Guide to Starters & Steps in Workspace Studio

On a schedule

The flow starts at a specific date and time.

Example: Get a daily AI-generated summary of your unread emails sent as a personal Google Chat message every morning at 8:00 AM.

Configuration:

1. Set a start date and time.
2. Choose a repeat frequency, such as "Daily" or "Weekly."

Optional: Set your time zone.

When someone joins a space

The flow starts when a new user joins a Google Chat space you're in.

Example: When a new member joins your 'Project Team' space, automatically draft a welcome email that includes your standard onboarding documents.

Configuration:

Enter one or more specific space names. To monitor all spaces leave the "Spaces" field blank.

When I get an email

The flow starts when a new email arrives in Gmail. You can start it for all emails or for specific ones.

Example: If you receive an email from a key client that contains an attachment, auto-add the attachment to a private Google Drive folder and draft a confirmation reply.

Important: By default, this starter ignores events other flows create. This prevents a situation where a flow is in a loop after it sends an email. If you need a flow to start through an email sent by another flow, check the box next to "Include messages sent by flows."

Configuration:

To start for specific emails, you can set conditions for:

• From/To: To limit which emails start the flow, use the "To" field.
• Has the words/Doesn't have: You can refine your starter with standard words or phrases. You can't filter based on labels, like label:finance, or dates.
• Subject has
• Has attachment
• Filter by email size
• Email label

Tip: Only the default Gmail labels are available. Custom labels aren't available.

When I get a chat message

The flow starts when a message is posted in a Google Chat space from specific people or by conversation type.

Example: If a Chat message contains the word 'urgent,' automatically create a new high-priority task in your Google Tasks list.

Configuration:

• Specify which spaces and/or senders to monitor.
• Use specific words to filter messages. You can choose to filter for messages that "Match text exactly" or "Match text with regular expression."

Tip: To create advanced text filters, you can use regular expressions or "Regex."

Examples of regex:

• To match messages that start with "Urgent": ^Urgent
• To match messages that end with "Approved": Approved$
• To match messages that contain the word "Error": Error
• Exact match (the message is only "Yes"): ^Yes$

When I'm mentioned

The flow starts when you're @mentioned in Google Chat.

Example: When you're @mentioned in a space, automatically create a new task in your Google Tasks list so you don't miss the request.

Configuration:

• Specify which spaces to monitor for mentions: To monitor all spaces where you're a member, leave this section blank.
• People who mention me: To have the flow run only when a specific person mentions you, add their name or email address here.

When an emoji reaction is added

The flow starts when someone reacts to a message with a specific emoji in Google Chat.

Example: When someone reacts with an emoji to an approval request, automatically document the person's name and the date as a new row in a private spreadsheet.

Configuration:

1. Select one or more reaction emojis to monitor.
2. Optional: Limit the starter to specific spaces or users.

When a sheet changes

The flow starts when a value in a specific column or row in a Google Sheet is updated. Tip: This is a powerful starter to track specific data. For complex setups, you can define which columns and rows to monitor for changes.

Example: In your private project tracking sheet, when the 'Status' column is changed to 'Done,' automatically clear the row to keep the document clean.

Configuration:

1. Select the spreadsheet and tab to watch.
2. Optional: Set conditions to monitor changes in specific columns or rows.

Tip: For best results, make sure your sheet has a header row with a unique name for each column.

When an item is added to a folder

The flow starts when a new file or subfolder is added to a specific folder in Google Drive.

Example: When a new contract PDF is added to the "Signed Contracts" folder, automatically create a task for yourself to review the file.

Configuration:

Select the folder you want to monitor.

When a file is edited

The flow starts when the content of a specific file is modified. It doesn't start when a file is renamed, moved, or receives a new comment.

Example: When your collaborative 'Project Plan' is updated, automatically log a brief summary of the edits into your private tracking spreadsheet.

Configuration:

Select the file you want to monitor.

When an item in a folder is edited

The flow starts when a file within a selected folder is modified. This doesn't include files located in sub-folders.

Example: When someone edits a document in your 'Shared Assets' folder, automatically create a reminder in Google Tasks to review the changes.

Configuration:

Select the folder that contains the files you want to monitor.

Based on a meeting

Start the flow at a set time before or after a Google Calendar event.

Example: Fifteen minutes before every meeting starts, get a personal notification in Google Chat with a link to the meeting's agenda document.

Configuration:

1. Choose a specific meeting from the drop down or Every meeting.
2. Set a time offset in minutes or hours.
3. Select if the flow should run Before meeting or After meeting.

When a form response comes in

The flow starts when a new response is submitted to a Google Form.

Example: When a user submits a support form, use Ask Gemini to automatically draft an email reply to their specific question that you can review and send.

Configuration:

Anonymous and non-anonymous forms are supported.

1. Select the form you want to monitor.
2. Optional: Select the box to run the flow when a response is edited.

When meeting outputs are ready

Start the flow when a meeting transcript or notes by Gemini are ready.

Example: When a transcript from a meeting is ready, summarize the text with Gemini, create tasks out of your action items, and automatically draft a follow-up email to attendees.

Configuration:

1. Select an option to start the flow:
   • Transcript
   • Notes by Gemini
2. Under "Meetings," select one:
   • All meetings
   • Meetings that you organized
   • Specific meetings: Begin typing the name of a meeting from your calendar and select it once it populates. You can add multiple meetings. For repeating meetings, the flow runs for each one.

Ask Gemini

Use a custom prompt to have Gemini generate text, get answers, or transform information from earlier steps in your flow.

Example: When an email asks a complex question, use Ask Gemini and an FAQ doc to automatically draft an email response that you can review before sending.

Configuration:

1. Enter a prompt: Write the instructions for Gemini. To include information from a previous step, like the subject or sender of an email, click + Variables.
2. Sources Gemini can use: Select where Gemini should access information. You can choose from All sources (Web search or Workspace) or Specific sources.
3. Response format: Choose either Text or List to select how Gemini's response appears. If you select "List," you can use each item one by one with a "Repeat for each" step.

Ask a Gem

Use a specialized AI agent for a specific task, like brainstorm ideas or draft a copy. Watch this video to learn how to use Gems in Google Workspace Studio

Example: Run newly drafted documents through a dedicated Gem to brainstorm ideas and automatically log them in your personal notes.

Configuration:

1. Select a Gem: Choose from a list of pre-made Gems, such as "Brainstormer" or "Copy creator." To build your own gem, you can also click Create or edit Gems.
2. Enter a prompt: Provide the specific instructions for your selected Gem. To add context from earlier steps, click + Variables.
3. Sources Gemini can use: Select where Gemini should access information (All sources or Specific sources).

Decide

Use Gemini to analyze content and make a simple true or false decision. You can use this decision to control the flow with a "Check if" step.

Example: Analyze inbound emails to decide if they contain action items. If true, use a later step to automatically add an 'Action Item' label in Gmail.

Configuration:

• Enter a prompt: Write the question you want Gemini to answer with a true or false decision. You can use predefined decisions like "is urgent" or "requires response."

Extract

Have Gemini find and pull out specific pieces of information from a piece of content, like an email or a document.

Example: When an invoice is sent, automatically extract the 'Order Number' and 'Total Cost' and append them directly to your private tracking spreadsheet.

Configuration:

• Content to analyze: To select the content from a previous step that you want Gemini to analyze, use + Variables.
• What to extract: Select from predefined items or add your own custom content names and descriptions for Gemini to find.

Recap unread emails

Get an AI-generated summary of your important unread emails. You can share this summary with yourself or others in a later step.

Example: Get a consolidated daily summary of unread emails sent by key people and receive a chat notification to catch up quickly.

Configuration:

• Time range for summary: Select the time period you want to recap, like "Today (12 AM)," "Yesterday," "Last 7 days," or "Last 30 days."

Summarize

Use Gemini to generate a summary of content from a document, meeting, email, or other sources. You can then share this summary in a later step.

Example: Automatically summarize weekly newsletters sent to your inbox and store those short summaries in a private Google Doc to read on your schedule.

Important: This step summarizes content you provide to it, like the body of an email or text from a document. It can't independently summarize all unread messages in a Google Chat space.

Configuration:

What to summarize: Choose the source of the content you want Gemini to summarize. You have 2 main options:

• Use data from your flow: To select content that came from your starter or a previous step, click + Variables.
• Select a specific file: Choose an item, like a Google Doc, directly from the dropdown menu.

Check if

Continue the flow only if specific conditions are met. This allows you to build conditional logic into your flow.

Example: If the subject of an email contains the word 'Invoice,' then add the attachment to your private 'Finances' folder in Google Drive.

Configuration:

Set the condition: Create a rule:

1. Choose a variable from a previous step.
2. Select an operator, like "contains" or "starts with."
3. Enter the text or value to check against. You can add multiple conditions with "AND" or "OR."

Filter a list

Process only certain items from a list of items generated in a previous step.

Example: If an email has multiple attachments, automatically filter the list to ensure only the files that contain pdf' are saved.

Configuration:

• Apply filter to: To select the list from a previous step that you want to filter, use + Variables.

Repeat for each

Allows a flow to handle lists of items individually.

Example: Bulk processing: Draft a personalized email to each person listed in a spreadsheet.

Configuration:

1. Add a "Repeat for each" step.
2. Identify a list of items. Select a list variable from the starter or previous step.
3. Add sub-steps inside the loop block. Choose a variable from the "Repeat for each" menu to choose which list items to apply your action to.

Tip: Before you add a "Repeat for each" step, add an "Ask Gemini" step to create a list of items. Ensure you select "List" for the Response format.

Block time

Example: Whenever someone from your team emails a Product Requirements Document, block out time in your Google Calendar to review it.

Configuration:

• Title: Enter a name for the event.
• Start date: Select a date when the event begins.
• Start time: Select a time when the event begins.
• Duration: Select how long the event lasts. Options are in 15 minute increments from 15 minutes-4 hours.
• Repeat: Select the event frequency (Does not repeat, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly).
• Event description: Enter event details.
• Time zone: Select the time zone for the event.

Notify me in Chat

Send a direct notification message only to yourself in Google Chat. Messages are sent through a Chat app that's named after the flow.

Example: Get a personal notification any time you receive an email from a specific client.

Configuration:

• Message: Write the notification message you want to receive.

Tip: If you include a variable like [Sender email address] in the message, it appears as plain text. It won't become a clickable @mention and won't notify that person.

Create a Google doc

Automatically create a new doc.

Example: At the start of each week, create a new doc from a template for your personal weekly task planning.

Configuration:

• Document title: Specify the name of the new document.
• Location: Choose the folder in Google Drive to save the doc.
• Content (Optional): Add initial text or content to the document.

Add to a doc

Add new text or content to the start or end of a Google Doc.

Example: To keep a log of daily support tickets, automatically add a summary of each new ticket to the end of your private 'Daily Tickets' doc.

Configuration:

• Doc to update: Choose the Google Doc you want to add content to.
• Where to add new content: Select whether to add "Before all existing content" or "After existing content."
• Content to add: Enter your text. To insert dynamic information from your starter, use + Variables.

Add email attachments to Drive

Automatically save attachments from an email to a specific folder in Google Drive.

Example: When you receive an email with a receipt attached, automatically save the attachment to your private 'Receipts' folder in Drive.

Important: This step saves uploaded files like PDFs. It doesn't save linked Google Workspace files, such as Docs, Sheets, Slides, or auto-generated meeting notes.

Configuration:

• Destination folder: Select the Google Drive folder where you want to save the attachments.

Create a folder

Automatically create a new folder in Google Drive.

Example: When a new project is created in your personal task tracker, automatically create a new private folder for it in Google Drive.

Configuration:

• Folder name: Specify the name for the new folder.
• Parent folder: Choose the location for the new folder in your Drive.

Draft an email

Automatically draft an email reply so you can review and send it later.

Example: When you are asked the same routine questions by clients, automatically draft replies using existing documents to review and send out later.

Configuration:

• Message: Write the reply draft. To include content from the original email, use + Variables.

Add or remove labels

To keep your inbox organized, automatically add or remove labels from emails in Gmail.

Example: Automatically apply an 'Action item' label to specific inbound messages rather than organizing them manually.

Configuration:

• Label(s): Select one or more labels to add or remove from the email.
• AI-powered labels (Optional): To have Gemini apply your selected labels only if the content of the message matches the label's description, turn on this toggle.

Tip: Only 50 labels will show up.

Mark as read or unread

Change the read status of an email.

Example: If an email is from a specific sender and has an attachment, save the attachment to a private Drive folder and then automatically mark the email as read.

Configuration:

This step automatically applies to the email from your starter.

Star an email or remove star from an email

Add or remove a star from an email.

Example: If you receive an email with the word 'urgent' in the subject, automatically star the email.

Configuration:

This step automatically applies to the email from your starter.

Archive an email

Move an email out of your inbox and into your archive.

Example: After a flow saves an invoice attachment to Google Drive, use this step to archive the original email, keeping your inbox clean.

Configuration:

• Email to archive: This tells the flow which email to archive. It should already contain the Email ID variable from your starter. If the field is empty, use + Variables and select the email you want to archive.

Notify me by email

Send a direct email to yourself in Gmail.

Example: When a flow determines a new Chat message is important, use this step to email yourself the details so you don't miss it.

Configuration:

• Subject: Set the subject line for the email.
• Message: Write the body of the email. Use + Variables to insert dynamic content from previous steps, such as the sender's name or the message text.

Ask NotebookLM

Send a prompt to a specific notebook to generate summaries, answer questions, or get insights based on the sources in that notebook.

Example: When a user asks a technical question, draft a support email based on the verified information in your "Product Manual & FAQs" notebook.

Configuration:

• Notebook: Select the specific notebook you want to query.
• Enter a prompt: Write the instructions or question you want NotebookLM to answer. To include content to analyze, click + Variables.

Tip: The sources you upload and select for the notebook determine all responses. This step provides text responses but doesn't support citations.

Add a row

Add a row of data to a specific Google Sheet.

Example: Whenever an action item for a project is detected in an email, to track it, log the requester's name and request details as a new row in a private project sheet.

Configuration:

• Select a sheet: Choose the specific Google Sheet and tab you want to add a row to.
• Columns: Use variables to map the data from your flow to the appropriate columns in your sheet.

Update rows

Find and update one or more rows in a Google Sheet that match certain criteria.

Example: When a specific follow-up task is marked done, locate that exact task within your central row and alter its tracker cell in your private sheet to 'Resolved'.

Configuration:

• Select a sheet: Choose the Google Sheet and tab where you want to update rows. For best results, make sure your sheet has a header row with unique names for each column.
• Conditions: Set one or more conditions to identify which rows to update.
• Update values: Specify the new values for the columns you want to change.

Clear rows

Delete the content of all rows that match a specific condition.

Example: In your private 'Daily Tasks' sheet, automatically clear all rows where the 'Status' is 'Done' at the end of each day.

Configuration:

• Select a sheet: Choose the specific Google Sheet and tab you want to clear rows from.
• Conditions: Set the criteria to identify which rows to clear.

Get sheet contents

Retrieve data from a Google Sheet to use in a later step of your flow.

Example: Get a list of your upcoming project names from a private sheet to use in a 'Create a folder' step to automatically structure your personal Google Drive.

Configuration:

• Select a sheet: Choose the specific Google Sheet and tab from which you want to get data.
• Rows and Columns: Specify the range of data you want to retrieve.

Create a task

Create a new task in Google Tasks. New tasks are automatically added to your primary task list in Google Tasks.

Example: If you star an important email in Gmail, automatically create a task to remind you to follow up.

Configuration:

• Task title: Set the name of the task.
• Task details: Add any relevant notes or information about the task.
• Date: Optionally set a deadline for the task.

Asana integration (Alpha)

Create projects, sections, tasks, and subtasks in Asana.

Example: When you label an email in Gmail as 'Feature Request,' automatically create a new task in your private 'To-Do' project in Asana.

Configuration:

• Select the specific step, like "Create task" or "Create project."
• Configure the required fields, such as the Asana project, task name, and description.

Confluence integration (Alpha)

Create pages in Confluence.

Example: To summarize key documents and create a personal notes page in Confluence at the end of a project, use a flow.

Configuration:

• Space: Select the Confluence space.
• Title: Enter the title for the new page.
• Content: Add the page content with variables from previous steps.

Jira integration (Alpha)

Create issues and issue comments in Jira.

Example: When you receive an email that contains a 'bug report,' automatically create a new issue on your personal Jira board.

Configuration:

• Jira project: Select the project where the issue will be created.
• Issue type: Choose the type of issue, such as "Bug" or "Task."
• Summary and description: Provide the details for the Jira issue.

Mailchimp integration (Alpha)

Manage subscribers and campaigns in Mailchimp.

Example: When a new contact is added to your private Google Sheet, automatically add them as a new subscriber to your Mailchimp audience.

Configuration:

• Audience: Select your Mailchimp audience list.
• Subscriber details: Provide the required information, like the email address.

Slack integration (Alpha)

Perform steps in your Slack workspace.

Example: When a new file is added to a Google Drive folder, send a direct message to yourself in Slack.

Configuration:

• Channel/User: Select the specific channel or user to message.
• Message: Write the content of the message you want to send.