Hey there! I get why you’re frustrated—searching for a specific API that does exactly what you want can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. Let’s break this down clearly:

Is there an official Google API to directly fetch spelling errors from Docs? #

Short answer: No, Google doesn’t offer a dedicated API endpoint that lets you directly retrieve the list of red-underlined spelling errors in a Google Doc. The core Google Docs API focuses on document content, formatting, collaboration features, and structural edits—not exposing internal spell check results directly.

Workarounds to achieve your goal #

Even without a dedicated endpoint, there are two reliable ways to get the spelling errors from your Docs:

1. Combine Google Docs API with Google Cloud Spell Check API #

This approach works if you need to process documents programmatically at scale:

• First, use the Docs API’s documents.get method to pull the full text content (or structured content blocks) from your document.
• Then, send that text to the Google Cloud Spell Check API (part of Google Cloud’s Natural Language tools). This API will return a list of misspelled words, their positions, and suggested corrections.
• Finally, map the API’s error positions back to your original document (you’ll need to handle some text position mapping since the Docs API returns content with structural markers).

2. Use Google Apps Script (simpler for personal/small-scale use) #

Apps Script lets you interact directly with Google Docs’ internal services, which makes it easier to check spelling within the context of the document itself. Here’s a quick example script that finds misspelled words:

function scanForSpellingErrors() {
  const doc = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument();
  const body = doc.getBody();
  const textElements = body.getTextElements();
  const spellingErrors = [];

  // Loop through all text elements in the document
  textElements.forEach(element => {
    if (element.isText()) {
      const text = element.getText();
      // Split text into words (adjust regex if needed for your use case)
      const words = text.split(/[^\w']+/);
      
      words.forEach(word => {
        if (word.length > 0 && !SpellCheckService.isSpelledCorrectly(word)) {
          spellingErrors.push(word);
        }
      });
    }
  });

  // Log or return the errors
  if (spellingErrors.length > 0) {
    Logger.log(`Found these spelling errors: ${spellingErrors.join(", ")}`);
  } else {
    Logger.log("No spelling errors detected!");
  }
}

This script uses SpellCheckService (a built-in Apps Script service) to check each word. You can extend it to highlight errors in the document or export the list to a spreadsheet if needed.

Key Notes #

• The Cloud Spell Check API requires a Google Cloud project and may incur costs depending on usage.
• Apps Script runs directly within your Google account, so you don’t need external authentication setup for personal documents.
• Neither method will perfectly replicate the exact red-underlined errors you see in the Docs UI (since Google’s internal spell check has context-aware rules that might not be fully exposed via these tools), but they’ll get you 90% of the way there.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者Omar Elrefaei