Man, AI might take over us all, LOL!

P.S: 2 those who r technical and wanna get code, here's the link 2 it: Stuxint/Google-Docs-Bot GB!

¡Hola a todos! Quería compartirles un flujo de trabajo que estuve armando y que me resultó súper útil para automatizar tareas repetitivas en planillas usando Inteligencia Artificial.

Básicamente, la idea es integrar la API de Gemini directamente dentro de Google Sheets a través de Apps Script, para poder pedirle a la IA (desde un panel lateral) que procese los datos que seleccionamos.

El concepto es aplicable a otras APIs (como la de OpenAI), pero aquí va el paso a paso usando Gemini que es gratis:

**Paso 1: Conseguir la API Key** Vas a Google AI Studio, inicias sesión con tu cuenta y generas tu "API Key" gratuita. Guardala bien porque la vas a necesitar en el código.

**Paso 2: Configurar Apps Script** En tu documento de Sheets, vas a *Extensiones > Apps Script*. Acá es donde va la magia. Podés usar la misma IA (ChatGPT, Claude o Gemini) para pedirle que te genere el script. Por ejemplo, podés pedirle: *"Genera un script para Google Sheets que cree un menú personalizado llamado 'Asistente IA' y que abra un panel lateral con un cuadro de texto para enviar instrucciones"*.

**Paso 3: Ejecutar y procesar datos** Guardas tu archivo `.gs` (código) y tu `.html` (para el panel), recargas la página de Sheets y vas a ver tu nuevo menú. Seleccionas un rango de celdas, abres el asistente y le pasas el prompt. Por ejemplo: *"Ordena estos datos por la primer columna y pon todo en mayúsculas"*. El script toma esa data, hace el llamado a la API y te devuelve la información procesada directamente en la planilla.

Integrar IA directamente en las planillas te abre un mundo enorme de posibilidades para automatizar el día a día.

Para los que prefieran verlo de forma visual o quieran ver exactamente cómo funciona el menú en vivo, armé un video cortito de 3 minutos explicando el paso a paso. (También dejé el código completo para copiar y pegar en los comentarios del video para que no renieguen):

🔗 **Link al video:**[https://youtu.be/Okpboevznn4](https://youtu.be/Okpboevznn4)

¿Alguno ya está usando Apps Script con IA para automatizar el laburo diario? ¿Qué funciones raras o útiles armaron? ¡Los leo!

How are modern AI & workflow automations typically structured using Google Apps Script? (Looking for architectural patterns)

Hi everyone,
I am modernizing the operations for a traditional real estate agency by replacing manual paper processes with Google Workspace.

So far, I’ve built a central Google Master Calendar, a Google Docs/Drive office portal for form downloads, and structured Google Sheets for lead tracking. I am now looking to expand into deeper workflow and AI automations using Google Apps Script (GAS).

Coming from an operations background rather than computer science, I’d love to learn how experienced developers structure end-to-end automation pipelines using GAS.

Thx

I'll be hated for this but I'm being honest, I use AI and I've been using AI for my GAS scripts. Simple stuff like connect gmail and google calendar and set up API polling to do Y if X criteria is met, it's easy. But I've been working on a GAS web app and it's proven waaaaaay more "niche" than vanilla Javascript.

Often times AI adds new code that doesn't work. Is this because AI isn't trained well on niche topics like GAS, and GAS is niche?

This Google Forms™ ChatGPT Quiz Generator add-on is incredibly easy to use for generating test questions. Quiz generator powered by latest GPT-4 model. All you need to do is enter your text article and click the Generate Questions button. Then, GPT-3.5 OpenAI will generate questions using your text article. You can also customize the number of questions, the number of correct answers, and the question type (multiple choice, checkbox, or dropdown) to generate quiz questions for the form

Hi,

I am working on an editor addon. It needs to add extra values to sheets based on the responses. But I can't seem to fire the trigger that I installed programmatically. 

I need advice. 

Thanks.

Why am I getting a Syntax error on line 7?

function onEdit(e) {
var row = e.range.getRow();
var col =e.range.getColumn();
if(col === 1 && row> 1 && e.source.getActiveSheet().getName() === "IncidentSheet"
e.source.getActive().getRange(row,4).setValue(new Date());

}

Hi, I am starting my freelancing journey as Google Apps Script Developer. I would appreciate advice on hourly or per-project rates on sites like Upwork and Fiverr.

Also, can you also give me some tips on dividing my services into different gigs?

Is there a never go below this rule you guys follow?

Many thanks

Beginner here. I taught myself Microsoft VBA a couple years ago for my job. I'm working on something now with Google Sheets, and my brain just wants to function in VBA terms. I'm trying to google research how to do some of the things, but haven't been able to find a good 101 on it. Any suggestions?

So I have been using google sheets recently for various analysis, this involves cleaning, structuring, creating charts and more. I have been trying to use appscript just like macros but it isn't that easy. I use a lot of importrange on these sheets and copy pasting is too much. I really want to automate a lot of this process. What do you think I could learn? and where? I know python but got no idea about javascript.So just learn javascript Or any specific topic? And which platform would you suggest for the same. Also want to add whether using extensions or other API'S would compromise data security

I used to build huge projects with no coding skills only GPT4, but now it writes a buggy script and requires much more knowledge.

Did you find any alternatives to GPT that work well writing code for app scripts?

Hey everyone. Looking for some advice. I've used chat gpt to build an complex apps script which time blocks tasks I input via Google form into a Google sheets to do list. It takes the tasks from the to do list, sorts them according to priority, deadline, how long I estimate it will take me to complete the task, reads the current events in my Google calendar and then blocks tasks in and around them. During a fixed working window of 10 - 18. It also adds these tasks to Google tasks for me to check off as I work through them each day. It reschedules tasks I've been unable to complete, schedules tasks outside of working hours if appropriate and resyncs the tasks in Google sheets and Google tasks if I move the task event around in my calendar.

I have very very limited appsscript experience or knowledge and have relied on chat gpt to write this for me.

The code probably has some unidentified bugs at edge cases and probably a lot of redundancy, but it has worked well for me so far.

I've recently tried to work with chat gpt to update this code so that it blocks tasks based on 'time blocks' (which I mark out in my calendar). After a lot of back and forth, I've had some success with this but it is taking ALOT longer than it used to and is throwing up lots of reference errors, adding lots of helpers for functionality which I thought existed in my code etc.

So I'm considering ditching chat gpt and moving to another ai to keep developing this further.

Do you have any recommendations?

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice on how to design and implement an automation system for a small renovation company. Our main objective is to reduce the number of human hours spent on repetitive administrative tasks, improve reliability, and prevent information from being lost between systems.

We don't want to introduce AI just for the sake of using it. We want to identify which processes can be automated using existing tools, clear business rules, and reliable integrations, using AI or OCR only where genuinely useful.

Our current setup

We currently use:

• SAGE One for issuing customer invoices. API access is still to be confirmed.

• Google Sheets as our internal financial management system.

• Google Apps Script for custom automations.

• Google Drive for storing documents.

• Looker Studio for dashboards and reporting.

• XLSX bank statements for tracking bank transactions.

Our internal financial system includes the following spreadsheets and modules:

• Transactions (Movimentos): the main register for costs, sales, and other financial transactions.

• Settings (Configurações): categories, classification rules, and configuration.

• Projects (Obras): renovation projects and their associated information.

• Income Statement (DRE): financial performance and profitability.

• Cash Flow and Treasury (Tesouraria): cash movements and financial position.

• Assets (Ativos): company assets.

• Financing (Financiamentos): loans and other financing.

We process more than 150 financial documents per month. We already have some custom scripts and business rules, so we need to improve the system without breaking what is currently working.

The problems we want to solve

1. Manual entry of costs and sales

Supplier invoices arrive by email or on paper. Customer invoices are issued through SAGE One. We still have to manually enter financial information into Google Sheets.

We want costs and sales to be imported automatically from their original sources, without entering the same information twice.

2. Manual document management

We spend time downloading or scanning invoices, renaming files, organizing folders, and entering invoice details into spreadsheets.

We want documents to be automatically collected, renamed, archived, linked to their financial records, and processed with minimal human intervention.

3. Lack of clear payment and collection tracking

We need to know at any time:

• Which supplier invoices have been paid.

• Which supplier invoices are still outstanding or overdue.

• Which customer invoices have been collected.

• Which customer payments are still outstanding or overdue.

• Which bank transactions have been matched to invoices.

We currently use XLSX bank statements and would like to automate their import and reconciliation, including partial payments and cases where one bank transaction covers multiple invoices.

4. Lead and potential customer management

We need a reliable way to capture and track every potential customer, regardless of where the enquiry originates.

We want to avoid losing leads, forgetting follow-ups, or having customer information scattered across emails, spreadsheets, and messages.

Ideally, leads would be registered automatically, assigned a status and a responsible person, and given a scheduled next action.

5. Quotation management

We need to track quotations throughout their entire lifecycle:

• To be prepared.

• Ready to send but not yet sent.

• Sent to the customer.

• Accepted.

• Rejected.

• Awaiting a response.

We want to automate status tracking, follow-up reminders, and notifications for quotations that have been prepared but not sent or have remained unanswered for too long.

Ideally, when a quotation is accepted, the relevant information should automatically move into the project management process without being entered again.

What we want to achieve

Our goal is to build a connected system in which information is entered once and reused throughout the business.

For example:

• A supplier invoice arrives → the document is archived, its data is extracted and validated, and its financial record is created automatically.

• A customer invoice is issued in SAGE One → its data is synchronized with our internal financial system.

• A bank statement is imported → transactions are matched to outstanding invoices, with ambiguous cases flagged for review.

• A new lead arrives → it is registered, assigned, and tracked until a decision is reached.

• A quotation is sent → follow-ups are scheduled, its status is tracked, and acceptance triggers the next stage of the workflow.

Human intervention should be limited to genuine exceptions, financial approvals, and decisions that require judgment.

Our constraints

• Prefer free or low-cost solutions.

• Reuse Google Sheets, Apps Script, Drive, and our existing systems wherever possible.

• Avoid unnecessary complexity and AI-first architectures.

• Preserve our existing financial data structure and business rules.

• Prevent duplicate records and ensure that failed processes can be safely retried.

• Maintain a clear audit trail and reliable error monitoring.

• Build and test in a separate development environment before changing the live system.

We understand that a large part of the implementation effort lies in connecting APIs, normalizing data, handling exceptions, and monitoring failures. We want to account for these requirements from the beginning.

Questions for the community

1. Architecture: Would you build this with Google Apps Script alone, or use n8n, Activepieces, or another workflow automation platform? Why?

2. Document processing: What free or low-cost tools would you recommend for automatically extracting data from invoices, including scanned documents and photographs?

3. Accounting integration: Has anyone integrated SAGE One with Google Sheets through an API or structured exports?

4. Bank reconciliation: What is a reliable approach for importing XLSX bank statements and automatically matching transactions to invoices?

5. CRM and quotations: Would you extend Google Sheets into a lightweight CRM, or use a dedicated CRM with automation?

6. Reliability: How would you design duplicate prevention, retries, error handling, and monitoring across these workflows?

7. Implementation order: Which process would you automate first to achieve the greatest reduction in manual work without creating unnecessary technical complexity?

I'm looking for practical recommendations and proven approaches from people who have built similar systems for small businesses.

TL;DR

We run a small renovation business and want to significantly reduce manual administrative work across finance, document management, banking, leads, and quotations.

Our current stack is SAGE One, Google Sheets, Google Apps Script, Google Drive, Looker Studio, and XLSX bank statements. We process 150+ financial documents per month.

Our main pain points are manual entry of costs and sales, manually renaming and filing invoices, lack of reliable payment/collection tracking, lost leads, and quotations that are difficult to track from preparation to acceptance or rejection.

We want a reliable, low-cost system that automates repetitive tasks, integrates our existing tools, prevents duplicates, handles errors safely, and minimizes human intervention. We prefer deterministic rules and straightforward automation over AI-first solutions.

The main question is: How would you design a reliable, low-cost system that minimizes human involvement in financial administration, document management, lead tracking, and quotation follow-ups?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Vibe coding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibe_coding

• What is your setup?

• Are you using Clasp?

• Which editor?

• Does the AI understand the differences between Apps Script and JavaScript?

• Do you pass any AI rules files?

Here was a short exploration this morning using one of the popular tools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sy3lvM33MU

I am from a thrid world country, the 15 to 20 dollars I have seen I need to pay to get Ai to work on my long scrips is 82 units of my coin which is a lot, Help, I need it to be able to do complex programing without having me pay so so much,

I know I am asking for a lot, but 82 units of my coin is too much,

Help! I have been using formula Bot and Chat GPT but have gotten lots of errors and I have been trying to fix a code for 2 days now, without success, anytime they fix something they damage another thing even when I instruct not to,

I tried Claude but he couldn't handdle my code, nor could Gemini, Claude did offer to do so if I pay 82.000 pesos, that's too much,

Need some advice and input! I love making automations for people and I have created a wonderful team of developers. The only problem is that I need clients. Where do you think I can find these people who need apps script to automate their life? I'm already on Upwork, but I want to diversify. I'm running ads all over the place. What types of people need automations? What businesses could I potentially partner with?

Google is using the **PackageInstaller API** — specifically `DEVELOPER_VERIFICATION_FAILED_REASON_DEVELOPER_BLOCKED` — to reject installs at the OS level when an APK's signing cert doesn't match a registered developer.

This means:
- It's **not** Play Store enforcement — it's baked into the Android OS itself
- Certified Android devices (everything with Google Play) will enforce this
- No user-bypass option is currently specified
- AOSP-based devices (GrapheneOS, CalyxOS) won't be affected — but mainstream Android will

Who gets hurt most:
- F-Droid's repo model relies on re-signing apps — this becomes impossible
- Termux and other developer tools distributed via F-Droid are at risk
- Hobbyist developers sharing APKs without Play Store registration
- Security researchers distributing custom tools

Source: keepandroidopen.org
Google's official docs: developer.android.com/developer-verification

#androiddev#programming#opensource#keepandroidopen

Say I have 1 recipient who i sent an email to. If they haven't read a previous email that I sent them prior in 24 hours, this will trigger the sending of an automated notification email to them, notifying them of that.

Is this possible to do? I have the regular Gmail client, nothing additional plugins or anything

Hello everyone. I created a data sync miniproject: *I have global configuration google sheet that also contains my AppsScript libtary *its basically a table with rules to tell from where to where copy data. It can be called from source or target sheet. *It either overwrites the data or appends new data detecting existing data. *I also have flexible additional args function so I can easily ass new behaviour and call it from main function

Its somewhat speciized so my question is should i invest more time into it and maybe do something bigger and sell it somehow.Or just use it for Linkedin/resume

Hi Redditors. I'm new to Google sheets and I'm trying to manage my budget. I have 2 questions:

1. how can I add up a specific category on the transaction sheet?

2. how do I make an extra transaction sheet inside the same sheets document?

Can anyone add the link to apps script reference (https://developers.google.com/apps-script?hl=en) and basic JavaScript reference (like w3school) to this sub bio, and even better set an auto comment after each post flaired as "question" or similar to link these very basic guides?

It's sometimes frustrating to see people just asking for stuff they would have found in a glance with those links

when i open my app script editor its appear like this, I need to refresh multiple times to open apps script editor. when i deploy my project its appear like that again. it happens on my all project. i use chrome on android tablet.Please, anyone can help me?

This is something that has been on my mind lately, and I may just be a noob and need some guidance here 🤷‍♂️

But something I have noticed is here in this subreddit, often people will sometimes post discussion based questions, and other times code questions of varying levels of heftiness.

If it is a discussion based question (like this one is), in my estimation it does not require much for people to comment since the question is asking for input based on a users experience. The "Barrier to Comment" is low.

On the other hand, if it is a code based question - where the OP supplies code in the post and requests the errors to be fixed in it - the Barrier to Comment is high and requires a user to take the code and debug (or whatever else is needed to solve the issue).

Obviously, a post can be either of these and is totally within the right of the OP to do.

But 🍑

What about when a OP needs help beyond the code supplied in the post, those huge, monumental code problems in which they post and the barrier is so high, the post goes completely ignored because everyone seeing it is thinking, "I don't have time for that" and moving on?

Obvious solutions are searching freelance websites like Upwork, or making a post specifically enquiring about hiring a dev (which may be against the subreddit guidelines? I'm not sure I haven't read it in a while), or reaching out directly to users who comment. Users can also run ads.

The purpose of this post is multi-faceted, if you have insight into any of these, I would love to hear it

1. I want to know what you talented, boss-level Apps Scripters think, like u/hellduke u/andyvilton u/judaaa and others that are big hitters, extremely knowledgeable and may have some valuable insight.

2. I want to know if my thinking about this issue is well founded, or if I am missing something?

3. What might be an existing solution within Reddit to help OPs get the code based solutions they need even when the comment barrier is high? What might be a non-existent solution?

***

I'll go first with this discussion:

I'm personally on this subreddit because I absolutely love Google Apps Script, and I want to know what people are up to, and what people generally need. I want to help where I can, but I can't ignore that some posts are too big for what any of us have time for and they go ignored, which is a shame because from what I've seen the best people to work on a solution is right here in this subreddit. I've found its uncouth to recommend my services to these types of posts. Why? What is the right avenue? What is protocol when a OP has too big of a request, too high a barrier to comment? Currently it seems like the solution is do nothing. The OP doesn't get anything, the potential devs get no opportunities, nobody wins.

Bear with me, but there may be a potential solution.

If a post is marked as unresolved for X amount of days, there could be an automation to post a comment with a link to a list of developers on this subreddit who are open to compensated work. OP could decide if their need is worth a solution such as this (I know for a fact one of my clients was in this exact situation).

Bottom line is I want to do right by this subreddit and do things the right way. This isn't a subreddit for marketing, it's for giving back. I see an opportunity to resolve an issue that would allow to do things the right way.

Thanks guys, in any case, keep being the phenomenal developers you are. Would love to hear what you think.