By name: google-colab-cli description: "Use when installing, authenticating, account switching, troubleshooting, or operating google-colab-cli for Colab VM execution, file transfer, Drive mount, GPU/TPU use, or compute-unit-sensitive sessions."
google-colab-cli
USE FOR:
- Verify/install
google-colab-cli. - Plan
colab new/run/exec, transfer, Drive mount, teardown. - Switch accounts or debug auth/scope failures.
DO NOT USE FOR:
- Browser-notebook MCP workflows; use
colab-mcp. - GPU/TPU, OAuth, Drive mount, or session creation before account/resource confirmation.
colab update --installunless explicitly requested.
Install
Managed by mise: "pipx:google-colab-cli" = "latest".
mise exec 'pipx:google-colab-cli' -- colab version
Auth
Pass --auth=oauth2 or --auth=adc; do not rely on defaults. Verify identity before paid or Drive-touching work:
colab --auth=oauth2 whoami
colab --auth=adc whoami
OAuth2 switch:
colab --auth=oauth2 sessions
colab --auth=oauth2 stop -s <session-name>
rm ~/.config/colab-cli/token.json
colab --auth=oauth2 whoami
ADC switch: re-run gcloud auth application-default login with userinfo.email and colaboratory scopes, then colab --auth=adc whoami.
--config separates session metadata, not the default OAuth2 token.
Examples
Before provisioning, confirm account, accelerator, duration, Drive/GCP exposure, transferred files, and teardown.
colab --auth=oauth2 new -s work --gpu T4
colab --auth=oauth2 exec -s work -f script.py
colab --auth=oauth2 stop -s work
One-shot: colab --auth=oauth2 run --gpu T4 script.py. Treat downloads, logs, notebook outputs, tokens, and Drive content as sensitive.
Troubleshooting
If scopes fail, re-run ADC login with colaboratory. If account is wrong, stop sessions and remove OAuth2 token.json before reauth.