Google People API - Directory Contacts - Cannot get name field from API - google-api

Question

We are using People API to fetch details from Directory . The API is not returning the name for most of the people in the directory. 2 accounts in our GSuite account alone provide the name field, while the others don't. However, other details like emailAddresses and phoneNumbers are available for everyone.
We didn't find any finer grained control for individual fields when using the setting External Directory Sharing → Domain and public data
We tried to change the setting from default to External Directory Sharing → Public data and authenticated user basic profile fields. However, this results in API response showing PERMISSION_DENIED error.
For one of the users in directory, we created Google Currents account. When the account was created and active, the name field became available for this user. After the account was deleted/deactivated, the name field was no longer available.
People API being used:
GET https://people.googleapis.com/v1/people:searchDirectoryPeople?query=a&sources=DIRECTORY_SOURCE_TYPE_DOMAIN_CONTACT&sources=DIRECTORY_SOURCE_TYPE_DOMAIN_PROFILE&readMask=emailAddresses,names,phoneNumbers,photos
The docs we have referred to so far are as follows:
People API - Search Directory:
https://developers.google.com/people/api/rest/v1/people/searchDirectoryPeople
Let third-party apps access Directory data:
https://support.google.com/a/answer/6343701
A merged view of people information:
https://developers.google.com/people/#a_merged_view_of_people_information
Edit:
cURL command:
curl --location --request GET 'https://people.googleapis.com/v1/people:searchDirectoryPeople?query=s&sources=DIRECTORY_SOURCE_TYPE_DOMAIN_CONTACT&sources=DIRECTORY_SOURCE_TYPE_DOMAIN_PROFILE&readMask=emailAddresses,names,phoneNumbers,photos' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <access-token>'

Answer 1

This is a known bug with the People API.
You can find it here in Google's issue tracker: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/196235775?pli=1. If this bug is impacting you, I highly suggest you leave a comment letting the team know you're currently facing the issue and leave a +1 by clicking the "+1" button on the top right.
In the comment section of this question, it was suggested that this behavior is to be expected and is related to privacy. It's safe to say that's not the case as 1. the issue was accepted as a bug by the Google team, and 2. all other information is successfully returned from the API aside from this field.
Additional information on the resolution
Back in August of 2022, the Google team explained the fix was being held up by a bigger effort:
Hello there - apologize for the delay, we did identify the root cause,
however the fix is blocked on another bigger effort. We recently
started making progress on the blocking issue, and will provide an ETA
as soon as we figure out some of the unknowns for the solution.
However, recently (January 17th, 2023), the bug was assigned to someone at Google. This may suggest that the bigger effort was completed and that the team is now unblocked.
Potential workaround
Hopefully the bug is fixed soon. But in case we're waiting for a while, these workarounds may help.
Email is reliably returned for all directory users. The OP doesn't mention the exact context in which he or she is using the API, but for some applications you might be able to get away with using email (e.g. if you're just trying to identify the Directory user to the end user).
Additionally, if user email addresses in your directory follow a uniform formatting, you should be able to parse those to get the name. This is the workaround I'm currently using. E.g.
john.smith#example.com -> John Smith
jsmith#example.com -> J. Smith
jsmith3#example.com -> J. Smith (if you're at a large organization, you may have to remove some numbers)
Meta Sidenote
Yes, it's valid to post that something is a known bug as an answer. Check out this link if you have questions: https://meta.stackoverflow.com/a/369622/1101602.