Google Sheets API

Use the Google Sheets API via direct curl calls to read, write, and manage spreadsheet data.

Official docs: https://developers.google.com/sheets/api

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When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• Read data from Google Sheets
• Write or update cell values
• Append rows to existing sheets
• Create new spreadsheets
• Get spreadsheet metadata (sheet names, properties)
• Batch update multiple ranges at once

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Prerequisites

Option 1: OAuth Playground (Recommended for testing)

1. Create Google Cloud Project

   • Go to https://console.cloud.google.com
   • Create a new project or select existing
   • Enable Google Sheets API: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/library/sheets.googleapis.com

2. Configure OAuth Consent Screen

   • Go to https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials/consent
   • Select External → Create
   • Fill required fields (app name, support email, developer email)
   • Click Save and Continue through Scopes (skip adding scopes)
   • In Audience section, click Add Users and add your Gmail address as test user
   • Save and continue to finish

3. Create OAuth Client ID

   • Go to https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials
   • Click Create Credentials → OAuth client ID
   • Choose Web application (not Desktop)
   • Add Authorized redirect URI: https://developers.google.com/oauthplayground
   • Click Create and note the Client ID and Client Secret

4. Get Refresh Token

   • Go to https://developers.google.com/oauthplayground/
   • Click Settings (gear icon ⚙️) → Check Use your own OAuth credentials
   • Enter your Client ID and Client Secret
   • In the left panel, enter scope: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/spreadsheets
   • Click Authorize APIs → Sign in with your test user account
   • Click Exchange authorization code for tokens
   • Copy the Refresh token

5. Set Environment Variables

export GOOGLE_SHEETS_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"
export GOOGLE_SHEETS_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"
export GOOGLE_SHEETS_REFRESH_TOKEN="your-refresh-token"

6. Get Access Token (before making API calls)

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://oauth2.googleapis.com/token" -d "client_id=$GOOGLE_SHEETS_CLIENT_ID" -d "client_secret=$GOOGLE_SHEETS_CLIENT_SECRET" -d "refresh_token=$GOOGLE_SHEETS_REFRESH_TOKEN" -d "grant_type=refresh_token"' | jq -r '.access_token' > /tmp/sheets_token.txt

# Verify token was obtained
head -c 20 /tmp/sheets_token.txt && echo "..."

Then use $(cat /tmp/sheets_token.txt) inside bash -c wrappers for API calls.

Option 2: Service Account

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a project and enable the Google Sheets API
3. Create a Service Account and download JSON key
4. Share your spreadsheet with the service account email
5. Generate access token:

gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file=service-account.json
export GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN=$(gcloud auth print-access-token)

Option 3: API Key (Read-only, Public Sheets)

For publicly accessible sheets, you can use an API key:

export GOOGLE_API_KEY="your-api-key"

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Important: When using $VAR in a command that pipes to another command, wrap the command containing $VAR in bash -c '...'. Due to a Claude Code bug, environment variables are silently cleared when pipes are used directly.

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.example.com" -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"' | jq .

How to Use

All examples below use ${GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN}. Before running, either:

• Set manually: GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN="ya29.xxx...", or
• Replace ${GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN} with $(cat /tmp/sheets_token.txt) in each command

Important: In range notation like Sheet1!A1:D10, the ! must be URL encoded as %21 in the URL path (e.g., Sheet1%21A1:D10). All examples below use this encoding.

Base URL: https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets

Finding your Spreadsheet ID: The spreadsheet ID is in the URL: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/{SPREADSHEET_ID}/edit

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1. Get Spreadsheet Metadata

Get information about a spreadsheet (sheets, properties):

bash -c 'curl -s "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/${SPREADSHEET_ID}" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN}"' | jq '{title: .properties.title, sheets: [.sheets[].properties | {sheetId, title}]}'

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2. Read Cell Values

Read a range of cells:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/${SPREADSHEET_ID}/values/Sheet1%21A1:D10" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN}"' | jq '.values'

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3. Read Entire Sheet

Read all data from a sheet:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/${SPREADSHEET_ID}/values/Sheet1" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN}"' | jq '.values'

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4. Read with API Key (Public Sheets)

For publicly accessible sheets:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/${SPREADSHEET_ID}/values/Sheet1%21A1:D10?key=${GOOGLE_API_KEY}"' | jq '.values'

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5. Write Cell Values

Update a range of cells:

Write to /tmp/gsheets_request.json:

{
  "values": [
    ["Name", "Email", "Status"]
  ]
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X PUT "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/${SPREADSHEET_ID}/values/Sheet1%21A1:C1?valueInputOption=USER_ENTERED" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gsheets_request.json' | jq '.updatedCells'

valueInputOption:

• RAW: Values are stored as-is
• USER_ENTERED: Values are parsed as if typed by user (formulas evaluated)

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6. Append Rows

Add new rows to the end of a sheet:

Write to /tmp/gsheets_request.json:

{
  "values": [
    ["John Doe", "john@example.com", "Active"]
  ]
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/${SPREADSHEET_ID}/values/Sheet1%21A:C:append?valueInputOption=USER_ENTERED&insertDataOption=INSERT_ROWS" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gsheets_request.json' | jq '.updates | {updatedRange, updatedRows}'

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7. Batch Read Multiple Ranges

Read multiple ranges in one request:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/${SPREADSHEET_ID}/values:batchGet?ranges=Sheet1%21A1:B5&ranges=Sheet1%21D1:E5" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN}"' | jq '.valueRanges'

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8. Batch Update Multiple Ranges

Update multiple ranges in one request:

Write to /tmp/gsheets_request.json:

{
  "valueInputOption": "USER_ENTERED",
  "data": [
    {
      "range": "Sheet1!A1",
      "values": [["Header 1"]]
    },
    {
      "range": "Sheet1!B1",
      "values": [["Header 2"]]
    }
  ]
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/${SPREADSHEET_ID}/values:batchUpdate" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gsheets_request.json' | jq '.totalUpdatedCells'

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9. Clear Cell Values

Clear a range of cells:

Write to /tmp/gsheets_request.json:

{}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/${SPREADSHEET_ID}/values/Sheet1%21A2:C100:clear" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gsheets_request.json' | jq '.clearedRange'

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10. Create New Spreadsheet

Create a new spreadsheet:

Write to /tmp/gsheets_request.json:

{
  "properties": {
    "title": "My New Spreadsheet"
  },
  "sheets": [
    {
      "properties": {
        "title": "Data"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gsheets_request.json' | jq '{spreadsheetId, spreadsheetUrl}'

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11. Add New Sheet

Add a new sheet to an existing spreadsheet:

Write to /tmp/gsheets_request.json:

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "addSheet": {
        "properties": {
          "title": "New Sheet"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/${SPREADSHEET_ID}:batchUpdate" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gsheets_request.json' | jq '.replies[0].addSheet.properties'

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12. Delete Sheet

Delete a sheet from a spreadsheet (use sheetId from metadata):

Write to /tmp/gsheets_request.json:

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "deleteSheet": {
        "sheetId": 123456789
      }
    }
  ]
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/${SPREADSHEET_ID}:batchUpdate" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gsheets_request.json' | jq '.'

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13. Search for Values

Find cells containing specific text (read all then filter):

bash -c 'curl -s "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/${SPREADSHEET_ID}/values/Sheet1" -H "Authorization: Bearer ${GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN}"' | jq '[.values[] | select(.[0] | ascii_downcase | contains("search_term"))]'

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A1 Notation Reference

Notation	Description
Sheet1!A1	Single cell A1 in Sheet1
Sheet1!A1:B2	Range from A1 to B2
Sheet1!A:A	Entire column A
Sheet1!1:1	Entire row 1
Sheet1!A1:C	From A1 to end of column C
'Sheet Name'!A1	Sheet names with spaces need quotes

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Guidelines

1. Token expiration: Access tokens expire after ~1 hour; refresh with gcloud auth print-access-token
2. Share with service account: When using service accounts, share the spreadsheet with the service account email
3. Rate limits: Default quota is 300 requests per minute per project
4. Use batch operations: Combine multiple reads/writes to reduce API calls
5. valueInputOption: Use USER_ENTERED for formulas, RAW for literal strings
6. URL encode ranges: Ranges with special characters need URL encoding (e.g., spaces → %20)