Using Google Sheets actions in action flows

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<div class="p">
By connecting the
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8855513857306" target="_blank">Action builder</a>
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.
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> The
steps associated with external systems in action flows are referred to
collectively
as <em class="ph i">external actions</em>.
</div>
</div>
<div class="p">
This article contains the following topics:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_pws_ym4_zgc__ul_ysp_sn4_zgc">
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_fqz_sn4_zgc">Connecting Google Sheets to action builder</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_pk2_vn4_zgc">Using Google Sheets actions in action flows</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_olr_yxv_ghc">Recipe: Logging new Zendesk tickets in a Google Sheet</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_fqz_sn4_zgc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Connecting Google Sheets to action builder</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
Before you can include external actions in your action flows, you must
connect the
action builder to the external system.
</p>
<div class="p">
When connecting to external systems for use in action flows, the following
best practices are recommended:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_fqz_sn4_zgc__d8e13">
<li class="li">
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.
</li>
<li class="li">
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.
</li>
<li class="li">
When managing credentials for API key-based tools, such as OpenAI,
it's best to store keys in a secure vault or credential manager.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To connect action builder to Google Sheets</strong>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_fqz_sn4_zgc__ol_psh_lk4_zgc">
<li class="li">
<span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_apps_integrations_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Apps and integrations</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Actions &gt; Action
flows</strong>.</span>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8855601898266" target="_blank">Create</a>
or
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9052312956570" target="_blank">edit</a>
an action flow.
</li>
<li class="li">Open the step sidebar.</li>
<li class="li">
Under <strong class="ph b">External actions</strong>, click
<strong class="ph b">Google Sheets</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Click <strong class="ph b">Connect</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Follow Google's prompts to authenticate and complete the
connection.
<p class="p">
You'll log into a Google Workspace or Gmail account, and
admin approval might be required in managed environments.
</p>
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> 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.
</div>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<p class="p">
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.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_pk2_vn4_zgc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Using Google Sheets actions in action flows</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
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.
</p>
<div class="p">
The following Google Sheet actions are available:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_pk2_vn4_zgc__ul_jby_q44_zgc">
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_lck_r44_zgc">Create spreadsheet</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_enj_jqm_k3c">List spreadsheets</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_jj3_s44_zgc">Create a new sheet</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_w21_544_zgc">Append row</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested2" id="topic_lck_r44_zgc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title4">Creating a new Google spreadsheet</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
Use the <em class="ph i">Create spreadsheet</em> action to create
a spreadsheet.
</p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_lck_r44_zgc__table_w1w_4nz_hgc" rules="all" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: auto;" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align: left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e208" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e210" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e208" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e210" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">
<code class="ph codeph">spreadsheet_title</code>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e208" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e210" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">
<code class="ph codeph">spreadsheet_id</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">sheet_title</code>,
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested2" id="topic_enj_jqm_k3c">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title5">Listing your Google spreadsheets</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
Use the <em class="ph i">List spreadsheet</em> 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.
</p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_enj_jqm_k3c__table_fnj_jqm_k3c" rules="all" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: auto;" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align: left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e277" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e279" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e277" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e279" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">none</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e277" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e279" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">
<code class="ph codeph">spreadsheet_id</code>
and
<code class="ph codeph">sheet_title</code> for
each
spreadsheet
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested2" id="topic_jj3_s44_zgc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title6">Creating a new sheet in a Google spreadsheet</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
Use the <em class="ph i">Create sheet</em> action to add a sheet
to an existing spreadsheet. You
have the option to specify column headings and an initial row of
data.
</p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_jj3_s44_zgc__table_tc1_5nz_hgc" rules="all" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: auto;" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align: left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e345" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e347" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e345" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e347" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">
<code class="ph codeph">spreadsheet_id</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">sheet_title</code>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e345" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e347" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">
<code class="ph codeph">spreadsheet_id</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">sheet_title</code>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title7" class="topic nested2" id="topic_w21_544_zgc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title7">Appending a row to a Google spreadsheet</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
Use the <em class="ph i">Append row</em> action to add a row to a
sheet previously created by
the action flow.
</p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_w21_544_zgc__table_r2p_knz_hgc" rules="all" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: auto;" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align: left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e417" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e419" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e417" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e419" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">
<code class="ph codeph">spreadsheet_id</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">sheet_title</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">values</code>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e417" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e419" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">
<code class="ph codeph">spreadsheet_id</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">sheet_title</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">values</code>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title8" class="topic nested1" id="topic_olr_yxv_ghc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title8">Recipe: Logging new Zendesk tickets in a Google Sheet</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
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.
</p>
<div class="p">
Such an action flow would consist of the following steps:
<ol class="ol" id="topic_olr_yxv_ghc__ol_t2n_bxq_chc">
<li class="li">
Add an action flow trigger with the following details:
<ol class="ol" id="topic_olr_yxv_ghc__ol_l2n_nwq_chc" type="a">
<li class="li">
Click <strong class="ph b">Add trigger</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
In the step sidebar, under <strong class="ph b">Zendesk</strong>,
click
<strong class="ph b">Tickets</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Click <strong class="ph b">Lifecycle</strong> and select
<strong class="ph b">Ticket created</strong>.
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">
Add a step to look up ticket details:
<ol class="ol" id="topic_olr_yxv_ghc__ol_u1q_wcx_chc" type="a">
<li class="li">
In the action builder, beneath the action flow trigger,
click the
<strong class="ph b">Add step</strong> icon (<img class="image" id="topic_olr_yxv_ghc__image_ls5_1xr_1hc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/icon_action_flows_add.png" width="16">).
</li>
<li class="li">
In the step sidebar, under
<strong class="ph b">Zendesk actions</strong>, click
<strong class="ph b">Look up
ticket</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Under <strong class="ph b">Ticket ID</strong>, click
into the field and then click
<strong class="ph b">Select a variable instead</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Within the variable menu, select
<strong class="ph b">Ticket created</strong> as the step
that output the variable you want to use, and then select
<strong class="ph b">Ticket
ID</strong>.
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">
Add a step to look up user details about the ticket requester:
<ol class="ol" id="topic_olr_yxv_ghc__ol_zjp_qdx_chc" type="a">
<li class="li">
In the action builder, click the
<strong class="ph b">Add step</strong> icon (<img class="image" id="topic_olr_yxv_ghc__image_ox3_rdx_chc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/icon_action_flows_add.png" width="16">).
</li>
<li class="li">
In the step sidebar, under
<strong class="ph b">Zendesk actions</strong>, click
<strong class="ph b">Look up
user</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Under <strong class="ph b">User ID type</strong>, select
<strong class="ph b">Zendesk user ID</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
For <strong class="ph b">User ID</strong>, click
<strong class="ph b">Add variable</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Within the variable menu, select
<strong class="ph b">Look up ticket</strong> as the step
that outputs the variale you want to use, and then select
<strong class="ph b">Requester ID</strong>.
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">
Add a step to lookup details about the ticket requester's organization:
<ol class="ol" id="topic_olr_yxv_ghc__ol_wxc_k2x_chc" type="a">
<li class="li">
In the action builder, click the
<strong class="ph b">Add step</strong> icon (<img class="image" id="topic_olr_yxv_ghc__image_xxc_k2x_chc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/icon_action_flows_add.png" width="16">).
</li>
<li class="li">
In the step sidebar, under
<strong class="ph b">Zendesk actions</strong>, click
<strong class="ph b">Look up
organization</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Under <strong class="ph b">Organization ID type</strong>,
select
<strong class="ph b">Zendesk organization
ID</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
For <strong class="ph b">Organization ID</strong>, click
<strong class="ph b">Add variable</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Within the variable menu, select
<strong class="ph b">Look up user</strong> as the step
that outputs the variale you want to use, and then select
<strong class="ph b">Organization ID</strong>.
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">
Add a step to look up user details about the ticket assignee:
<ol class="ol" id="topic_olr_yxv_ghc__ol_olj_hzv_ghc" type="a">
<li class="li">
In the action builder, click the
<strong class="ph b">Add step</strong> icon (<img class="image" id="topic_olr_yxv_ghc__image_plj_hzv_ghc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/icon_action_flows_add.png" width="16">).
</li>
<li class="li">
In the step sidebar, under
<strong class="ph b">Zendesk actions</strong>, click
<strong class="ph b">Look up
user</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Under <strong class="ph b">User ID type</strong>, select
<strong class="ph b">Zendesk user ID</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
For <strong class="ph b">User ID</strong>, click
<strong class="ph b">Add variable</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Within the variable menu, select
<strong class="ph b">Look up ticket</strong> as the step
that outputs the variale you want to use, and then select
<strong class="ph b">Assignee ID</strong>.
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">
Add a step that adds a row to a Google Sheets spreadsheet with
the
information you collected for the ticket, requester, organization,
and
assignee:
<ol class="ol" id="topic_olr_yxv_ghc__ol_jhh_52x_chc" type="a">
<li class="li">
In the action builder, click the
<strong class="ph b">Add step</strong> icon (<img class="image" id="topic_olr_yxv_ghc__image_lqs_52x_chc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/icon_action_flows_add.png" width="16">).
</li>
<li class="li">
In the step sidebar, under
<strong class="ph b">External actions</strong>, click
<strong class="ph b">Google
Sheets</strong>
and then select <strong class="ph b">Append row to sheet</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Select an existing <strong class="ph b">Spreadsheet</strong>
or click <strong class="ph b">Create new</strong> and
enter a <strong class="ph b">Spreadsheet title</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Select the <strong class="ph b">Sheet</strong> to which
the row is being added.
</li>
<li class="li">
Under <strong class="ph b">Row values</strong>, 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.
<p class="p">
For example, this might include the
ticket's ID, subject, and date created; the ticket
requester's
name; the organization's name, and more.
</p>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">
Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Click <strong class="ph b">Test</strong> to
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9052312956570#topic_uyj_qsw_3fc" target="_blank">test the action flow</a>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Click the options menu (<img class="image" id="topic_olr_yxv_ghc__image_lg5_yjx_chc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/options-menu-icon-small.png">)
and select <strong class="ph b">Activate</strong> to begin using
the
action flow to automatically log incident tickets in your Google
Sheets
spreadsheet.
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
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"headline": "Using Google Sheets actions in action flows",
"description": "You can connect Google Sheets to an action builder to automate workflows that create, list, and update spreadsheets with data from ticket events for centralized tracking and reporting.",
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"datePublished": "2025-10-16T17:49:45+00:00",
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