Tag Archives: API

Google Chat apps can now subscribe to event notifications

This announcement was part of Google Cloud Next ‘24. Visit the Workspace Blog to learn more about the next wave of innovations in Workspace, including enhancements to Gemini for Google Workspace.


What’s changing

Google Workspace developers registered in our Developer Preview Program have been able to build Chat apps that can subscribe to Chat events using the Google Workspace Events API. We’re pleased to announce that as of today, this functionality is now available to all Workspace developers.


Chat apps can receive events about the following types of changes in Google Chat:

  • New memberships
  • New or removed reactions to a message
  • New, updated, or removed members in a space
  • Changes to a space, such as the space name or description

Subscribing to these notifications allows Chat apps to respond to important actions in real-time. For details, see subscribe to Google Chat events in the Google Workspace Events API documentation.


Getting started


Rollout pace


Availability


Import data from other messaging platforms using the Google Chat API is now generally available

What’s changing 

Google Workspace developers registered in our Workspace Developer Preview program have been able to import user data from other messaging platforms into Google Chat using the Google Chat APIs. This functionality is now generally available to all Workspace developers and admins. 


Who’s impacted

Admins and developers 


Why it’s important

In order to import data, you can create a Chat app and “import mode” Chat space. Within an import mode space, Chat apps can import the following data as equivalent REST resources:
  • Messages
  • Attachments
  • Reactions
  • Memberships with the following considerations:
    • Historical memberships must be imported when a space is in import mode. You can't import historical memberships after the space completes import mode.
    • Other existing memberships from the source messaging platform must be created after a space completes import mode.
    • Members must be users within the same domain.
  • Spaces: only SpaceType.SPACE is supported.
This is a helpful workflow for those who are transitioning from other messaging platforms to Google Chat. Rather than copying source data into regular spaces, import mode has the following advantages:
  • Preservation of resource creation timestamps: You can set a historical time for the creation times of space and message resources, letting Chat apps retain historical context during user adoption of Google Chat.

  • End users can't view or access spaces in import mode: To prevent user interference with a space undergoing data import, or to avoid possible user confusion as a result of viewing an in-progress data import, spaces in import mode are hidden from end users. After a space has completed import mode, you can add users to the space.

  • Chat turns off notifications during import mode: This helps users to avoid unnecessary alerts about the migration.

Getting started


Rollout pace

  • Available now.

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers

Available in open beta: the Groups Admin role can now be provisioned for specific group types

What’s changing

The Groups Admin role can now be assigned for security groups or non-security groups. Previously, those with the Groups Admin role had access to all groups within an organization. This change gives administrators more granular delegation of group admin responsibilities, helping limit access to the most sensitive groups to only those who absolutely need it. 

This feature is available in open beta, which means no additional sign-up is required to use the feature.

Getting started

The Google Meet API is now generally available

What’s changing 

In November 2023, we announced the availability of the Google Meet API through our Developer Preview Program. Beginning today, the Google Meet API is generally available. You can use the Meet API to: 
  • Programmatically create and configure Meet calls 
  • Retrieve information about past meetings, such as the meeting times and attendees. 
  • Access meeting artifacts, such as transcripts and video recordings 
  • Subscribe to real time updates on meetings, such as when a participant joins or leaves 

For more information, please reference our original announcement.


Who's impacted

Admins and developers


Why you’d use it

Integrating the Meet API in your product with the Google Meet API streamlines workflows and provides your product with Meet information that easily enhances your product offering. For example, partners such as Hubspot, Outreach, Salesforce, and Salesloft currently integrate the Meet API into their solutions to pull meeting recordings and artifacts into their conversational intelligence tools for analysis and sales coaching.



Getting started


Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – February 2, 2024

3 New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are available to all Google Workspace customers, and are fully launched or in the process of rolling out. Rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete if launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time. If not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete.


New ways to work with filters in Connected Sheets for Looker and Connected Sheets for BigQuery 
  • With Looker: Connected Sheets for Looker users will now be able to see whether Looker-defined filters, always_filters and conditionally_filters, are applied in their Google Sheets. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains and Scheduled Release domains now. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Learn more about always_filter and conditionally_filter in Looker. 
  • With BigQuery: Connected Sheets for BigQuery users can now right-click any value in the Connected Sheets preview and filter rows in the preview on that specific value. As a result, a new query will be sent to BigQuery to re-fetch the preview. This new option provides an additional way to easily explore data in the Connected Sheets preview for BigQuery. | This is now available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Learn more about sorting & filtering BigQuery data in Google Sheets.

Latest improvement for page setup in Google Docs 
We’re introducing a new menu item within the Format option that enables you to easily switch between pageless and pages mode in Google Docs. | Rollout to Rapid Release domains is complete; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for February 5, 2024. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Learn more about changing a document’s page setup. 
Latest improvement for page setup in Google Docs


Developers can now choose which calendar events to be notified about 
Developers using the Calendar API can now subscribe to specific changes in users’ calendars — this includes event types such as working location, out-of-office, or focus time. This update reduces the amount of notifications down to those that are most relevant to the developer. | Use our Developer Documentation for more information about subscribing to alerts for specific calendar event changes. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release domains and Scheduled Release domains. | The Calendar API is available to all Google Workspace customers, however Calendar features may vary across Google Workspace editions.



Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.


For Google Meet Hardware, ‘Auto-Update Expiration (AUE)’ will now be referred to as 'end of Meet support' 
We’re making changes to the terminology that refers to when a Meet hardware device is no longer supported. | This update impacts all Google Workspace customers with Meet hardware devices. | Learn more about 'end of Meet support'.

Local data storage exports your organization's Workspace data into the geographic location of your choice, launching in beta 
We’re introducing Google Workspace’s new feature, local data storage. This feature allows admins to export their organization’s Workspace data into the geographic location or locations of their choice. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus customers with Assured Controls add-on only. | Learn more about the local data storage exports beta.

Improving the Google Calendar appointment scheduling experience with new features 
We’re improving upon the current appointment scheduling experience with four new features. | Co-hosts, secondary calendars and delegate access features are available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits only. Check Calendars for availability feature is available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Nonprofits, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts only. | Learn more about the appointment scheduling features. 

Shareable class templates and classwork in Google Classroom are now generally available 
Last year, we announced a Google Classroom beta that simplifies lesson planning with shareable class templates and classwork. We’re excited to announce that this is now globally available for Google Workspace for Education Plus customers in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese. | Available to Education Plus only. | Learn more about shareable class materials. 

Pin chat messages in Google Meet 
You can now pin messages to the top of the meeting chat. Pinned messages will appear for all users, even if they join the meeting after the message was initially sent. | Learn more about messaging pinning.


Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog posts for additional details.

Rapid Release Domains: 

Scheduled Release Domains: 
Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains: 

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).  

Extending Trusted Types to Gmail

What’s changing

Last year, we improved the client-side security of Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites, Drawings, Drive, and Calendar with Trusted Types. This browser-based runtime feature limits the uses of Document Object Model (DOM) APIs that are used by the apps listed above or third-party extensions. Trusted Types also reduce the possibility of Document Object Model Cross Site Scripting (DOM XSS), which continues to be one of the most critical threats to web security. 

DOM XSS occurs when a cyber attacker injects malicious code into a web page, which can then be executed by the victim's browser. This can allow the cyber attacker to steal cookies, hijack sessions, and even take control of the victim's computer. 

To defend against this, we’re excited to announce the expansion of Trusted Types to Gmail. This will provide a defense against DOM XSS and further enhances our advanced data protection controls to keep users and data safe across more of the apps they use everyday. 


Who’s impacted 

Developers (relying on any Chrome extensions that modify DOM APIs.) 


Additional details 

This new enforcement mode will require third-party extensions to use typed objects instead of strings when assigning values to DOM APIs. Once Trusted Types are fully enforced, the Trusted Types directive will be present in the Content Security Policy (CSP) header: 

Content-Security-Policy: require-trusted-types-for 'script';report-uri https://mail.google.com/mail/cspreport 


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • Developers: 
    • To make code Trusted Types compliant, signal to the browser that data being used within the context of these DOM APIs is trustworthy by creating a Trusted Type special object. 
    • There are several ways to be Trusted Types compliant, such as removing the offending code, using a library (such as safevalues or DOMPurify), or creating a Trusted Types policy. To ensure a seamless experience for users, we recommend employing these techniques before Trusted Types enforcement is rolled out. Failure to make code Trusted Types compliant may cause feature breakages for third-party extensions as their DOM manipulations will be blocked by the browser. 
  • End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Google Vault now supports Google Calendar

What’s changing 

Google Vault now supports Calendar, which means customers can take the following actions around Calendar data: 
  • Manage retention with default and custom rules. 
  • Search and preview events with a number of filters, such as keyword search across description, title, guests, locations and invite response status which can be used to quickly refine your search. 
  • Search for historical versions of events, which allows Vault Admins to search and export events as they appeared on a specific date. 
  • Export data in multiple formats, including ICS, PST (MSFT format) and CSE-decryptable formats. 
  • Apply holds to prevent purging of data which must be retained for legal purposes.


Selecting Calendar as a service from the Vault user interface

Who’s impacted

Admins


Why it matters

Vault is an information governance and eDiscovery tool for Google Workspace. Now customers’ Calendar events can be retained, held, searched, and exported. This integration makes it easier for customers to comply with regional and legal mandates surrounding Calendar data, all from a central tool. 


Vault’s integration with Calendar rounds out support for critical Workspace apps such as Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Chat and Meet, providing customers with a consistent experience across all products that are managed within Vault.


Getting started


Rollout pace


  • Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 29, 2023.
  • Updates for the API rollout will immediately follow the Vault user interface updates.

Availability

  • Available to Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus customers or customers with the Vault add-on license.

Resources


Read and write out of office and focus time events using the Calendar API

What’s changing 

In addition to reading and writing working location data, we’re expanding the Calendar API functionality to encompass out of office and focus time data. Developers can use the API to read and write this information and synchronize users’ availability with external systems. For example, you can use the API in conjunction with HR systems to automatically add OOO entries to a user’s calendar when they submit vacation time. Or the API can be used to automatically block focus time on a user’s calendar to complete training courses. 

  • Reading and writing out of office and focus time is helpful in a variety of situations such as: 
  • Creating and updating OOO and Focus Time events (Events.Insert, Events.Update, Events.Patch). 
  • Specifying OOO and Focus Time specific features, such as auto-declining meetings, and setting do-not-disturb statuses. 
  • Selecting any combination of event types to read from a calendar (Events.List). 

Further, reading and writing this information eliminates the need for users to enter the same information into multiple systems, helping to cut down on manual churn.


Who’s impacted

Developers


Why you’d use it

Out of office and focus time event support joins support for working location, which was announced earlier this year, to round out API functionality for calendar events. Each specific event type can be synced throughout your organization's IT ecosystem, creating seamless user journeys and helping to connect users with resources and each other. This includes things such as:


  • Mapping working location data to better adapt on-site resources and update other third-party surfaces, such as hot desk booking tools. 
  • Automatically blocking OOO based on vacation or PTO requests.
  • Blocking off focus time events to give users time to go through onboarding or other company training programs.


Additional details

Prior to this update, if you requested to read a user’s calendar via API v3, out of office and focus time events were returned with [email protected] in the organizer field, and without their specific features. With this update, these events will return with all their properties and the specific user as organizer. Please check your code to ensure it does not make implicit assumptions about the previous API return values, and use the eventType parameter to perform different operations with regular, OOO, Focus Time, or Working Location events 


Getting started


Rollout pace

Availability

  • The Calendar API is available to all. 

  • Out of Office events are available to Google Workspace Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, Frontline, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Nonprofits, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers.

  • Focus Time events are available to Google Workspace Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Nonprofits, Business Standard, Business Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers.

Resources


Google Meet API now available in Developer Preview

What’s changing 

Launching through our Google Workspace Developer Preview Program, developers can now use the Google Meet API. Using this API, developers can:

  • Programmatically create and configure Meet calls. 
  • Retrieve information about past meetings, such as the meeting times and attendees. 
  • Access meeting artifacts, such as transcripts and video recordings. 
  • Subscribe to real time updates on meetings, such as when a participant joins or leaves. 

The API will give partners and customers the ability to create and configure Meet video conferences, allow their end users to join a conference, and post real-time updates from within their own applications.


Using the Meet API, Outreach is ingesting meeting recordings and transcripts into their AI-powered conversation intelligence tool, Kaia, to deliver rich insights to their teams.


Who’s impacted

Developers


Why you’d use it

Incorporating your product with the Google Meet API streamlines workflows and provides your product with Meet information that easily enhances your product offering. For example, partners such as Hubspot, Outreach, Salesloft and Salesforce currently integrate the Meet API to pull meeting recordings and artifacts into their conversational intelligence tools for analysis and sales coaching.


Additionally, integrating with the Google Meet API enables you to link your app with Meet’s video conferencing capabilities, allowing users to access a secure video conferencing product from their own UI by the click of a button. Brandlive, a leading webinar and event platform, uses the Google Meet API as a way to create and configure video sessions for larger sessions and smaller breakout conversations.


Additional details

View the Google Meet API documentation for additional details.


Getting started



Rollout pace


Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers

Programmatically read and write working locations with the Calendar API, now generally available

What’s changing 

Previously available in beta through our Developer Preview Program, the ability to read and write a user’s working location using the Calendar API is now generally available. 


Reading a user’s working location helps better understand the flow and volume of people through physical campuses. Using this information, you can better adapt on-site resources and update other third-party surfaces, such as hot desk booking tools. 


Writing a user’s working location makes it easier to update a user's working location in their calendar based on when and where they’ve booked a hot desk, or if they’ve scheduled a trip via a travel booking tool, and more. 


Getting started 



Rollout pace


Availability 

All developers can use the API, however the working location feature is only available for eligible Workspace editions: 
  • Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Nonprofits customers, as well as legacy G Suite Business customers 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Frontline, G Suite Basic customers 

Resources