Inspect and verify

How gform learns a live Google Form and whether your local YAML still matches it.

Related: commands/inspect · commands/verify · schema · limitations

Inspect — what it fetches

gform inspect <form>
gform insp <form>
gform inspect 'https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/…/viewform'
gform inspect <form> --json
gform inspect <form> --auth              # or --profile <name>

Reads public HTML / FB_PUBLIC_LOAD_DATA_ through the shared FormModel pipe (same pipe as init / run preflight):

Captured	Notes
Title, questions, types	Including rating, title-only, grids as row radios
Options, required	Exact labels matter for YAML matching
File-upload presence	Often needs --auth to hydrate fully
collectEmail / mode	Verified Google email vs typed
Closed / login / already-responded	Risk flags
Invisible captcha attribute	When present in the page
Branches / go-to-section	Metadata; fill still follows your next steps

Does not invent “limit to one response” from opaque internals. Org restriction usually surfaces as a login wall.

Public vs authenticated

Mode	When
Default	Public fetch — enough for many open forms
--auth / --profile	Login-gated or file-upload forms; uses a saved session

gform run inspects before fill unless --skip-inspect / -si.

Risk flags (examples)

Inspect and list --policy surface flags such as:

• login — sign-in or permission wall
• closed — not accepting responses
• already / already-responded
• captcha / invisible captcha
• file-upload
• collect-email

Exact presentation depends on command and --json. Treat flags as warnings for planning, not a guarantee the run will succeed.

Verify — local contract

gform verify <form>
gform ver <form>
gform verify                 # entire global library

Runs the same Zod schema as edit --ask Save and run load:

• required fields, discriminated actions
• unknown keys rejected
• variantMode: zip with unequal pool lengths fails here (and on run)
• file accept / maxBytes gates when data is local; Drive bytes are not downloaded offline

Verify --check — live sync

gform verify <form> --check
gform verify <form> --check --yes        # apply without confirm
gform verify <form> --check --auth       # file-upload / gated forms

Re-inspects the live form and proposes safe YAML updates:

Change kind	Meaning
accept	Widen YAML accept categories from live hints
maxBytes / maxFiles	Fill from hydrated live limits (per-file)
add-step	Stub for a new question
orphan	Step left in YAML that no longer matches — review

In sync means the local contract matches what this check considers safe/current for structure and accept hints — not that every answer will submit, that Google will never throttle, or that file content was downloaded.

--auth / --profile / --yes only work with --check. Offline verify never hits the network.

What verification does not guarantee

• Successful submit under headless
• CAPTCHA absence tomorrow
• Identical DOM selectors forever
• That gdrive / remote URLs still resolve
• Authorization or form-owner permission

For runtime diagnosis, use artifacts and limitations.

Suggested loop

gform inspect <form>
gform edit <form> --ask
gform verify <form>
gform verify <form> --check
gform run <form> --policy demo