Create a Shortcut in Google Drive

The following Google Apps Script is designed to create a Shortcut to an existing Google Drive folder, within another folder.

Screenshot of Shortcut file in Google Drive

Enable Drive API
In Script Editor go to Resources > Advanced Google services ... > scroll down and turn on Drive API > click OK.

The Code
Create a new file in Google Drive that will become the Shortcut:

var shortcut = Drive.newFile();

Provide the new file with a title and icon type:

shortcut.title = 'My Shortcut';
shortcut.mimeType = 'application/vnd.google-apps.shortcut';

Now add the ID of the parent Google folder where you want the Shortcut to be created. This is required as a list within an array so it looks more daunting than it needs to be:

shortcut.parents = [
    {
      "id": "ENTER ID HERE"
    }
];

Next we create some further details about the Shortcut - such as the ID of the folder we want it to point to:

var shortcutDetails = Drive.newFileShortcutDetails();
shortcutDetails.targetId = "ENTER ID HERE";
shortcut.shortcutDetails = shortcutDetails;

Finally we insert the Shortcut into Google Drive:

Drive.Files.insert(shortcut);

And that is it.

Create a Shortcut in Google Drive.gs