Dataset → Google Sheets Incremental Sync

Sync an Apify Dataset to Google Sheets without manually tracking offsets.

The recommended mode remembers the last successfully synced Dataset offset in a persistent Apify Key-Value Store. Schedule the Actor every hour, every day, or after your scraper finishes, and only new Dataset items are appended.

What problem does it solve?

Typical workflow:

Scraper → Apify Dataset → Google Sheets

A normal append workflow can duplicate old rows on every scheduled run. This Actor keeps a checkpoint and only reads items after the previous successful sync.

Run 1: Dataset items 0–999   → Sheets → checkpoint = 1000
Run 2: Dataset items 1000–1049 → Sheets → checkpoint = 1050
Run 3: no new items          → no write

The checkpoint moves only after the Google Sheets write succeeds.

Features

• Incremental Dataset → Google Sheets sync
• Automatic persistent offset checkpoint
• No manual offset management
• Append, replace, and upsert one-shot modes
• Google Service Account authentication
• Retry with exponential backoff for Google 429/5xx
• RAW writes to avoid interpreting incoming strings as formulas
• Dry-run validation
• Configurable batch and row limits
• Machine-readable run summary

Recommended setup

1. Create a Google Service Account

In Google Cloud:

1. Create/select a project.
2. Enable Google Sheets API.
3. Create a Service Account.
4. Create a JSON key.
5. Copy the Service Account client_email.

2. Share the spreadsheet

Share the target Google Sheet with the Service Account client_email as Editor.

3. Run incremental sync

Set:

• operation: incremental_append
• sourceDatasetId: your Apify Dataset
• spreadsheet: target Sheet URL or ID
• sheetName: target tab
• serviceAccountJson: Service Account JSON

The first successful run starts at offset 0. Later runs continue from the stored offset automatically.

Resetting the checkpoint

Set resetCheckpoint to true for one run.

This restarts incremental sync from Dataset offset 0.

Warning: restarting from zero can intentionally append duplicates if your sheet already contains those rows.

Checkpoint identity

By default, the Actor derives a checkpoint from:

sourceDatasetId + spreadsheetId + sheetName

Use syncKey if you need an explicit stable checkpoint identifier.

Other modes

Append

Adds all incoming rows.

Replace

Clears values from the target tab and writes the incoming table again.

Upsert

Merges rows by keyColumn.

For complex spreadsheets with formulas inside the data grid, use Incremental append instead of Replace/Upsert.

Input source

Incremental append requires an Apify Dataset.

Append, Replace, and Upsert can use either:

• sourceDatasetId, or
• inline rows.

Privacy

The Google Service Account credential is a secret Actor input. Do not put credentials into the README, issues, logs, or sample outputs.

Limitations

• The target spreadsheet and tab must already exist.
• Do not run two incremental syncs for the exact same checkpoint concurrently; concurrent runs can append duplicate rows.
• Upsert rewrites the tab's data grid and is intended for plain data tables.
• Google Sheets API quotas still apply.
• This Actor does not create or manage Google Cloud credentials for you.

Suggested automation

Create an Apify Task with your saved input, then add a schedule.

Scraper runs
     ↓
Dataset grows
     ↓
Scheduled Incremental Sync
     ↓
Only new rows reach Google Sheets

Output

Each run writes a summary with:

• source offset
• next offset
• source row count
• rows written
• target sheet
• duration
• status

Statuses include:

• SYNC_COMPLETE
• NO_NEW_ROWS
• DRY_RUN_OK