then asked the wrong Google account for a token.

To fix the issue I did:

1. Log out of all accounts
2. Delete the token file created in "My Documents.credentials\sheets.googleapis.com-dotnet-quickstart.json\"
3. Log into the correct Google account
4. Restart application
5. A browser window should now open and ask for permission to access Google Sheets

Not tested, but I assume when the sheet in question is accessible across all Google accounts I would not have any issues.