Every flow has 2 main parts:
- Starter:This is the event that starts your flow. A starter can be a schedule, like “every Friday at 5 PM,” or an event, like to receive a new email with an attachment. Each flow has only one starter.
- Steps:These are the tasks the flow performs after it starts. You can add multiple steps to a flow. A step could be:
- “Draft a reply.”
- “Notify me in Chat.”
Learn about starters
A starter is the event that launches your flow. The following are the available starters in Workspace Studio.
Starter name
Description
Example
Configuration
Every Monday morning, create a new Google Doc for the week's meeting notes.
- Set a start date and time.
- Choose a repeat frequency, such as “Daily” or “Weekly.”
- Optional: Set your time zone.
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.”
To start for specific emails, you can set conditions for:
- From/To:To limit which emails start the flow, use the “To” field. For example, you can tell the flow to run only for emails sent to a specific team email address, like sales@example.com.
- 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, like after:2024/01/01.
- Subject has
- Has attachment
- Filter by email size
- Email label
Tip:Only the default Gmail labels are available. Custom labels aren't available.
The flow starts when a message is posted in a Google Chat space from specific people or by conversation type.
- 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$
- 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 someone reacts with a ✅ emoji to a request message, automatically send an email to the requester that says their request has been approved.
- Select one or more reaction emojis to monitor.
- Optional: Limit the starter to specific spaces or users.
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.
- Select the spreadsheet and tab to watch.
- 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.
Select the folder you want to monitor.
Select the file you want to monitor.
Select the folder that contains the files you want to monitor.
- Choose a specific meeting from the drop down or Every meeting.
- Set a time offset in minutes or hours.
- Select if the flow should run Before meetingor After meeting.
Important:This starter only starts a flow from a transcript, not from Gemini notes. If your transcript includes Gemini notes and you use it in an AI step like "Ask Gemini," that step reads both the transcript and the Gemini notes content.
Select one:
- All meetings.
- Meetings that you organized.
- Specific meetings: Select one meeting from your calendar. For repeating meetings, the flow runs for each one.
Anonymous and non-anonymous forms are supported.
- Select the form you want to monitor.
- Optional: Select the box to run the flow when a response is edited.
Choose steps for your flow
A step is a task the flow performs after it’s started. You can add one or more steps to a flow. The following are the available steps in Workspace Studio.
AI Steps
Important:
If you're signed in with a school account and are under 18, you can’t use any AI features in Workspace Studio. If a flow containing AI steps is shared with you, those steps will be removed when you open the flow.
Step name
Description
Example
Configuration
When a new email arrives from a high-priority client, use Ask Gemini to draft a polite response that acknowledges their message and says I will reply within 24 hours.
- Enter a prompt:Write the instructions for Gemini. To make your prompt more powerful and to include information from a previous step, like the subject or sender of an email, click + Variables.
- Sources Gemini can use:Select where Gemini should access information. For example, they can write that the information should come from the “Web, Workspace, and connected apps” or from the “Web only.”
Ask a Gem
This feature is in limited preview.
- 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. Learn how to use Gems .
- Enter a prompt:Provide the specific instructions for your selected Gem. To add context from earlier steps, click + Variables.
- Example prompt without a variable:“Brainstorm three taglines for a new coffee brand focused on sustainability.”
- Example prompt with a variable:Imagine your agent starts when a new “Project Brief” is added to a Drive folder. You could use the “Brainstormer” Gem with this prompt:
- “Based on the content of the [Content of a doc] variable, use the ‘Brainstormer’ Gem and give me 3 potential project names.”
- Sources Gemini can use:Choose the information sources Gemini can access.
Time range for summary:Select the time period you want to recap, like “Today (12 AM),” “Yesterday,” “Last 7 days,” or “Last 30 days.”
- 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.
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.”
Important:This step summarizes content you provide to it, like the body of an email or text from a document. It can't, for example, independently summarize all unread messages in a Google Chat space.
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. This is useful when you want to summarize the same file every time, regardless of what started your flow.
- Example of independent use:“You can create a flow that starts on a schedule every Friday at 4 PM, and this step can be configured to always summarize your team’s ‘Weekly Meeting Notes’ document.”
Tools
Step name
Description
Example
Configuration
Set the condition:Create a rule:
- Choose a variable from a previous step.
- Select an operator, like “contains” or “starts with.”
- Enter the text or value to check against. You can add multiple conditions with “AND” or “OR.”
Apply filter to:To select the list from a previous step that you want to filter, use + Variables.
Gmail
Step name
Description
Example
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. You can create or edit your AI-powered labels from this step.
Tip:Only 50 labels will show up.
This step automatically applies to the email from your starter.
This step automatically applies to the email from your starter.
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 + Variablesand select the email you want to archive.
Configuration details
- Subject:Set the subject line for the email.
- Message:Write the body of the email. Use + Variablesto insert dynamic content from previous steps, such as the sender's name or the message text.
Chat
Step name |
Description |
Example |
Configuration |
|---|---|---|---|
|
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. | Get a personal notification any time you are @mentioned in a specific ‘Announcements’ space. | Configuration details
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. |
Sheets
Important:The steps to "Add a row," "Update rows," or "Clear rows" only work with spreadsheets that aren't shared with anyone and don't have an IMPORTRANGE
function in the spreadsheet, even if the spreadsheet is private.
Step name
Description
Example
Configuration
Important:
- This step only supports spreadsheets that are private to you (not shared with anyone). If you share the spreadsheet later, your flow will fail and an error will appear in the activity log.
- If you use the
IMPORTRANGEfunction in your spreadsheet, you can’t use these steps even if your spreadsheet is private or not shared.
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.
Important:
- This step only supports spreadsheets that are private to you (not shared with anyone). If you share the spreadsheet later, your flow will fail and an error will appear in the activity log.
- If you use the
IMPORTRANGEfunction in your spreadsheet, you can’t use these steps even if your spreadsheet is private or not shared.
Select a sheet:Choose the Google Sheet and tab where you want to update rows. For best results with Sheets steps, 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.
Important:
- This step only supports spreadsheets that are private to you (not shared with anyone). If you share the spreadsheet later, your flow will fail and an error will appear in the activity log.
- If you use the
IMPORTRANGEfunction in your spreadsheet, you can’t use these steps even if your spreadsheet is private or not shared.
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
- 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.
Drive
Step name
Description
Example
Configuration
Important:
- The destination folder should be private to you (not shared with anyone). This step can't save attachments to Shared Drives or folders shared with others.
- 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.
Destination folder:Select the Google Drive folder where you want to save the attachments.
Important: This step only supports folders that are private to you. It does not work with Shared Drives or folders shared with others.
- Folder name:Specify the name for the new folder.
- Parent folder:Choose the location for the new folder in your Drive.
Docs
Step name
Description
Example
Configuration
Important:The destination folder you select must be private to you (not shared with anyone). If you select a Shared Drive or a shared folder, the flow will fail.
- 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.
Important: This step only supports Google Docs that are private to you (not shared with anyone). If you share the doc later, your flow will fail and an error will appear in the activity log.
- 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.
Tasks
Step name
Description
Example
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.
Other app integrations (Alpha)
This feature is in limited preview.
Learn how to take actions in third-party services with flows .
Important:When you add variables to third-party integration steps or add-on steps, they might contain your Google Account data, such as the contents of a message in Gmail or Chat, or event information from Calendar. The flow can then share your Google Account data with a third-party service. Make sure you trust the third-party service.
Step name
Description
Example
Configuration
- Select the specific step, like “Create task” or “Create project.”
- Configure the required fields, such as the Asana project, task name, and description.
- Space:Select the Confluence space.
- Title:Enter the title for the new page.
- Content:Add the page content with variables from previous steps.
- 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.
- Audience:Select your Mailchimp audience list.
- Subscriber details:Provide the required information, like the email address.
- Channel/User:Select the specific channel or user to message.
- Message:Write the content of the message you want to send.
