Calling all Google Workspace developers! Join us for a lively discussion on Apps Script, the cloud-based JavaScript platform that empowers you to automate tasks, connect services, and extend the functionality of your favorite Google apps. Whether you’re a seasoned Apps Script pro or just starting out, this session offers a space to share knowledge, exchange tips, and connect with fellow enthusiasts.
I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be joining Steve Bazyl, Head of Google Workspace DevRel, to co-facilitate the Apps Script Meetup at Google Cloud Next 2025. The last Next meetup we had was in 2018 so this is long overdue.
To help us plan an amazing meetup, we’d love your input! Steve and I have got this very quick survey that we’ll use to help us tailor the content and activities to your interests. The meetup is scheduled for April 10 at 12:15pm and is limited to Google Cloud Next attendees.
If you are attending Cloud Next there are a couple of other meetups:
AppSheet Meetup, with the amazing Alice Keeler and Christian Schalk
The data reveals a notable decrease in Stack Overflow activity related to Google Apps Script from 2023 to 2024. There’s a reduction in total questions, questioners, answerers, and tags used. Interestingly, the ratios of answered and solved questions have increased. This suggests that while there’s less activity, a higher proportion of questions are getting resolved. A key factor influencing these trends is likely the rise of generative AI.
The latest report on the google-apps-script tag on Stack Overflow, published by Kanshi Tanaike, paints a fascinating picture: Google Apps Script is a maturing platform, but it’s also undeniably at a critical juncture. As Tanaike notes, “the rise of generative AI” is reshaping the developer landscape, and this is clearly reflected in the data.
The declining volume of basic Google Apps Script questions on Stack Overflow is arguably not a sign of the platform’s decline, but rather a signal of a significant evolution. This shift demands our attention and a willingness to explore the new opportunities and challenges it presents. This means actively seeking out new opportunities, adapting our skillsets, and rethinking traditional approaches to Google Apps Script development.
I believe the future of Apps Script rests on the skills of its developers and the strength of its community. Fostering a community capable of tackling complex integrations, building sophisticated automation within Google Workspace, and leveraging AI to enhance Apps Script’s capabilities is paramount. Supporting both current and new Apps Script developers, enabling them to unlock the platform’s full potential, is a key part of this future. The core value proposition, Apps Script’s unparalleled integration with the Google ecosystem, remains strong.
The real challenge, and the opportunity, lies in how the Google Apps Script community adapts, supporting knowledge sharing that goes beyond basic Q&A and cultivating a culture of deep understanding, critical thinking, and collaborative problem-solving. For us at AppsScriptPulse, this means continuing to share not just code snippets, but also design patterns, architectural best practices, and strategies for effectively integrating and evaluating AI-generated code.
Quarterly update on the shared bigquery dataset all about the Apps Script developer ecosystem on Github, with reports available on looker.
Bruce Mcpherson’s latest Gassypedia update offers a look at the Apps Script ecosystem, using publicly shared code on GitHub. The report analyses data from over 3100 developers and nearly 100 million files across 200,000 repositories. You can read the full report from the source link at the bottom but here are some key points:
Growth: The Apps Script community is still expanding, but at a slightly slower pace than before.
The number of developers increased by 4%.
Shared repositories grew by 3%.
Manifests increased by 2%.
Add-ons: There’s a 13% increase in Add-ons shared on GitHub.
Chat Add-ons are now most popular, surpassing Sheets.
Chat Add-ons increased by 18%, and Sheets Add-ons by 10%.
Calendar Add-ons saw a slight decrease.
Code Sharing: While the number of Apps Script developers and related content has increased, the total number of all types of repositories and files associated with them has decreased by almost 5%. However, the percentage of those repositories that are Apps Script related has increased.
Clasp: 25.2% of manifests showed Clasp usage, a 1% increase.
OAuth: 851 repos and 1008 manifests use the auth/script_external_request scope, a 6% increase.
Advanced Services: Drive is the most popular advanced service, used in 499 manifests.
Web Apps: 53% of web apps are public, and 81% are executed as the user deploying. 6% of web apps are created in Japan.
Libraries: oauth2 is the most popular library, with 236 users.
Key Takeaways
Apps Script is still a growing platform, with many developers sharing their work.
The rise of Chat Add-ons indicates the maturing of the platform for Google Workspace users.
More developers are sharing Apps Script projects on Github.
Explore the Data
Bruce’s full report is on Looker, with the data available on BigQuery. You can use this data for your own research and share any findings with Bruce.
It’s time for a special “rewind” of top community contributions to AppsScriptPulse in 2024. As part of this revisit, here are the hottest posts that got everyone buzzing each month of the year.
January: The Gemini API and Function Calling (with Martin Hawksey)
Kicking off the year was my own “GenAI for Google Workspace: Exploring Gemini API Function Calling with Google Apps Script — Part 3“. This post delved into the powerful synergy of Gemini and Apps Script, showcasing how to create personalized mail merges using Google Sheets. The key takeaway? Gemini can define functions that your code can actually execute – opening up a whole universe of creative solutions with Apps Script at the helm!
February: Mastering Smart Chips in Google Sheets (with Ben Collins)
February saw us diving headfirst into “The complete guide to Smart Chips in Google Sheets” by Ben Collins. This post was like a treasure map to unlocking the hidden potential of Smart Chips in Google Sheets. We learned how to wrangle and extract data like pros, especially with that super useful dot syntax in formulas. The focus was on the no-code awesomeness of Smart Chips, but Ben teased us with a promise of more developer-focused insights on the Totally Unscripted show – talk about leaving us wanting more!
March: Conquering the CASA Tier 2 Security Assessment (with Kelig Lefeuvre)
March brought a bit of a challenge – navigating the CASA Tier 2 Security Assessment. But fear not, because “Guide to completing Casa Tier 2 Security Assessment for Google Apps Script (and how to scan your Google Apps Script project for CASA)” by Kelig Lefeuvre came to our rescue. Kelig, a Product Engineer at Scriptit & Folgo, provided a developer’s-eye view of the entire process, complete with insider tips you wouldn’t find in the official documentation. This post was a lifeline for anyone looking to publish their masterpiece on the Workspace Marketplace or working with those restricted scopes.
April: Choosing the Right API Call Method (with Justin Poehnelt)
April had us making crucial decisions – “Google Apps Script: google.script.run vs. doGet/doPost Endpoints” by Justin Poehnelt helped us navigate the tricky choice between google.script.run and GET/POST endpoints (doGet and doPost). Justin laid out the pros and cons of each approach, even throwing in some code snippets to get us started. Talk about a helpful hand in picking the perfect tool for our Apps Script arsenal!
May: A Security “Gotcha” and Solutions for Sheets Imports (with Justin Poehnelt)
May threw us a bit of a curveball with Google Sheets’ security updates. “Allowing access for IMPORTHTML, IMPORTDATA, IMPORTFEED, IMPORTXML, and IMPORTRANGE on behalf of the user in Google Sheets” by Justin Poehnelt explained how the enhanced security measures for external data sources impacted both users and developers. Thankfully, Justin also provided the antidote – we learned to use the Sheets API to grant access programmatically, making sure our automations continued humming along smoothly.
June: Bridging AppSheet and Cloud SQL with Ease (with Vo Tu Duc)
June brought us the “ultimate” guide – “The Ultimate Guide Connecting AppSheet to Google Cloud SQL and MySQL databases” by Vo Tu Duc, a Google AppSheet GDE. This post was like having a personal tutor guiding us through the entire process of setting up Google Cloud SQL, building a MySQL database, and weaving it all together with AppSheet. Vo also explained why this setup is the holy grail for large-scale AppSheet apps that need a bit more muscle than Google Sheets can provide. Screenshots galore made this guide a breeze to follow, even for Cloud newbies!
July: Docs and Markdown: A Match Made in Apps Script Heaven (with Kanshi Tanaike)
July saw the worlds of Google Docs and Markdown colliding – in a good way! “Using Google Drive API and Google Apps Script to convert between Google Docs and Markdown” by Kanshi Tanaike highlighted the awesome new ability to export Docs to Markdown and bring Markdown files into Docs. Kanshi shared sample scripts for both conversions using the Drive API, paving the way for automation wizards to work their magic, especially when dealing with GenAI output in Markdown format.
August: Happy Birthday, Apps Script!
August was a time for celebration – “Celebrating 15 years of Apps Script 🎉 🥂” when we commemorated the journey of our favourite scripting tool. We got a link to a festive YouTube Short and took a reflective look at how far Apps Script has come, where it’s headed, and why it’s more relevant than ever in this age of GenAI.
September: Workspace Developer News – Docs, Meet, Chat, and More (with Chanel Greco)
September brought a whole bag of treats in the Workspace Developer News roundup – “Google Workspace Developer News: Create and organize Docs with the new ‘tabs’ API methods and more” by Chanel Greco. We learned how to use the Docs API or Apps Script to become masters of tabs in Google Docs, plus we got new tricks for Google Meet Add-ons and Chat apps. It was a buffet of updates that kept us busy experimenting all month long!
October: Iterators and Generators – Our Apps Script Power-Up (with Bruce Mcpherson)
October was all about leveling up our Apps Script game – “Optimising Google Apps Script: Efficiently handling large datasets with iterators and generators” by Bruce Mcpherson showed us how to harness the power of these JavaScript concepts to efficiently process large datasets in Apps Script. Bruce, never one to shy away from a challenge, provided clear explanations, practical examples, and even a clever workaround for Apps Script’s lack of native generator support. Talk about a knowledge drop that left us feeling like coding superheroes!
November brought us some serious control-freak vibes (in a good way) with “Going beyond the menu: Programmatic controlling Google Sheets protection using Google Apps Script” by Kanshi Tanaike. We went beyond those basic menu options, learning to use Apps Script and the Sheets API to manage sheet and range protections like true automation ninjas. Kanshi provided use case examples that demonstrated how to achieve granular control and build protection workflows that would make even the most security-conscious spreadsheet guru proud!
December: Exponential Backoff – Taming Those Rate Limit Errors (with Phil Bainbridge)
December had us facing those pesky rate limit errors head-on, armed with the knowledge from “Beginner’s guide to exponential backoff in Google Apps Script for handling rate limit errors” by Phil Bainbridge. This post gave us a beginner-friendly introduction to the art of exponential backoff, complete with sample code to put the theory into action. Phil even shared a real-world scenario where this technique saved the day, proving that even infrequent errors can be tamed with a bit of coding finesse.
That’s a wrap on our AppsScriptPulse “year in review”! These posts were more than just code snippets; they were mini-masterclasses that helped us grow as Google Workspace developers. So, huge thanks to all the authors for sharing their knowledge and expertise! Now, go forth, fellow developers and no-coders, and create amazing things! Happy Scripting!!!
So, let’s do something different. If you’re facing a technical challenge, I’m opening up a new way to get direct support. 🎯
How It Works: Fill out this Google Form and share the details of your challenge. Here’s what I’ll need from you:
In this blog post, Dmitry Kostyuk offers Google Apps Script users assistance with their coding challenges. Users can submit their problems through a Google Form, providing details about their problem, relevant code snippets, and any additional comments. Dmitry emphasizes that this is a collaborative learning opportunity, not a code-writing service. Submitted challenges might be showcased anonymously on Dmitry’s blog and social media. Follow the source link for more details.
Google recently announced an open beta of the new Policy API. This new API now means developers can read a number of Google Workspace Admin settings programmatically, including those applied at an OU and group level.
This API provides access to the settings that are part of the recommendations published in CISA’s Google Workspace secure configuration baseline, with plans to increase the coverage and functionality of the API.
Additionally, GAM7, the recent merge of GAM and GAM-ADV, has been updated with the ability to read policy data, further streamlining policy management tasks.
Steven Bazyl, Head of Google Workspace Developer Relations, recently distributed a survey aimed at getting feedback on the Google Workspace platform. This is your chance to influence the future of the platform.
The survey is short and focuses on key areas like:
Overall satisfaction with Workspace Platform as a development environment
Your experiences with specific Workspace components (Meet, Chat, Gmail, Drive, Editors)
The biggest challenges you face in Workspace development
Your suggestions for improvements
By sharing your insights you have an opportunity to help shape the platform to better meet your needs and make your development workflows more efficient. I would encourage you to complete the survey (it only takes a few minutes) and share with other Google Workspace developers.
Don’t miss this opportunity to make your voice heard as this is the final week that the survey is open!
Time for an occasional update on the shared BigQuery dataset all about the Apps Script ecosystem on Github, with reports available on Looker Studio.
Bruce Mcpherson has created an October 2024 update report on Gassypedia, a shared dataset that tracks the Google Apps Script ecosystem on Github. The data is publicly available on BigQuery and Looker Studio if you want to explore yourself, but Bruce has also provided this report on trends in Apps Script usage.
Key findings from the October 2024 update include:
Growth in shared code and developers: There has been a 7% increase in the number of developers detected and a 6% increase in the number of repos and manifests shared.
Rise of Sheets Add-ons: A 10% increase in total Add-ons shared, with Sheets overtaking Gmail as the most popular type.
Increased advanced service usage: Drive remains the most popular advanced service, with an 11% increase in usage.
Library usage insights: The most popular library is oauth2, with 235 distinct users. Identifying library creators is challenging and current methods are not 100% reliable.
The report also includes detailed breakdowns of developer profiles, geographic locations, repo contents, manifest profiles, OAuth scope usage, and library usage. Overall, the data suggests that Apps Script usage on Github is growing, with more developers sharing their code and creating add-ons, web apps, and data studio connectors.
Click through to read more and see who, where and what some of the Apps Script community have been up to…
Today is a special milestone for Google Apps Script, as it marks its 15th year anniversary of its release back on August 19th, 2009! 🎉 🥂Since its release back in the day when Google Workspace was still known as Google Apps, Apps Script has been regularly leveraged by literally millions of users ranging from standard end users to professional developers and everything in between to automate and customize solutions to make their work (and play) better. 👩💻
To note the occasion, Google Technical Writer (and renown Apps Script expert & biggest fan 😍) Kara Ireland and I [Charles Maxson] put out a little YouTube Short video that we’d love to get trending to let folks see how Apps Script is still appreciated after all those years, so give it a ‘like’ and share it along if you will please 🙂
It’s that time of year again when we celebrate the launch of Google Apps Script. As well as this YouTube short from Kara Ireland and Charles Maxson there is an accompanying LinkedIn post worth checking out, particularly the comments section which has attracted responses from the great and the good, as well as some Apps Script ‘archive’ materials.
In my early days of Apps Scripting I would often be asked, would the product survive. In many ways not only has Apps Script survived but in many ways thrived. That’s not to say it’s the perfect product. There are a number of areas where I’m sure myself and others would like to see Apps Script developed.
However, I still see many positive signs that Apps Script will be supported as a product. The advent of GenAI solutions like Gemini for Workspace have opened Apps Script up to a whole new audience, not only to people who are ‘gen creators’ and able to create script solutions mainly by prompts, but also developments in GenAI solutions to write and execute code.
So Happy Birthday Apps Script and here’s to many more!
Gassypedia is a bigquery datatset and Google Looker report for analyzing on the Google Apps Script developer ecosystem on Github
The Apps Script developer ecosystem is an exciting and growing space. Bruce McPherson recently published a blog post that analyzes trends in this ecosystem using publicly available GitHub data which has been added to a BigQuery dataset.
Key findings of the post include that the number of Apps Script repositories and developers on GitHub is on the rise. There is a wide variety of Apps Script projects, including add-ons, web apps, and LookerStudio connectors. The report highlights popular OAuth scopes, advanced services, and libraries utilised by developers. It also offers insights into the geographical distribution of developers and the prevalence of tools like clasp.
Bruce acknowledges that the data is limited to public GitHub repositories, which may not be fully representative of the entire Apps Script ecosystem, but it’s nevertheless a great jumping off point if you are interested in exploring Apps Script solutions. You can access the full report via the source link.
