Collaborate using a Meet Add-on

Participants in a meeting can work collaboratively on a Google Meet Add-on activity. When a collaborative activity starts, all participants in the meeting receive a notification that the activity is ongoing.

This notification is adapted to the availability and installation status of the add-on:

  • If the participant has the add-on installed: They can join the activity.

  • If the participant doesn't have the add-on installed: They're directed to install the add-on.

  • If the add-on isn't available for the participant's platform: They're informed that they can't join the activity using their current device.

An activity is started by calling the startCollaboration method.

Step 1 optional: The add-on sets the collaboration starting state

The MeetAddonClient.setCollaborationStartingState sets or updates information about the initial state of the add-on that's used when the participant accepts the invitation to collaborate.

The add-on can set the CollaborationStartingState using the Meet Add-ons SDK anytime before or during the collaboration. Once the add-on activity has started, the other meeting participants use the CollaborationStartingState to initialize their add-on.

For details and code samples on how to set the CollaborationStartingState, see Use the collaboration starting state.

Step 2: The add-on starts the activity

The activity begins when the add-on calls the startCollaboration method on the MeetSidePanelClient.

Make sure to call the startCollaboration method in your add-on once the user completes the content selection and is ready to start the collaboration.

The following code sample shows how to call the startCollaboration method:

    sidePanelClient.startCollaboration({
        mainStageUrl: "https://app.example.com/mainstage",
        additionalData: JSON.stringify({
        // State to send to participants.
        })
    });

Recommendations for a seamless user experience

We strongly encourage setting the CollaborationStartingState based on user actions taken in the side panel. When startCollaboration is invoked, Meet performs the following actions:

  • For other participants: Meet shows a notification that the activity is ongoing.

  • For the initiator: If a main stage URL was specified in the CollaborationStartingState, Meet opens the main stage using the URL from the CollaborationStartingState.