Google Apps Script Automation Guide: Connect Workspace Services with Code

What is Google Apps Script?

Google Apps Script is a cloud-based JavaScript runtime environment that lets you easily integrate with and automate Google Workspace services—including Gmail, Sheets, Docs, Drive, Calendar, and Forms—with zero server provisioning.

Key Built-in Services

• SpreadsheetApp: Read and write sheet cells, format tables, add tabs.
• GmailApp: Send HTML emails, search threads, parse attachments.
• DriveApp: Create folders, copy files, update permissions.
• CalendarApp: Schedule appointments, invite attendees, query availability.
• UrlFetchApp: Call external REST APIs (e.g., Stripe, Slack, OpenAI, Gemini).

Building a Custom Menu in Google Sheets

Add custom buttons directly to the Google Sheets top menu ribbon so non-technical colleagues can execute automations with a single click:

function onOpen() {
  const ui = SpreadsheetApp.getUi();
  ui.createMenu('🚀 Quick Actions')
    .addItem('Send Invoices to Clients', 'sendInvoicesBatch')
    .addItem('Archive Completed Tasks', 'archiveTasks')
    .addToUi();
}