What's Included

This chapter covers the core features and capabilities of Google Apps Script Starter Kit.

What's Included

Email & Communication (5 scripts)

Form & Data Processing (5 scripts)

Data Sync & Integration (4 scripts)

Reports & Export (4 scripts)

Calendar & Scheduling (3 scripts)

Utilities (3 scripts)

Documentation & Setup

Quick Start

1. Open any Google Spreadsheet

2. Go to Extensions → Apps Script

3. Delete the default myFunction() code

4. Paste the contents of any .gs file

5. Save (Ctrl+S)

6. Run the function (click ▶ or set up a trigger)

7. Authorize when prompted (see docs/SETUP.md for scope details)

Script Complexity Levels

Complexity in Google Apps Script is driven less by line count than by state, permissions, failure recovery, and the number of services involved. Start at the lowest level that solves the workflow, then add structure when users or data dependencies grow.

Level 1: simple automation

Level 1 scripts modify one spreadsheet in response to a manual action or simple trigger. Typical jobs include numbering rows, formatting cells, or reacting to an edit. Read and write ranges in batches because calls to Sheets are much slower than JavaScript operations:

function stampNewRows() {
  const sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive().getSheetByName('Orders');
  const rows = sheet.getRange(2, 1, sheet.getLastRow() - 1, 2).getValues();
  sheet.getRange(2, 3, rows.length, 1)
    .setValues(rows.map((row, i) => [row[0] && !row[1] ? `ORD-${i + 1}` : '']));
}

Use the included auto-numbering.gs, duplicate-detector.gs, and conditional-formatting-advanced.gs as starting templates. Add an installable time or edit trigger when the script needs authorization that a simple onEdit trigger cannot obtain.

Level 2: multi-sheet workflows

Level 2 coordinates tabs or separate spreadsheets, validates inputs, and records processing state. Give columns stable headers, validate before moving data, and use LockService to prevent two trigger executions from processing the same row:

function validateStatus() {
  const sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive().getSheetByName('Intake');
  const rule = SpreadsheetApp.newDataValidation()
    .requireValueInList(['New', 'Approved', 'Rejected'], true)
    .setAllowInvalid(false).build();
  sheet.getRange('D2:D').setDataValidation(rule);
}

Relevant templates are form-to-sheet.gs, data-validation.gs, cross-sheet-lookup.gs, and sheet-to-sheet-sync.gs. Add a “Processed At” value only after every dependent write succeeds so retries remain safe.

Level 3: service and API integration

Level 3 crosses service boundaries: Gmail mail merges, Calendar synchronization, Drive backups, Slack webhooks, or third-party REST APIs. Expect OAuth scopes, quotas, pagination, HTTP errors, and rate limits. Store tokens in Script Properties—not cells—and retry only transient failures:

function fetchOrders() {
  const token = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties().getProperty('API_TOKEN');
  const response = UrlFetchApp.fetch('https://api.example.com/orders', {
    headers: {Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`},
    muteHttpExceptions: true
  });
  if (response.getResponseCode() !== 200) throw new Error(response.getContentText());
  return JSON.parse(response.getContentText());
}

Begin with json-api-import.gs, send-bulk-email.gs, calendar-sync.gs, backup-to-drive.gs, or chart-to-slack.gs. Review requested scopes before deployment and log external IDs to make syncs idempotent.

Level 4: full applications

Level 4 adds custom menus, HTML sidebars or dialogs, and possibly a deployed web app. Separate UI handlers from sheet services, validate every browser-supplied value server-side, and use google.script.run asynchronously:

function onOpen() {
  SpreadsheetApp.getUi().createMenu('Operations')
    .addItem('Open dashboard', 'showDashboard').addToUi();
}
function doGet() {
  return HtmlService.createHtmlOutputFromFile('Index').setTitle('Operations');
}

The kit’s custom-menu.gs and sidebar-ui.gs provide the included Level 4 building blocks; adapt them into dialogs or a web entry point as needed.

When Apps Script is no longer enough

Move to a proper backend when execution regularly approaches six minutes, concurrent users contend for locks, data exceeds practical spreadsheet size, secrets need stronger isolation, or the product requires queues, database transactions, observability, strict latency, or public APIs. A common transition keeps Sheets as the operator interface while Cloud Run, a database, and a job queue perform durable work. Upgrade based on reliability requirements—not simply because the script became long.