Google Sheets

Connect public or private Google Sheets to Workshop for spreadsheet data access.

Overview

Workshop supports two modes for connecting Google Sheets:

Mode	Authentication	Best For
Public Sheet	Sheet URL only	Non-sensitive data shared via “Anyone with the link”
Private Sheet	GCP Service Account JSON	Confidential data restricted to specific accounts

Choose the tab below that matches your use case.

Public Sheet

Public Google Sheet

Use this mode when your sheet is shared with “Anyone with the link” and contains non-sensitive data. No API keys or service accounts required — just the URL.

What You’ll Need

Credential	Description
Spreadsheet URL	The sharing link to your public Google Sheet

Making Your Sheet Public

1. Open your Google Sheet

   Navigate to your Google Sheet in the browser.

2. Open sharing settings

   Click the Share button in the top-right corner.

3. Set to public

   Under General access, change from “Restricted” to “Anyone with the link”. Set permission to Viewer. Click Done.

4. Copy the URL

   Copy the URL from your browser’s address bar. It looks like:

   https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms/edit#gid=0
   

Connecting to Workshop

1. Open Hub > Connectors

   Open the Workshop Hub and click Connectors.

2. Select Public Google Sheet

   Click the Public Google Sheet card.

3. Enter details

   Enter a Connection Name (e.g., “Product Catalog”) and paste your Spreadsheet URL.

4. Save

   Click Add Connection.

Workshop accepts URLs in any standard Google Sheets format (/edit, /view, or just the sheet ID path).

Security Considerations

When you make a sheet public, anyone with the URL can view all data in it. Treat the URL as a credential.

Public sheets are appropriate for sample datasets, publicly available information, and shared reference materials. Avoid making sheets public if they contain personal information, financial data, or business-sensitive content.

To revoke public access, change the sheet back to Restricted in sharing settings.

Private Sheet

Private Google Sheet

Use this mode when your sheet is restricted to specific users and contains sensitive or confidential data. Requires a Google Cloud Platform (GCP) service account.

Requires a Google Cloud project. Accessing private sheets requires a GCP service account, which involves creating a project and sharing your sheet with the service account email. If you prefer simpler setup, consider making your sheet public and using the Public mode instead.

What You’ll Need

Credential	Description
Spreadsheet URL	The full URL of your Google Sheet
Service Account JSON	A JSON key file from Google Cloud Platform

Setting Up Access

1. Create a GCP project

   Go to the Google Cloud Console. Click Select a project > New Project, enter a name (e.g., “Workshop Sheets Access”), and click Create.

2. Enable the Google Sheets API

   Go to APIs & Services > Library, search for “Google Sheets API”, and click Enable.

3. Create a service account

   Go to IAM & Admin > Service Accounts, click Create Service Account, enter a name (e.g., “Workshop Sheets Reader”), and click Create and Continue. Select the Viewer role, then click Done.

4. Download the JSON key

   Click on the service account, go to the Keys tab, click Add Key > Create new key, select JSON, and click Create. The file downloads automatically. Note the client_email field inside it.

5. Share your sheet with the service account

   Open your Google Sheet, click Share, paste the service account’s client_email (looks like [e-mail]), set permission to Viewer, uncheck “Notify people”, and click Share.

The client_email in your JSON file looks like: [e-mail]. You must share your sheet with this email for the connection to work.

Connecting to Workshop

1. Open Hub > Connectors

   Open the Workshop Hub and click Connectors.

2. Select Private Google Sheet

   Click the Private Google Sheet card.

3. Enter details

   Enter a Connection Name, paste the Spreadsheet URL, and paste the full contents of your Service Account JSON key file.

4. Save

   Click Add Connection.

Security Considerations

• The service account only has access to sheets explicitly shared with it
• Share with Viewer permission unless Workshop needs to write data
• Once connected, you can delete the JSON key file from your downloads — Workshop stores credentials securely
• To revoke access, remove the service account email from the sheet’s sharing settings

Using Your Connection

Once connected (either mode), ask Workshop to work with your spreadsheet data:

Show me the first few rows from my spreadsheet

Using my Google Sheet connection, create a summary of all entries in column A

Create a chart from my Google Sheet data showing sales by month

Working with Multiple Tabs

If your spreadsheet has multiple tabs, specify which one:

Show me data from the "Sales Q4" tab in my spreadsheet

By default, Workshop reads from the first sheet if no tab name is specified.

Workshop works best with spreadsheets under 10,000 rows. For very large datasets, consider using a database connector or BigQuery instead.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
”Unable to access spreadsheet” (public)	Verify the sheet is set to “Anyone with the link”. Try opening the URL in an incognito window.
”Permission denied” (private)	Ensure the sheet is shared with the service account client_email.
”Invalid JSON” (private)	Verify you copied the entire JSON file contents without extra characters.
”Google Sheets API not enabled” (private)	Enable the Google Sheets API in your GCP project and wait a few minutes.

Learn More

• Google Sheets API Documentation
• Creating Service Accounts
• Sharing Google Sheets