Publish Google Chat apps

After you've created a Chat app, you can publish it so that it's available to select people or groups, everyone in your Google Workspace organization, or any Google Chat user.

How users discover and use Chat apps

To discover Google Chat apps, users can do any of the following:

  • Search and install Chat apps from Google Chat or the Google Workspace Marketplace.
  • Interact with a Chat app that's been added to a Chat space.
  • Discover the Chat app in their direct messages panel after a Google Workspace administrator installed the Chat app on their behalf.

To start using a Chat app, Google Chat users can start a direct message with the Chat app or add it to a space. Users can also add the Chat app by @mentioning it. The following example shows how a user @mentions a Chat app to add it to a space:

Adding a Chat app to a space by typing @ in a message.

Install Chat apps as a Google Workspace organization

Google Workspace administrators can find Chat apps on the Google Workspace Marketplace and install the Chat apps for users in their organization. When an administrator installs a Chat app, the Chat app appears in the users' direct messages panel.

Google Workspace administrators can also manage and allowlist the use of Chat apps in their Google Workspace organization. If you're developing a Chat app for an organization that uses allowlists, you must request that an administrator adds your Chat app to the allowlist so that users can find and use the Chat app. For more information see Google Workspace Admin Help's documentation, Allow users to install Chat apps.

Configure and publish your Chat app using the Google Cloud console

To publish your Chat app and make it available to others, you generally need to follow these steps:

  1. Open the Chat API configuration page in the Google Cloud project that hosts the Chat app that you want to publish. In the Visibility section, make a selection based on the "Google Chat API settings" column in the following table.

    Go to Chat API

  2. Publish your Chat app with the Google Workspace Marketplace SDK. You can configure your Chat app to be available to users in your Google Workspace organization, or to all Google Chat users. In the App visibility and Installation Settings sections, make a selection based on the "Google Workspace Marketplace SDK settings" column in the following table.

Visibility and publishing settings for your Chat app

The following table explains how to configure the settings for the Google Chat API and Google Workspace Marketplace SDK based on the audience of your Chat app:

Intended app users Google Chat API settings Google Workspace Marketplace SDK settings Where is my Chat app published?
Your small team In the Visibility setting, specify people or Google Groups that can access the Chat app.

If your Google Workspace account requires Chat apps to be on an allowlist, you can only specify up to 5 individual email addresses (You can't specify Google Groups).

You don't need to configure the Google Workspace Marketplace SDK for your Chat app. Team members can find and use your Chat app from Google Chat.
Your large team In the Visibility setting, specify people or Google Groups to test your Chat app.

After testing, publish your Chat app to your Google Workspace organization using the settings in the Google Workspace Marketplace SDK.

Set App visibility to Private.

Set Installation settings to Individual + Admin.

Anyone in your Google Workspace organization can find and install your Chat app in Google Chat, and view your Chat app in the Google Workspace Marketplace. Users and Google Workspace administrators can install your Chat app from the Marketplace.

Your Google Workspace organization In the Visibility setting, specify people or Google Groups to test your Chat app.

After testing, publish your Chat app to your Google Workspace organization using the settings in the Google Workspace Marketplace SDK.

Set App visibility to Private.

Set Installation settings to Individual + Admin.

Anyone in your Google Workspace organization can find and install your Chat app in Google Chat, and view your Chat app in the Google Workspace Marketplace. Only Google Workspace administrators can install your Chat app from the Marketplace.

Everyone (public Chat app) In the Visibility setting, specify people or Google Groups to test your Chat app.

After testing, publish your Chat app publicly using the settings in the Google Workspace Marketplace.

Set App visibility to Public.

Set Installation settings to Individual + Admin

Any Google Workspace user can find and install your Chat app in Google Chat, and view your Chat app in the Google Workspace Marketplace. Only Google Workspace administrators can install your Chat app from the Marketplace.

Publish your Chat app with the Google Workspace Marketplace SDK

Use the Google Workspace Marketplace SDK to do any of the following:

  • Publish your Chat app publicly and let any Google Chat user add your Chat app to a space.
  • Publish your Chat app to your Google Workspace organization.
  • Make your Chat app visible to Google Workspace administrators so that they can install the Chat app for users in their organization. To be visible to Google Workspace administrators, your Chat app must feature direct messaging.

Before you publish your app using the Google Workspace Marketplace SDK, follow these steps:

  1. Test your Chat app by installing it from Chat. Make sure your Chat app is fully functional and not a work in progress.
  2. Review the publication requirements and verify that your Chat app satisfies all of them. See Areas of review.

When you're ready to publish, see Overview: Publish an app.