Trigger an automation from Google Sheet

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Setting Up a Google Sheets Trigger for Pinkfish

This guide will walk you through the process of setting up an Apps Script in a Google Sheet that fires on form submission and triggers a Pinkfish automation.

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Step 1: Open Script Editor

1. Open your Google Sheet.
2. Click “Extensions” in the menu bar.
3. Select “Apps Script” from the dropdown menu.

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Step 2: Write the Script

In the script editor, paste the following code:

function onFormSubmit(e) {
  console.log('Form submitted. Event object:', JSON.stringify(e));

  var sheet = e.range.getSheet();
  var row = e.range.getRow();
  var values = e.range.getValues()[0];
  var headers = sheet.getRange(1, 1, 1, sheet.getLastColumn()).getValues()[0];

  var formData = [];
  
  for (var i = 0; i < headers.length; i++) {
    var name = headers[i];
    var value = values[i];
    if (value !== undefined && value !== null && value !== '') {
      formData.push(encodeURIComponent(name) + '=' + encodeURIComponent(value));
    }
  }
  formData.push('row_number=' + encodeURIComponent(row));
  
  console.log('Form data:', formData);
  
  var apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"; // Replace with your actual Pinkfish API key
  
  var url = 'https://triggers.app.pinkfish.ai/ext/triggers/YOUR_TRIGGER_ID'; // Replace with your actual trigger URL
  
  var options = {
    'method': 'post',
    'contentType': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded',
    'payload': formData.join('&'),
    'headers': {
      'X-API-Key': apiKey
    }
  };
  
  try {
    var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url, options);
    var xPfRunId = response.getHeaders()['X-Pf-Run-Id'];
    console.log('Success! Pinkfish X-Pf-Run-Id:', xPfRunId);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error calling API:', error);
  }
}

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Step 3: Configure the Script

1. Replace YOUR_API_KEY_HERE with your actual Pinkfish API key.
2. Replace YOUR_TRIGGER_ID in the URL with your actual Pinkfish trigger ID.

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Step 4: Set Up the Trigger

1. In the script editor, click on the clock icon on the left sidebar to open the project triggers.
2. Click the ”+ Add Trigger” button in the bottom right corner.
3. In the “Choose which function to run” dropdown, select onFormSubmit.
4. Under “Select event source”, choose “From spreadsheet”.
5. For “Select event type”, choose “On form submit”.
6. Click “Save”.

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Step 5: Authorize the Script

1. You may be prompted to authorize the script to access your Google Sheet and make external requests.
2. Follow the prompts to grant the necessary permissions.

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Step 6: Test Your Automation

1. Submit a form linked to your Google Sheet.
2. Check the script logs (in the script editor, click “Execution Log”) to see if the form submission was detected and the Pinkfish trigger was called successfully. You can also see the list of executions by clicking the “Executions” button in the left-side navigation.

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How It Works

1. When a form is submitted, the onFormSubmit function is triggered.
2. The script extracts the form data, including headers and values.
3. It formats the data and adds the row number of the new entry.
4. The script then makes a POST request to the specified Pinkfish trigger URL, including the form data and your API key.
5. The response from the Pinkfish API is logged for debugging purposes. Note that the response will be blank, but there should be a runId in the headers.

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Troubleshooting

If you encounter any issues:

• Check the script logs for error messages.
• Verify that your API key and trigger URL are correct.
• Ensure that your Google Sheet is properly linked to a form.
• Check the Pinkfish Runs Monitor to see the form data come into your automation.

Congratulations! You’ve now set up a Google Sheets trigger that automatically sends form submission data to your Pinkfish automation. Happy automating!