Building Google Editor interfaces

With Google Workspace add-ons, you can provide customized interfaces within the Editors, including Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. This lets you provide the user with relevant information, automate tasks, and connect third-party systems to the Editors.

Accessing the add-on UI

You can open a Google Workspace add-on in the Editors if its icon appears in the Google Workspace quick access side panel on the right side of the Docs, Sheets, and Slides user interfaces.

A Google Workspace add-on can present the following interfaces:

Homepage interfaces: If the add-on’s manifest includes the trigger EDITOR_NAME.homepageTrigger for the Editor the user opens the add-on in, the add-on builds and returns a homepage card specifically for that Editor. If the add-on’s manifest doesn't include the EDITOR_NAME.homepageTrigger for the Editor the user opens it in, a generic homepage card is displayed instead.
REST API interfaces: If the add-on uses REST APIs, you can include triggers that request per-file access to a document using the drive.file scope. Once granted, another trigger called EDITOR_NAME.onFileScopeGrantedTrigger executes and displays an interface specific to the file.
Link preview interfaces: If your add-on integrates with a third-party service, you can build cards that preview content from your service's URLs.

Building interfaces for Editor add-ons

Build Editor add-on interfaces for the Editors by following these steps:

Add the appropriate addOns.common, addOns.docs, addOns.sheets, and addOns.slides fields to the add-on script project manifest.
Add any required Editor scopes to your script project manifest.
If you're providing an Editor-specific homepage, implement the EDITOR_NAME.homepageTrigger function to build the interface. If not, use the common.homepageTrigger interface to build a common homepage for your host apps.
If you use REST APIs, implement the drive.file scope authorization flow and EDITOR_NAME.onFileScopeGrantedTrigger trigger function to display an interface specific to the open file. For more information, see REST API interfaces.
If you’re configuring link previews from a third-party service, implement the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/workspace.linkpreview scope authorization flow and linkPreviewTriggers function. For more information, see Link preview interfaces.
Implement the associated callback functions needed to respond to the user's UI interactions, such as button clicks.

Editor homepages

You must provide a homepage trigger function in your add-on's script project that builds and returns a single Card or an array of Card objects that make up the add-on’s homepage.

The homepage trigger function is passed an event object as a parameter that contains information such as the client's platform. You can use the event object data to tailor the construction of the homepage.

You can present a common homepage or a homepage that is specific to the Editor the user opens your add-on in.

Display the common homepage

To show your add-on's common homepage in the Editors, include the appropriate Editor fields, such as addOns.docs, addOns.sheets, or addOns.slides, in the add-on's manifest.

The following example shows the addons portion of a Google Workspace add-on manifest. The add-on extends Docs, Sheets, and Slides, and shows the common homepage in each host app.

 "addOns": {
    "common": {
      "name": "Translate",
      "logoUrl": "https://www.gstatic.com/images/branding/product/1x/translate_24dp.png",
      "layoutProperties": {
        "primaryColor": "#2772ed"
      },
      "homepageTrigger": {
        "runFunction": "onHomepage"
      }
    },
    "docs": {},
    "sheets": {},
    "slides": {}
  }
}

Display an Editor-specific homepage

To present a homepage specific to an Editor, add the EDITOR_NAME.homepageTrigger to the add-on manifest.

The following example shows the addons portion of a Google Workspace add-on manifest. The add-on is enabled for Docs, Sheets, and Slides. It displays the common homepage in Docs and Slides, and a unique homepage in Sheets. The callback function onSheetsHomepage builds the Sheets-specific homepage card.

 "addOns": {
    "common": {
      "name": "Translate",
      "logoUrl": "https://www.gstatic.com/images/branding/product/1x/translate_24dp.png",
      "layoutProperties": {
        "primaryColor": "#2772ed"
      },
      "homepageTrigger": {
        "runFunction": "onHomepage"
      }
    },
    "docs": {},
    "slides": {},
    "sheets": {
     "homepageTrigger": {
       "runFunction": "onSheetsHomepage"
     },
  }
}

REST API interfaces

If your add-on uses REST APIs, such as the Google Sheets API, you can use the onFileScopeGrantedTrigger function to display a new interface specific to the file that's open in the Editor host app.

You must include the drive.file scope authorization flow to use the onFileScopeGrantedTrigger function. To learn how to request the drive.file scope, see Request file access for current document.

When a user grants the drive.file scope, the EDITOR_NAME.onFileScopeGrantedTrigger.runFunction fires. When the trigger fires, it executes the contextual trigger function specified by the EDITOR_NAME.onFileScopeGrantedTrigger.runFunction field in the add-on manifest.

To create a REST API interface for one of the Editors, follow the steps below. Replace EDITOR_NAME with the Editor host app you choose to use, for example, sheets.onFileScopeGrantedTrigger.

Include the EDITOR_NAME.onFileScopeGrantedTrigger in the appropriate Editor's section of your manifest. For example, if you want to create this interface in Google Sheets, add the trigger to the "sheets" section.
Implement the function named in the EDITOR_NAME.onFileScopeGrantedTrigger section. This function accepts an event object as an argument and must return either a single Card object or an array of Card objects.
As with any card, you must implement the callback functions used to provide widget interactivity for the interface. For example, if you include a button in the interface, it should have an attached Action and an implemented callback function that runs when the button is clicked.

The following example shows the addons portion of a Google Workspace add-on manifest. The add-on uses REST APIs, so the onFileScopeGrantedTrigger is included for Google Sheets. When a user grants the drive.file scope, the callback function onFileScopeGrantedSheets builds a file-specific interface.

"addOns": {
   "common": {
     "name": "Productivity add-on",
     "logoUrl": "https://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/material/system_gm/1x/work_outline_black_18dp.png",
     "layoutProperties": {
       "primaryColor": "#669df6",
       "secondaryColor": "#ee675c"
     }
   },
   "sheets": {
     "homepageTrigger": {
       "runFunction": "onEditorsHomepage"
     },
     "onFileScopeGrantedTrigger": {
       "runFunction": "onFileScopeGrantedSheets"
     }
   }

Link preview interfaces for third-party services

To turn on link previews for a third-party service, you must configure link previews in your add-on’s manifest and create a function that returns a preview card. For services that require user authorization, your function must also invoke the authorization flow.

For steps to turn on link previews, see Preview links with smart chips.

Event objects

An event object is created and passed to trigger functions, such as EDITOR_NAME.homepageTrigger or EDITOR_NAME.onFileScopeGrantedTrigger. The trigger function uses the information in the event object to determine how to construct add-on cards or otherwise control the add-on behavior.

The full structure of event objects is described in Event objects.

When an Editor is the acting host app of the add-on, the event objects include Docs, Sheets, or Slides event object fields that carry client information.

If the add-on doesn’t have drive.file scope authorization for the current user or document, the event object only contains the docs.addonHasFileScopePermission, sheets.addonHasFileScopePermission, or slides.addonHasFileScopePermission field. If the add-on does have authorization, the event object contains all Editor event object fields.

The following example shows an Editor event object that is passed to a sheets.onFileScopeGrantedTrigger function. Here, the add-on has the drive.file scope authorization for the current document:

`        {
          "commonEventObject": { ... },
          "sheets": {
            "addonHasFileScopePermission": true,
            "id":"A_24Q3CDA23112312ED52",
            "title":"How to get started with Sheets"
          },
          ...
        }