we’re making it easy for organizations to extend the power of their data and custom AI models by using Vertex AI with Workspace as a platform, enabling next-generation workflows that are built right into Docs, Gmail, and other Workspace apps
Google Cloud Next ’24 has just started but already a number of exciting product updates have been announced, including the indications of a possible deeper integration of Vertex AI into Google Workspace.
In one of our recent Pulse updates we highlighted Dialogflow CX and Google Chat API integration is now in Developer Preview. The reason I feel this is an important development is Dialogflow CX lies at the heart of Vertex AI Agent Builder (formerly Vertex AI Search and Conversation … formerly Gen App Builder).
Vertex AI Agent Builder lets developers easily build and deploy enterprise-ready gen AI experiences via a range of tools for different developer needs and levels of expertise — from a no-code console for building AI agents using natural language
This integration is significant because it addresses a key challenge I’ve experienced as a Vertex AI Agent Builder trusted tester. Previously, using Google Workspace data in your agents required moving it to a Cloud Storage bucket. The new integration potentially streamlines this process, allowing seamless access to your Workspace data.
This aligns with a broader trend I’m seeing at Google Cloud Next: the emphasis on custom Generative AI-powered agents. Gabe Weiss’s demo in this morning’s keynote showcased the potential of such agents to intelligently support users. Though details about the underlying technology were limited to Vertex AI Agent, the UI does hint at a gemini.google.com integration. You can see for yourself at the queued clip (this may change if Google trims the video).
Episode 5: Welcome to the Google Workspace Developer News! Find out what’s new on the Google Workspace Platform.
Here are the latest Google Workspace developer updates compiled by Chanel Greco. The standout feature is the integration of Google’s Dialogflow CX (a powerful natural language understanding platform) with the Google Chat API. This lets developers build chat apps that truly converse with users. Access is currently available through the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program.
The video spotlights more exciting updates to the Google Chat API. Interactive widgets (like thumbs up/down icons) can now be placed at the bottom of messages, boosting user interaction. Additionally, the formattedText field supports bulleted list markup, making it easier for apps to organize information.
Finally, Google Apps Script gets a boost too! The new LinkPreview Class in the Card Service grants control over link titles, visuals, and how they’re displayed within smart chips.
Click the source link for a deeper dive into these updates and find helpful resources in the video description!
Episode 4: Welcome to the fourth edition of the Google Workspace Developer News! Find out what’s new on the Google Workspace Platform.
Another great summary of Google Workspace Developer News put together by Chanel Greco from the Google Workspace DevRel team. The update includes information on:
Google Meet API and Google Workspace Events API now generally available: These APIs enable developers to programmatically create and manage meetings, and subscribe to meeting events.
Google Chat apps now support Google Apps Script’s Card Service: Developers can now use Card Service to build user interfaces for Chat apps.
Subscribe to Google Calendar changes: you can now get push notifications for a specific calendar events, such as working location, focus time, or out-of-office events
Update 2024-02-26 17:28GMT – Latest update from Google “We believe the issue is mostly resolved for impacted services and our engineers are continuing to work on preventing similar issues in the future.”
Update 2024-02-26 15:00GMT – Still reports of issues for some users – “Our engineering team continues to investigate the issue. We will provide an update by Monday, 2024-02-26 08:00 US/Pacific with current details.” Updates are being posted to Google Cloud Support Portal
Update 2024-02-26 13:00GMT – Service being restored – many users are reporting all Apps Script services as being restored.
I’m sure the majority of Google Apps Script developers don’t need me to tell them that Google Apps Script is currently down. The outage is impacting multiple areas including the availability of the Script Editor, script executions and Google Workspace Editor Add-ons.
Issues were first reported in the public issue tracker at Feb 26, 2024 08:27AM – the ticket has been marked as P0. Please use the star/’Me too!’ button on the ticket to subscribe to updates (please avoid commenting on the ticket to make it easier for us all to track updates from Google).
Welcome to the third edition of the Google Workspace Developer News! Find out what’s new on the Google Workspace Platform.
Another great summary of Google Workspace Developer News put together by Chanel Greco from the Google Workspace DevRel team. The update includes information on:
Google Chat Enhancements
Import data from other messaging platforms, including historical memberships.
Send private messages in spaces with multiple people.
Add interactive buttons to messages.
Google Workspace Events API Updates
Subscriptions to Google Chat users now supported.
Lifecycle events sent when subscriptions expire.
Get() method added to Operations resource.
Google Workspace Add-ons
Link previews now supported in Google Sheets and Slides.
Third-party resource creation from the @ menu in Google Docs.
Other Updates
Drive file and folder storage limits increased to 500 million items per user.
Google Drive API v3 now provides information on installed apps.
Reports API event payload filtered to specified event name.
Chrome phasing out third-party cookies for enhanced privacy.
Google Drive broke the ability to embed images with the /uc path. Here’s how to embed images from Google Drive in your website.
Previously Google Workspace developers could use a /uc path for embedding images and other files hosted in Google Drive. For example, images could be embedded in websites and emails using markup like:
To my knowledge this was never an officially documented endpoint, but widely known about and shared within the community. Back in October 2023 Google announced Upcoming changes to third-party cookie requirements in Google Drive, which has started rolling out from the beginning of 2024.
The impact of this change is it breaks /uc embeds and these have started returning 403 errors. There is no reference to the /uc endpoint in the original announcement, which is why I think many people are only just finding out about the impact now. Google’s official guidance is to move to <iframe> with Google Drive publish and preview links. This post from Justin Poehnelt discusses the options and limitations for images.
Welcome to the second edition of the Google Workspace Developer News! Find out what’s new on the Google Workspace Platform.
I like to think I keep a close eye on Google Workspace development, but with so much happening it’s easy to miss what’s new. Here’s a really comprehensive recap put together by Chanel Greco from the Google Workspace DevRel team. As well as covering the recent release notes Chanel spotlights some additional new resources and changes worth finding out about. The episode covers:
Hopefully you are already subscribed to the official Google Workspace Developer Newsletter. If not, or in case you missed the last edition the headline story highlights some new documentation to help developers understand and compare different options for extending the Google Workspace UI:
A major challenge for developers is understanding their options for extending the UI of Google Workspace: Google Workspace Add-ons, Editor Add-ons, Chat apps, Drive apps, and more! Each option has unique strengths, challenges, and limitations. Until now, there hasn’t been a central place for developers to learn what’s possible for extending the Google Workspace UI and to compare the limitations that exist in terms of coding options, UI frameworks, and which options can be published to the Google Workspace Marketplace.
The page includes a nice table included in this post as the feature image.
There have been a number of recent updates and announcements around Smart Chips and other integrations to Google Docs, as well as Sheets and Slides. Some have just gone into the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program (DPP), whilst in the case of AppSheet smart chips for Google Docs they are generally available!
AppSheet smart chips for Google Docs
Starting with AppSheet smart chips for Google Docs if you already had the AppSheet Google Docs add-on installed you already have AppSheet smart chips enabled. More details including a link to the Workspace Marketplace Add-on are included in the related Workspace Updates post. The AppSheet smart chips are great way to integrate some of your app functionality in your Google Docs.
Preview links with smart chips in Sheets and Slides
We’ve had custom smart chip link previews for Google Docs for some time, but Google have recently added the same functionality to Sheets and Slides. If you have already developed link previews for Google Docs the good news is there isn’t much more you need to do to enable these for Sheets and Slides (mostly updating your manifest). More details are included on the updated Preview links with smart chips documentation page.
Create third-party resources from the @ menu
Finally, also gone into preview is third-party resource integration which you can use to “let users quickly create resources, such as tasks, support cases, or issues, in your service right from Google Docs. The new resource is then inserted into Google Docs as a smart chip.”. You can read more in the create third-party resources from the @ menu documentation page.
In the case of the preview features a reminder that this is your opportunity to test and give feedback to Google. Links to join and provide feedback are included in the Google Workspace Developer Preview page. Enjoy!
The Advanced Chat service lets you use the Google Chat API in Apps Script. This API allows scripts to find, create, and modify Chat spaces, add or remove members to spaces, and read or post messages with text, cards, attachments, and reactions.
There have been a number of updates to the Google Chat API summarised in the linked release notes page. A recent announcement which might interest Google Apps Script developers is the generally available of a new Advanced Chat Service. As noted in the official documentation:
The Advanced Chat service lets you use the Google Chat API in Apps Script. This API allows scripts to find, create, and modify Chat spaces, add or remove members to spaces, and read or post messages with text, cards, attachments, and reactions.
There are some perquisites to use the Advanced Chat service besides the usual turning it on before use, the main one being the requirement to use a standard Google Cloud console project rather than the default project created automatically.
