Read, Copy, and Search "Other contacts"

After you've completed the steps in Get Ready to Use the People API, you are ready to read, copy, and search "Other contacts" data.

The following code samples demonstrate how to send a few simple requests. For a full list of methods, see the reference documentation.

List the user's "Other contacts"

To get a list of people in the user's "Other contacts", use the following code:

GET /v1/otherContacts?readMask=names,emailAddresses HTTP/1.1
Host: people.googleapis.com

ListOtherContactsResponse response = peopleService.otherContacts().list()
    .setReadMask("metadata,names,emailAddresses")
    .execute();

List<Person> otherContacts = response.getOtherContacts();

List the user's "Other contacts" that have changed

// Initial request
ListOtherContactsResponse fullSyncResponse = peopleService.otherContacts().list()
    .setReadMask("metadata,names,emailAddresses")
    .setRequestSyncToken(true)
    .execute();
// Fetch all the pages
while (fullSyncResponse.getNextPageToken() != null) {
  fullSyncResponse = peopleService.otherContacts().list()
      .setReadMask("metadata,names,emailAddresses")
      .setRequestSyncToken(true)
      .setPageToken(fullSyncResponse.getNextPageToken())
      .execute();
}

// Some time passes

// Fetch incremental changes using the sync token returned in the last fullSyncResponse.
try {
  ListOtherContactsResponse incrementalSyncResponse = peopleService.otherContacts().list()
      .setReadMask("metadata,names,emailAddresses")
      .setSyncToken(fullSyncResponse.getNextSyncToken())
      .execute();
  for (Person person : incrementalSyncResponse.getOtherContacts()) {
    handlePerson(person);
  }
  
  // Fetch all the pages
  while (!incrementalSyncResponse.getNextPageToken().isEmpty()) {
    incrementalSyncResponse = peopleService.otherContacts().list()
        .setReadMask("metadata,names,emailAddresses")
        .setSyncToken(fullSyncResponse.getNextSyncToken())
        .setPageToken(incrementalSyncResponse.getNextPageToken())
        .execute();
    for (Person person : incrementalSyncResponse.getOtherContacts()) {
      handlePerson(person);
    }
  }
} catch (GoogleJsonResponseException e) {
  if (e.getStatusCode() == 410) {
    // Sync token expired. Make full sync request.
  }
}

void handlePerson(Person person) {
  if (person.getMetadata().getDeleted()) {
    // Handle deleted person
  } else {
    // Handle changed person
  }
}

More details about sync behavior at ListOtherContacts.

Copy an "Other contact" to "myContacts" group

To copy an "Other contact" to "myContacts" group, use the following code:

POST /v1/resource_name:copyOtherContactToMyContactsGroup?copyMask=names,emailAddresses,phoneNumbers HTTP/1.1
Host: people.googleapis.com

Person copiedContact = peopleService
    .otherContacts()
    .copyOtherContactToMyContactsGroup(
        "resource_name",
        new CopyOtherContactToMyContactsGroupRequest()
            .setCopyMask("names,emailAddresses,phoneNumbers"))
    .execute();

Search the user's "Other contacts"

To search all of the user's "Other contacts", use the following code:

// Warmup cache
GET /v1/otherContacts:search?query=&readMask=names,emailAddresses HTTP/1.1
Host: people.googleapis.com

// Send search request after several seconds
GET /v1/otherContacts:search?query=query&readMask=names,emailAddresses HTTP/1.1
Host: people.googleapis.com

// Warmup cache
SearchResponse response = peopleService.otherContacts().search()
    .setQuery("")
    .setReadMask("names,emailAddresses")
    .execute();

// Wait a few seconds
Thread.sleep(5);

// Send search request
SearchResponse response = peopleService.otherContacts().search()
    .setQuery("query")
    .setReadMask("names,emailAddresses")
    .execute();