Build a Google Workspace add-on with Node.js

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AI-generated Key Takeaways

Develop Google Workspace add-ons using Cloud Functions and Node.js for basic functionalities, ideal for simple integrations.
This quickstart provides a step-by-step guide to set up, deploy, and install a sample add-on within your Google Workspace environment.
For advanced add-ons with richer features, it is recommended to leverage Cloud Run instead of Cloud Functions for a more robust solution.
The process involves configuring OAuth consent, deploying a Cloud Function, creating the add-on deployment, and installing it for testing.

Create Google Workspace add-ons in Cloud Run functions using the Node.js runtime.

Objectives

Set up your environment.
Create and deploy a Cloud Run function.
Create and deploy the add-on.
Install the add-on.

Prerequisites

A Google Cloud project.
Make sure that you turn on billing for your Cloud project. Learn how to verify the billing status of your projects.
The Cloud SDK is configured with the Cloud project.

Set up your environment

Open your Cloud project in the Google Cloud console

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Select a project page.
Select a Cloud project
Select the Google Cloud project you want to use. Or, click Create project and follow the on-screen instructions. If you create a Google Cloud project, you might need to turn on billing for the project.

Configure the OAuth consent screen

Google Workspace add-ons require a consent screen configuration. Configuring your add-on's OAuth consent screen defines what Google displays to users.

In the Google Cloud console, go to Menu > Google Auth platform > Branding.
Go to Branding
If you have already configured the Google Auth platform, you can configure the following OAuth Consent Screen settings in Branding, Audience, and Data Access. If you see a message that says Google Auth platform not configured yet, click Get Started:

Under App Information, in App name, enter a name for the app.
In User support email, choose a support email address where users can contact you if they have questions about their consent.
Click Next.
Under Audience, select Internal.
Click Next.
Under Contact Information, enter an Email address where you can be notified about any changes to your project.
Click Next.
Under Finish, review the Google API Services User Data Policy and if you agree, select I agree to the Google API Services: User Data Policy.
Click Continue.
Click Create.

For now, you can skip adding scopes. In the future, when you create an app for use outside of your Google Workspace organization, you must change the User type to External. Then add the authorization scopes that your app requires. To learn more, see the full Configure OAuth consent guide.

Create and deploy a Cloud Run function

Click Authorize to provision and connect to Cloud Shell.
In the Cloud Shell Terminal, turn on the Cloud Run functions API, the Cloud Build API, the Google Workspace add-ons API, the Compute Engine API, and the Cloud Run API:
```
gcloudservicesenablecloudfunctions.googleapis.com\
cloudbuild.googleapis.com\
gsuiteaddons.googleapis.com\
compute.googleapis.com\
run.googleapis.com
```
Launch the Cloud Shell Editor by clicking Code Editor button Open Editor on the toolbar of the Cloud Shell window.

This built-in code editor provides the convenience of viewing and editing files in the same environment where projects are built and deployed.

In the empty directory, create the file function.js with the following sample code:

/**
 * Cloud Run function that loads the homepage for a
 * Google Workspace add-on.
 *
 * @param {Object} req Request sent from Google
 * @param {Object} res Response to send back
 */
exports.loadHomePage=functionaddonsHomePage(req,res){
res.send(createAction());
};
/** Creates a card with two widgets. */
functioncreateAction(){
return{
"action":{
"navigations":[
{
"pushCard":{
"header":{
"title":"Cats!"
},
"sections":[
{
"widgets":[
{
"textParagraph":{
"text":"Your random cat:"
}
},
{
"image":{
"imageUrl":"https://cataas.com/cat"
}
}
]
}
]
}
}
]
}
};
}

In the same directory, create the file package.json with the following sample code:
```
{
"dependencies":{
"@google-cloud/functions-framework":"^3.0.0"
}
}
```
Return to the Cloud Shell Terminal by clicking Activate Cloud Shell button Open Terminal.

Add the Cloud Build Service Account role (roles/cloudbuild.builds.builder) to the Compute Engine default service account.

First, setup the service account permission:

exportPROJECT_ID=$(gcloudconfiggetproject)
exportSERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME=$(gcloudcomputeproject-infodescribe\
--format="value(defaultServiceAccount)")

Next, grant the missing service account permission:

gcloudprojectsadd-iam-policy-binding$PROJECT_ID\
--member="serviceAccount:$SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME"\
--role="roles/cloudbuild.builds.builder"

Run the following command to deploy the function:
```
gcloudrundeployloadHomePage--runtimenodejs22--trigger-http
```
If prompted, specify that you don't allow unauthenticated invocations of the function. It might take a couple minutes for the function to deploy.

Create an add-on deployment

Find the service account email for the add-on:
```
gcloudworkspace-add-onsget-authorization
```
Grant the service account the cloudfunctions.invoker role. Replace SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL with the serviceAccountEmail field from the previous step.
```
gcloudrunservicesadd-iam-policy-bindingloadHomePage\
--roleroles/roles/run.invoker\
--memberserviceAccount:SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL
```
Get the URL of the deployed function. To get the URL, run the following command and look for the url field under the httpsTrigger section:
```
gcloudrunservicesdescribeloadHomePage
```
Return to the Cloud Shell Editor by clicking Code Editor button Open Editor.

In the same directory as package.json, create the file deployment.json with the following sample code. Replace URL with the url of the deployed function from the previous step.

{
"oauthScopes":["https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.addons.execute"],
"addOns":{
"common":{
"name":"My HTTP Add-on",
"logoUrl":"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/webdog/octicons-png/main/black/beaker.png",
"homepageTrigger":{
"runFunction":"URL"
}
},
"gmail":{},
"drive":{},
"calendar":{},
"docs":{},
"sheets":{},
"slides":{},
"httpOptions":{
"granularOauthPermissionSupport":"OPT_IN"
}
}
}

Return to the Cloud Shell Terminal to create the deployment:

gcloudworkspace-add-onsdeploymentscreatequickstart\
--deployment-file=deployment.json

Install the add-on

Install the deployment in development mode:

gcloudworkspace-add-onsdeploymentsinstallquickstart

Open or reload Gmail to view the add-on. In the toolbar on the right, look for a beaker icon.
Click the icon to open the add-on. If prompted, authorize the add-on.

Optional: Clean up

To avoid incurring charges to your account, delete the resources that you created:

Uninstall the add-on from your Google Account:

gcloudworkspace-add-onsdeploymentsuninstallquickstart

To avoid incurring charges for the resources used in this quickstart, delete the Cloud project:
```
gcloudprojectsdeletePROJECT_ID
```
Replace PROJECT_ID with the ID of the Cloud project that you used for the quickstart. You can find the Cloud project ID in the Google Cloud console on the Dashboard page.

To add more features to your Google Workspace add-on, refer to the following:

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