--- name: Google Docs slug: google-docs-2 category: Automation description: Google Docs creates, reads, exports, and edits Google Docs documents. Use it to find documents, change text and formatting, insert tables or images, and adjust page styles. github: "https://github.com/zapier/connectors/tree/main/apps/google-docs" language: TypeScript stars: 164 forks: 14 install: "npx degit https://github.com/zapier/connectors/tree/main/apps/google-docs ~/.claude/skills/google-docs" installs_to: ~/.claude/skills/google-docs source_path: apps/google-docs/SKILL.md collection_size: 25 category_size: 2226 collection_url: "https://dirskills.com/collections/zapier/connectors" added: 2026-09-08T05:35:26.480Z last_synced: 2026-09-08T05:35:26.480Z canonical_url: "https://dirskills.com/skills/google-docs-2" --- # Google Docs Google Docs creates, reads, exports, and edits Google Docs documents. Use it to find documents, change text and formatting, insert tables or images, and adjust page styles. **Install:** ```bash npx degit https://github.com/zapier/connectors/tree/main/apps/google-docs ~/.claude/skills/google-docs ``` ## README # Google Docs Tools for working with Google Docs against the [Google Docs API v1](https://developers.google.com/workspace/docs/api/reference/rest) (`https://docs.googleapis.com/v1/`) for document content, and the [Google Drive API v3](https://developers.google.com/workspace/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/files) (`https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/`) for the find / export / copy-template / folder operations the Docs API doesn't provide. 22 tools: create documents (blank, from text/Markdown, or from a template), read a document's structured content and tabs, export it as text/Markdown, find documents by name, and edit content — append / insert / find-and-replace / delete text, locate text positions, apply character and paragraph formatting, make bulleted/numbered lists, insert and edit tables, create headers / footers / footnotes, insert and replace inline images, and set page/margin/background style. _Independent, unofficial connector for Google Docs. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google Docs. "Google Docs" is a trademark of its owner, used only to identify the service this connector works with._ ## When to use this - An agent needs to **create** a document — blank, from initial text or Markdown, or by filling a `{{placeholder}}` template, optionally in a specific Drive folder. - An agent needs to **read** a document — its structured content + edit indices (`getDocument`), clean text/Markdown (`exportDocument`), or to find documents by name (`findDocuments`) and locate text (`findText`). - An agent needs to **edit text** — append, insert at a position, find-and-replace, or delete a range. - An agent needs to **format or restyle** — apply character formatting; make bulleted or numbered lists (`createList`); set paragraph style — headings, alignment, line spacing, indentation (`formatParagraph`); insert/replace inline images; or set page size / margins / background. - An agent needs to **structure the document** — insert a table and fill its cells (`insertTable`), add/remove table rows or columns (`modifyTable`), create a header or footer with its text (`createHeader` / `createFooter`) and style it by passing the returned `segmentId` to `formatText`, or add a footnote (`createFootnote`) and write its body via `insertText` targeting the returned `segmentId`. ## Setup This is an [agentskills.io](https://agentskills.io) skill. If the connector has not been installed as a skill yet, install it first with `npx skills add zapier/connectors --skill google-docs` (or your harness's own skill-install mechanism), then continue here. Installing the skill copies these files, not dependencies. Before running the CLI, a local MCP server, or `zapier-sdk` auth commands, run `npm install --omit=dev` here once. Importing the published package as a dependency in your own project instead? That `npm install` already resolves everything — see [`references/use-as-sdk.md`](references/use-as-sdk.md). Want the actual repo source instead — to browse `references/`, run this connector's tests, or hack on it? See [`README.md`](README.md#cloning-the-source) for a scoped `git clone`. The connector runs on **Node.js 22.18+**. Pick the reference that matches how you're running it, and load it before doing anything else: | You have... | Load | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | An MCP-aware client — tools may already be loaded (e.g. `mcp__google-docs__`), or you can register a local server yourself (or guide the user to) | [`references/use-as-mcp.md`](references/use-as-mcp.md) | | Terminal / subprocess access (you can run `node`) | [`references/use-as-cli.md`](references/use-as-cli.md) | | Only your own code, importing this package as a dependency | [`references/use-as-sdk.md`](references/use-as-sdk.md) | | No tool access, no terminal, no ability to import this package — you write your own code that calls the Google Docs API directly (e.g. a code-execution sandbox) | [`references/use-as-recipe.md`](references/use-as-recipe.md) | ## Scripts All scripts use the single `google-docs` connection (one OAuth credential authorizes both the Docs and Drive hosts). | Script | Script name | Connections | Description | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- | ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [`scripts/createDocument.ts`](scripts/createDocument.ts) | `createDocument` | `google-docs` | Create a new document, optionally with initial text/Markdown and in a folder. | | [`scripts/createDocumentFromTemplate.ts`](scripts/createDocumentFromTemplate.ts) | `createDocumentFromTemplate` | `google-docs` | Copy a template document and fill its `{{placeholder}}` tokens. | | [`scripts/getDocument.ts`](scripts/getDocument.ts) | `getDocument` | `google-docs` | Read a document's structured content, tabs, and edit indices. | | [`scripts/exportDocument.ts`](scripts/exportDocument.ts) | `exportDocument` | `google-docs` | Export a document as plain text or Markdown. | | [`scripts/findDocuments.ts`](scripts/findDocuments.ts) | `findDocuments` | `google-docs` | Find Google Docs documents by name and/or folder. | | [`scripts/appendText.ts`](scripts/appendText.ts) | `appendText` | `google-docs` | Append text (optionally Markdown) to the end of a document. | | [`scripts/insertText.ts`](scripts/insertText.ts) | `insertText` | `google-docs` | Insert text at a specific index. | | [`scripts/replaceAllText.ts`](scripts/replaceAllText.ts) | `replaceAllText` | `google-docs` | Find and replace all occurrences of a string. | | [`scripts/findText.ts`](scripts/findText.ts) | `findText` | `google-docs` | Locate occurrences of a phrase and return their index ranges. | | [`scripts/deleteContentRange.ts`](scripts/deleteContentRange.ts) | `deleteContentRange` | `google-docs` | Delete the content in an index range. | | [`scripts/formatText.ts`](scripts/formatText.ts) | `formatText` | `google-docs` | Apply character formatting to an index range. | | [`scripts/formatParagraph.ts`](scripts/formatParagraph.ts) | `formatParagraph` | `google-docs` | Set paragraph style (heading, alignment, spacing, indentation) on a range. | | [`scripts/createList.ts`](scripts/createList.ts) | `createList` | `google-docs` | Make a range a bulleted or numbered list, or convert between the two. | | [`scripts/removeListFormatting.ts`](scripts/removeListFormatting.ts) | `removeListFormatting` | `google-docs` | Remove bullets/numbering from a range, leaving the text. | | [`scripts/insertImage.ts`](scripts/insertImage.ts) | `insertImage` | `google-docs` | Insert an inline image from a public URL. | | [`scripts/replaceImage.ts`](scripts/replaceImage.ts) | `replaceImage` | `google-docs` | Replace an existing inline image with a new one. | | [`scripts/updateDocumentStyle.ts`](scripts/updateDocumentStyle.ts) | `updateDocumentStyle` | `google-docs` | Set page size, margins, or background color. | | [`scripts/insertTable.ts`](scripts/insertTable.ts) | `insertTable` | `google-docs` | Insert a rows×columns table, optionally seeded with cell contents. | | [`scripts/modifyTable.ts`](scripts/modifyTable.ts) | `modifyTable` | `google-docs` | Add or remove a table row or column at a reference cell. | | [`scripts/createHeader.ts`](scripts/createHeader.ts) | `createHeader` | `google-docs` | Create the default header with its text; returns the segmentId for styling via formatText. | | [`scripts/createFooter.ts`](scripts/createFooter.ts) | `createFooter` | `google-docs` | Create the default footer with its text; returns the segmentId for styling via formatText. | | [`scripts/createFootnote.ts`](scripts/createFootnote.ts) | `createFootnote` | `google-docs` | Insert a footnote reference; returns its segmentId for insertText. | ## Disambiguation & refusals **Disambiguation before a write.** Before editing a document you looked up by name with `findDocuments`, count the **exact case-insensitive title matches**: - **Exactly one match** — act on it. Don't over-ask; a single unambiguous match is the answer. - **Two or more that tie** — stop. List the tied candidates with a distinguishing field (`modifiedTime` or `url`) and ask the user which one they mean. Don't pick arbitrarily and don't edit all of them. This also applies to index positions: indices from `getDocument` / `findText` go **stale after any edit**. Re-read before the next index-based call rather than reusing positions across edits. **Unsupported operations — say so and stop; don't fake it with another tool.** This catalog deliberately does not: - **Upload a binary file and convert it to a Doc**, or round-trip pasted HTML. Use a Drive connector for binary uploads; compose content natively here. - **Manage comments or accept/reject suggestions.** `getDocument` can read suggested edits via `suggestionsViewMode`, but there is no write tool for comments or suggestions. - **Export to PDF, DOCX, or HTML as inline content.** `exportDocument` returns plain text or Markdown only; PDF, DOCX, and HTML need a Drive download link (Drive only offers HTML as a zipped Web Page bundle, not inline `text/html`). If asked for any of these, tell the user it's unsupported and stop — don't reach for an unrelated tool to approximate it. ## Auth Every shape passes auth as one connection **selector**, not the secret — a `[:]` string. Every connector accepts `zapier:` (Zapier-managed auth — routes through Zapier's auth, retries, and governance layer); some also accept one or more direct-token resolvers (naming and count vary per connector) — check this connector's own resolvers rather than assuming. The `:` prefix is optional; a bare value goes to the first resolver that claims it — a UUID-shaped bare value always claims `zapier:`. Each script declares the connections it needs and the resolvers each accepts. The exact syntax for passing a connection (and how to see this connector's resolver list) differs by shape — see the reference you loaded above. Checking what's already configured first? Don't dump environment values to do it — `env` or `env | grep ` prints the value along with the name, leaking a live credential into the transcript if one is set. Check names only (`env | cut -d= -f1 | grep -i `) or test a known name directly (`[ -n "$VAR_NAME" ]`). No connection yet? Pick one — and follow the reference's own flow to obtain it; never just ask the user for a connection id or token as if they already have one memorized: | | Load | | ------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Pass the credential directly | [`references/use-without-zapier.md`](references/use-without-zapier.md) | | Route it through a Zapier connection | [`references/use-with-zapier.md`](references/use-with-zapier.md) | ## Output format Every script returns a `{ data, meta }` envelope: - **`data`** — the script's result (the shape its `outputSchema` declares; see the reference you loaded above for how to inspect a script's exact schema in your shape). - **`meta.outputDataValidation`** — what validating `data` did: - `{ skipped: false, droppedPaths: null }` — validated, nothing removed. - `{ skipped: false, droppedPaths: [...], instruction }` — validated, but those paths were stripped from `data`: fields the script returned from the API that the `outputSchema` doesn't declare. If you need them, re-run with output validation skipped. - `{ skipped: true }` — validation was bypassed; `data` is the raw, unchecked script output. **Reading dropped fields / `skipOutputDataValidation`.** To receive the raw, unvalidated result, opt out of output validation (the exact syntax differs by shape — see the reference you loaded above). Input validation is never skipped. **Trimming the result / `filterOutputData`.** To shrink a large result down to the fields you need, pass a jq expression that post-processes `data` (again, exact syntax per shape). The jq runs against `data` only, NOT the `{ data, meta }` envelope, so write it rooted at `data` (run the script's `--help` — or your shape's equivalent — to see its output schema). The transformed value replaces `data`, `meta` is preserved, and the result is NOT re-validated against the output schema. ## References Load the matching reference file before working in that area: | Reference | Covers | Load it when | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`references/google-docs-api-gotchas.md`](references/google-docs-api-gotchas.md) | UTF-16 indexes, the index-0 section break, stale indexes after edits, the undeletable final newline, `includeTabsContent`, per-tab targeting defaults, Drive-backed find/export/foldering, image fetch + size limits, and PT/RGB units. | Before any index-based edit (insert/format/delete), find-and-replace, image insert, document export, or folder placement. | | [`references/google-docs-batchupdate.md`](references/google-docs-batchupdate.md) | Descending-order rule, the seeded-table two-phase fill, list nesting via leading tabs, the second segment-index space (empty header/footer end index 1 → text-at-creation), delete-last-row-deletes-table, and the supported Markdown subset. | Before authoring structure — lists (`createList`/`removeListFormatting`), tables (`insertTable`/`modifyTable`), headers/footers/footnotes (`createHeader`/`createFooter`/`createFootnote`), or the `markdown: true` write path. |