Connect to Google Sheets
Learn how to connect your Google Sheets data to Retool.
You can use the Google Sheets integration to create a resource and make it available in Retool. Once complete, your users can write queries that interact with Google Sheets data.
- Cloud-hosted organizations
- Self-hosted organizations
Sufficient user permissions to create resources
All users for Retool organizations on Free or Team plans have global Edit permissions and can add, edit, and remove resources. If your organization manages user permissions for resources, you must be a member of a group with Edit all permissions.
Allow Retool to access the data source
If the data source is behind a firewall or restricts access based on IP address, then you must ensure that your Retool organization can access it. If necessary, configure your data source to allow access from Retool's IP addresses.
3.77.79.248/30
35.90.103.132/30
44.208.168.68/30
3.77.79.249
3.77.79.250
35.90.103.132
35.90.103.133
35.90.103.134
35.90.103.135
44.208.168.68
44.208.168.69
44.208.168.70
44.208.168.71
Retool is building support for querying firewalled resources without allowlisting Retool’s IP address. To learn more or be considered for early access, contact cloud-connect@retool.com.
Google Sheets settings and authentication
You must have sufficient access and familiarity with your Google Sheets data source so you can provide:
- Required connection settings (e.g., URL and server variables).
- Authentication credentials (e.g., API keys).
In some cases, you may need to make changes to your Google Sheets configuration, such as generating authentication credentials or allowing access through a firewall. Refer to the configuration and authentication sections to learn more.
Sufficient user permissions to create resources
All users for Retool organizations on Free or Team plans have global Edit permissions and can add, edit, and remove resources. If your organization manages user permissions for resources, you must be a member of a group with Edit all permissions.
Allow your deployment to access the data source
Your self-hosted deployment must have access to the data source. Ensure that any potential firewall rules for either the data source or your deployment instance are updated to allow them to communicate.
Google Sheets settings and authentication
You must have sufficient access and familiarity with your Google Sheets data source so you can provide:
- Required connection settings (e.g., URL and server variables).
- Authentication credentials (e.g., API keys).
In some cases, you may need to make changes to your Google Sheets configuration, such as generating authentication credentials or allowing access through a firewall. Refer to the configuration and authentication sections to learn more.
Custom OAuth 2.0 client credentials
Authentication is performed using a custom OAuth 2.0 client app. You must create this client and then provide its credentials. Once configured, your users are redirected to Google Sheets to sign in and authorize Retool to access data.
OAuth apps typically require the following values during creation:
- OAuth callback URL: The URL to which users are redirected once they have successfully signed in.
- Scopes : The permissions granted to Retool. Each scope defines a specific set of permissions (e.g.,
messages:readto read messagesusers:writeto create new users). You must ensure that any scopes defined in your OAuth app matches the scopes you specify when configuring the resource.
Once you've created an OAuth app you can obtain its credentials, such as the Client ID and Client secret. You then provide these to configure Retool for OAuth authentication.
Refer to the Google Sheets documentation for detailed instructions on creating an OAuth app.
Configure the resource
Sign in to your Retool organization and navigate to the Resources tab. Click Create new > Resource, then select Google Sheets.
Configuration
Specify the name, location, and description to use for your Google Sheets resource. Retool displays the resource name and type in query editors to help users identify them.
Provide the following configuration settings to create the resource. Depending on how your data source is configured, you may also need to provide optional settings for Retool to connect.
- Cloud-hosted organizations
- Self-hosted organizations
Name
The name to use for the resource.
Description
A description of the resource.
Type
Whether to restrict access to read only or allow read and write operations.
Override default outbound Retool region
Retool connects to your data source from the us-west-2 region. Choosing a different outbound region can improve performance through geographic proximity.
| Region | Location |
|---|---|
| us-west-2 | US West (Oregon) |
| eu-central-1 | (Frankfurt, Germany) |
Name
The name to use for the resource.
Description
A description of the resource.
Type
Whether to restrict access to read only or allow read and write operations.
Authentication
The Google Sheets integration supports the following authentication methods. Depending on which authentication method you use, you may need to make changes to your Google Sheets configuration.
- Cloud-hosted organizations
- Self-hosted organizations
OAuth 2.0
Authentication is performed using OAuth 2.0. Your users are redirected to Google Sheets to sign in and authorize Retool to access data.
OAuth enables you to quickly authenticate with Google. It also provides some control over the access Retool has to your Google data.
- User OAuth
- Shared OAuth
OAuth-based authentication with individual user credentials. Each user is prompted to authenticate with Google using an OAuth flow, and API calls from Retool are made on behalf of the logged-in user. When using apps built using authenticated Google resources, users can only interact with APIs and data to which they have access.
For example, cloud-hosted Retool organizations can grant Retool either Read and write or Read only access to Google Sheets data. This option determines the scopes passed with the OAuth request. Retool recommends Read and write so that Retool can read and write spreadsheet data (e.g., create new sheets or update cell rows).
To create other Google API resources, or to use Retool's Google integrations with self-hosted deployments, you create Google Cloud projects and OAuth 2.0 credentials with scopes you define.
OAuth-based authentication with shared user credentials. The user creating the resource is prompted to authenticate with Google using an OAuth authentication flow, and subsequent API calls from Retool are made on behalf of the user that completed authentication. When building apps on top of Google Sheets, all users in a Retool organization can access and edit sheets that have been shared with the user who completed the authentication process.
Share credentials between users
Whether the authenticated credentials should be shared across all users. If enabled, all users share the same credentials and do not need to complete authentication themselves. All queries from Retool are made on behalf of the same authenticated user. Not all resources allow credential sharing so this option may not be available.
Google service account
Authenticate with a service account tied to a Google Cloud project. This method allows users to give Retool access to certain APIs or data with the service account's email address.
Retool recommends using service account authentication when you need to share credentials across users but limit Retool's access to a subset of data. This authentication flow restricts Retool's access to APIs or data shared with the service account email address only.
Refer to Google's service account documentation to learn more.
Custom OAuth 2.0 client credentials
Authentication is performed using a custom OAuth 2.0 client app. You must create this client and then provide its credentials. Once configured, your users are redirected to Google Sheets to sign in and authorize Retool to access data.
OAuth apps typically require the following values during creation:
- OAuth callback URL: The URL to which users are redirected once they have successfully signed in.
- Scopes : The permissions granted to Retool. Each scope defines a specific set of permissions (e.g.,
messages:readto read messagesusers:writeto create new users). You must ensure that any scopes defined in your OAuth app matches the scopes you specify when configuring the resource.
Once you've created an OAuth app you can obtain its credentials, such as the Client ID and Client secret. You then provide these to configure Retool for OAuth authentication.
Refer to the Google Sheets documentation for detailed instructions on creating an OAuth app.
OAuth enables you to quickly authenticate with Google. It also provides some control over the access Retool has to your Google data.
- User OAuth
- Shared OAuth
OAuth-based authentication with individual user credentials. Each user is prompted to authenticate with Google using an OAuth flow, and API calls from Retool are made on behalf of the logged-in user. When using apps built using authenticated Google resources, users can only interact with APIs and data to which they have access.
For example, cloud-hosted Retool organizations can grant Retool either Read and write or Read only access to Google Sheets data. This option determines the scopes passed with the OAuth request. Retool recommends Read and write so that Retool can read and write spreadsheet data (e.g., create new sheets or update cell rows).
To create other Google API resources, or to use Retool's Google integrations with self-hosted deployments, you create Google Cloud projects and OAuth 2.0 credentials with scopes you define.
OAuth-based authentication with shared user credentials. The user creating the resource is prompted to authenticate with Google using an OAuth authentication flow, and subsequent API calls from Retool are made on behalf of the user that completed authentication. When building apps on top of Google Sheets, all users in a Retool organization can access and edit sheets that have been shared with the user who completed the authentication process.
Client ID
The client ID with which to authenticate.
Client secret
The client secret with which to authenticate.
Share credentials between users
Whether the authenticated credentials should be shared across all users. If enabled, all users share the same credentials and do not need to complete authentication themselves. All queries from Retool are made on behalf of the same authenticated user. Not all resources allow credential sharing so this option may not be available.
Test the connection
Click Test Connection to verify that Retool can successfully connect to the data source. If the test fails, check the resource settings and try again.
Testing a connection only checks whether Retool can successfully connect to the resource. It cannot check whether the provided credentials have sufficient privileges or can perform every supported action.
Save the resource
Click Create resource to complete the setup. You can then click either Create app to immediately start building a Retool app or Back to resources to return to the list of resources.
Next steps
Your Google Sheets resource is now ready to use. Check out related queries and code documentation to learn how to interact with Google Sheets data.