Using Google Sheets actions in action flows

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By connecting the
Action builder
to external systems, such as Google Sheets,
admins can integrate Zendesk with external systems in automated workflows,
improving
collaboration and maintaining a seamless experience across multiple platforms.

Note: The
steps associated with external systems in action flows are referred to
collectively
as external actions.



This article contains the following topics:


Connecting Google Sheets to action builder


Using Google Sheets actions in action flows


Recipe: Logging new Zendesk tickets in a Google Sheet





Connecting Google Sheets to action builder


Before you can include external actions in your action flows, you must
connect the
action builder to the external system.


When connecting to external systems for use in action flows, the following
best practices are recommended:


All external actions performed by an action flow are attributed
to the user who connected the
external system. Therefore, it's a best practice to use a dedicated
service
account rather than personal credentials when connecting to each
external
system.


All integrations request access to necessary scopes. However,
it's important that you review and validate the scopes before
authorizing the connection to the external system.


When managing credentials for API key-based tools, such as OpenAI,
it's best to store keys in a secure vault or credential manager.




To connect action builder to Google Sheets


In Admin Center, click
Apps and integrations in the sidebar, then select Actions > Action
flows.


Create
or
edit
an action flow.

Open the step sidebar.

Under External actions, click
Google Sheets.


Click Connect.


Follow Google's prompts to authenticate and complete the
connection.

You'll log into a Google Workspace or Gmail account, and
admin approval might be required in managed environments.


Note: All
external actions performed by an action flow are attributed
to the user
who connected the external system. Therefore, it is a best
practice to
use a dedicated service account rather than personal credentials
when
connecting to each external system.





After you've connected to the system, you'll see an indicator that it's
connected and
details about the instance you're connected to, as well as the actions
available for
Google Sheets.




Using Google Sheets actions in action flows


Google Sheets action steps can be used to create spreadsheets and add
data, such as
an AI-generated ticket summary, to the sheet, which can then be shared
with other
users.


The following Google Sheet actions are available:


Create spreadsheet


List spreadsheets


Create a new sheet


Append row





Creating a new Google spreadsheet


Use the Create spreadsheet action to create
a spreadsheet.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs

spreadsheet_title



Output

spreadsheet_id,
sheet_title,









Listing your Google spreadsheets


Use the List spreadsheet action to return a
list of all spreadsheets in
the account. This step makes it possible to reference and act on
spreadsheets
created outside of the action flow.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs
none


Output

spreadsheet_id
and
sheet_title for
each
spreadsheet









Creating a new sheet in a Google spreadsheet


Use the Create sheet action to add a sheet
to an existing spreadsheet. You
have the option to specify column headings and an initial row of
data.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs

spreadsheet_id,
sheet_title



Output

spreadsheet_id,
sheet_title









Appending a row to a Google spreadsheet


Use the Append row action to add a row to a
sheet previously created by
the action flow.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs

spreadsheet_id,
sheet_title,
values



Output

spreadsheet_id,
sheet_title,
values










Recipe: Logging new Zendesk tickets in a Google Sheet


The following example action flow adds data to a centralized ticket log
in Google
Sheets. Each time a Zendesk ticket submitted, the action flow automatically
adds a
new row to the spreadsheet with the full details. This allows the team
to automate
the tracking of trends, analization of impact, and reporting on volume.


Such an action flow would consist of the following steps:


Add an action flow trigger with the following details:


Click Add trigger.


In the step sidebar, under Zendesk,
click
Tickets.


Click Lifecycle and select
Ticket created.




Add a step to look up ticket details:


In the action builder, beneath the action flow trigger,
click the
Add step icon ( ).


In the step sidebar, under
Zendesk actions, click
Look up
ticket.


Under Ticket ID, click
into the field and then click
Select a variable instead.


Within the variable menu, select
Ticket created as the step
that output the variable you want to use, and then select
Ticket
ID.




Add a step to look up user details about the ticket requester:


In the action builder, click the
Add step icon ( ).


In the step sidebar, under
Zendesk actions, click
Look up
user.


Under User ID type, select
Zendesk user ID.


For User ID, click
Add variable.


Within the variable menu, select
Look up ticket as the step
that outputs the variale you want to use, and then select
Requester ID.




Add a step to lookup details about the ticket requester's organization:


In the action builder, click the
Add step icon ( ).


In the step sidebar, under
Zendesk actions, click
Look up
organization.


Under Organization ID type,
select
Zendesk organization
ID.


For Organization ID, click
Add variable.


Within the variable menu, select
Look up user as the step
that outputs the variale you want to use, and then select
Organization ID.




Add a step to look up user details about the ticket assignee:


In the action builder, click the
Add step icon ( ).


In the step sidebar, under
Zendesk actions, click
Look up
user.


Under User ID type, select
Zendesk user ID.


For User ID, click
Add variable.


Within the variable menu, select
Look up ticket as the step
that outputs the variale you want to use, and then select
Assignee ID.




Add a step that adds a row to a Google Sheets spreadsheet with
the
information you collected for the ticket, requester, organization,
and
assignee:


In the action builder, click the
Add step icon ( ).


In the step sidebar, under
External actions, click
Google
Sheets
and then select Append row to sheet.


Select an existing Spreadsheet
or click Create new and
enter a Spreadsheet title.


Select the Sheet to which
the row is being added.


Under Row values, use variables
from the previous steps to
capture the details you want about the ticket, requester,
organization, and assignee associated with the ticket.
Enter the
data in the order the columns appear in the sheet, separating
each
column's value by a comma.

For example, this might include the
ticket's ID, subject, and date created; the ticket
requester's
name; the organization's name, and more.





Click Save.


Click Test to
test the action flow.


Click the options menu ( )
and select Activate to begin using
the
action flow to automatically log incident tickets in your Google
Sheets
spreadsheet.




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