ButtonList

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The ButtonList widget displays a set of Buttons. Buttons can display text, an icon, or both text and an icon.

Each Button supports an OnClick action that occurs when users click the button. For example

  • Open a hyperlink with OpenLink, such as a hyperlink to the Google Chat developer documentation, https://developers.google.com/chat.
  • Run an action that runs a custom function, like calling an API.

You can prevent users from clicking a button by setting "disabled": "true".

For accessibility, buttons support alternative text.

The following image displays a card consisting of a ButtonList widget consisting of two Buttons. One button opens the Google Chat developer documentation in a new tab. The other button runs a custom function called goToView() and passes one parameter: viewType="Bird Eye View".

A card message in Google Chat depicting a Text Paragraph widget.
Figure 1: A card message in Google Chat depicting an ButtonList widget displaying two Buttons.

Here's the card's JSON:

JSON

{
  "cardsV2": [
    {
      "cardId": "exampleCard",
      "card": {
        "sections": [
          {
            "widgets": [
              {
                "buttonList": {
                  "buttons": [
                    {
                      "text": "Open a hyperlink",
                      "onClick": {
                        "openLink": {
                          "url": "https://developers.google.com/chat",
                        }
                      }
                    },
                    {
                      "text": "Run a custom function",
                      "onClick": {
                        "action": {
                          "function": "goToView",
                          "parameters": [
                            {
                              "key": "viewType",
                              "value": "BIRD EYE VIEW",
                            }
                          ],
                        }
                      }
                    }
                  ]
                }
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Example 2: a button with custom color and a deactivated button

The following image displays a card consisting of a ButtonList widget consisting of two Buttons. One button uses the Color field to customize the button's background color. The other button is deactivated with the Disabled field, which prevents the user from clicking the button and executing the function.

A card message in Google Chat depicting a ButtonList widget.
Figure 2: A card message in Google Chat depicting an ButtonList widget displaying two Buttons.

Here's the card's JSON:

JSON

{
 "cards_v2":[
    {
       "card_id":"exampleCard",
       "card":{
          "sections":[
             {
                "widgets":[
                   {
                      "buttonList":{
                         "buttons":[
                            {
                               "text":"View documentation hyperlink",
                               "onClick":{
                                  "openLink":{
                                     "url":"https://developers.google.com/chat"
                                  }
                               },
                               "color":{
                                  "red":0,
                                  "green":0,
                                  "blue":1,
                                  "alpha":0.5
                               }
                            },
                            {
                               "text":"Button disabled",
                               "onClick":{
                                  "openLink":{
                                     "url":"https://developers.google.com/chat"
                                  }
                               },
                               "disabled":true
                            }
                         ]
                      }
                   }
                ]
             }
          ]
       }
    }
 ]
}

Example 3: buttons that display icons

The following image displays a card consisting of a ButtonList widget with two icon Buttons. One button uses the [knownIcon]((https://developers.google.com/chat/api/guides/message-formats/cards#builtinicons)) field to display Google Chat's built-in email icon. The other button uses the iconUrl field to display a custom widget icon.

A card message in Google Chat depicting a ButtonList widget.
Figure 3: A card message in Google Chat depicting an ButtonList widget displaying two icon Buttons.

Here's the card's JSON:

JSON

{
"cards_v2": [
  {
  "card_id": "exampleCard",
  "card": {
    "sections": [
    {
      "widgets": [
      {
        "buttonList": {
          "buttons": [
                          {
              "icon": {"knownIcon": "EMAIL",},
              "onClick": {
                "action": {
                  "function": "sendEmail",
                  "parameters": [
                    {
                      "key": "emailContent",
                      "value": "Email value",
                    }
                  ],
                }
              }
            },
            {
              "icon": {"iconUrl": "https://developers.google.com/chat/images/quickstart-app-avatar.png",},
              "onClick": {
                "action": {
                  "function": "inviteBot",
                  "parameters": [
                    {
                      "key": "botType",
                      "value": "Bot value",
                    }
                  ],
                }
              }
            },
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
    }
    ]
  }
  }
]
}

Example 4: Buttons with an icon and text

The following image displays a card consisting of a ButtonList widget that prompts the user to send an email. The first button displays an email icon and the second button displays text. The user can click on either the icon or text button to execute the sendEmail function.

A card message in Google Chat depicting a ButtonList widget.
Figure 1: A card message in Google Chat depicting an ButtonList widget displaying two Buttons.

Here's the card's JSON:

JSON

{
"cards_v2": [
  {
  "card_id": "exampleCard",
  "card": {
    "sections": [
    {
      "widgets": [
      {
        "buttonList": {
          "buttons": [
                          {
              "icon": {"knownIcon": "EMAIL",},
              "onClick": {
                "action": {
                  "function": "sendEmail",
                  "parameters": [
                    {
                      "key": "emailContent",
                      "value": "Email value",
                    }
                  ],
                }
              }
            },
            {
              "text": "Send email",
              "onClick": {
                "action": {
                  "function": "sendEmail",
                  "parameters": [
                    {
                      "key": "sendEmailType",
                      "value": "email value",
                    }
                  ],
                }
              }
            },
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
    }
    ]
  }
  }
]
}

ButtonList JSON representation and fields

JSON representation
{
  "buttons": [
    {
      object (Button)
    }
  ]
}
Fields
buttons[]

object ( Button )

An array of buttons.

Button JSON representation and fields

JSON representation
{
  "text": string,
  "icon": {
    object (Icon)
  },
  "color": {
    object (Color)
  },
  "onClick": {
    object (OnClick)
  },
  "disabled": boolean,
  "altText": string
}
Fields
text

string

The text displayed inside the button.

icon

object ( Icon )

The icon image. If both icon and text are set, then the icon appears before the text.

color

object ( Color )

If set, the button is filled with a solid background color and the font color changes to maintain contrast with the background color. For example, setting a blue background will likely result in white text.

If unset, the image background is white and the font color is blue.

For red, green and blue, the value of each field is a float number that can be expressed in either of two ways: as a number between 0 and 255 divided by 255 (153/255) or as a value between 0 and 1 (0.6). 0 represents the absence of a color and 1 or 255/255 represent the full presence of that color on the RGB scale.

Optionally set alpha, which sets a level of transparency using this equation:

pixel color = alpha * (this color) + (1.0 - alpha) * (background color)

For alpha, a value of 1 corresponds with a solid color, and a value of 0 corresponds with a completely transparent color.

For example, the following color represents a half transparent red:

"color": {
   "red": 1,
   "green": 0,
   "blue": 0,
   "alpha": 0.5
}
onClick

object ( OnClick )

Required. The action to perform when the button is clicked, such as opening a hyperlink or running a custom function.

disabled

boolean

If true , the button is displayed in an inactive state and doesn't respond to user actions.

altText

string

The alternative text used for accessibility.

Set descriptive text that lets users know what the button does. For example, if a button opens a hyperlink, you might write: "Opens a new browser tab and navigates to the Google Chat developer documentation at https://developers.google.com/chat" .

Icon

An icon displayed in a widget on a card.

Supports built-in and custom icons.

JSON representation
{
  "altText": string,
  "imageType": enum (ImageType),

  // Union field icons can be only one of the following:
  "knownIcon": string,
  "iconUrl": string
  // End of list of possible types for union field icons.
}
Fields
altText

string

Optional. A description of the icon used for accessibility. If unspecified, the default value "Button" is provided. As a best practice, you should set a helpful description for what the icon displays, and if applicable, what it does. For example, A user's account portrait , or Opens a new browser tab and navigates to the Google Chat developer documentation at https://developers.google.com/chat .

If the icon is set in a Button , the altText appears as helper text when the user hovers over the button. However, if the button also sets text , the icon's altText is ignored.

imageType

enum ( ImageType )

The crop style applied to the image. In some cases, applying a CIRCLE crop causes the image to be drawn larger than a built-in icon.

Union field icons . The icon displayed in the widget on the card. icons can be only one of the following:
knownIcon

string

Display one of the built-in icons provided by Google Workspace.

For example, to display an airplane icon, specify AIRPLANE . For a bus, specify BUS .

For a full list of supported icons, see built-in icons .

iconUrl

string

Display a custom icon hosted at an HTTPS URL.

For example:

"iconUrl":
"https://developers.google.com/chat/images/quickstart-app-avatar.png"

Supported file types include .png and .jpg .

ImageType

The shape used to crop the image.

Enums
SQUARE Default value. Applies a square mask to the image. For example, a 4x3 image becomes 3x3.
CIRCLE Applies a circular mask to the image. For example, a 4x3 image becomes a circle with a diameter of 3.

Onclick

Represents how to respond when users click an interactive element on a card, such as a button.

JSON representation
{

  // Union field data can be only one of the following:
  "action": {
    object (Action)
  },
  "openLink": {
    object (OpenLink)
  },
  "openDynamicLinkAction": {
    object (Action)
  },
  "card": {
    object (Card)
  }
  // End of list of possible types for union field data.
}
Fields

Union field data .

data can be only one of the following:

action

object ( Action )

If specified, an action is triggered by this onClick .

card

object ( Card )

A new card is pushed to the card stack after clicking if specified.

Supported by Google Workspace Add-ons, but not Chat apps.

Action

An action that describes the behavior when the form is submitted. For example, an Apps Script can be invoked to handle the form. If the action is triggered, the form values are sent to the server.

JSON representation
{
  "function": string,
  "parameters": [
    {
      object (ActionParameter)
    }
  ],
  "loadIndicator": enum (LoadIndicator),
  "persistValues": boolean,
  "interaction": enum (Interaction)
}
Fields
function

string

A custom function to invoke when the containing element is clicked or othrwise activated.

For example usage, see Create interactive cards .

parameters[]

object ( ActionParameter )

List of action parameters.

loadIndicator

enum ( LoadIndicator )

Specifies the loading indicator that the action displays while making the call to the action.

persistValues

boolean

Indicates whether form values persist after the action. The default value is false .

If true , form values remain after the action is triggered. To let the user make changes while the action is being processed, set LoadIndicator to NONE . For card messages in Chat apps, you must also set the action's ResponseType to UPDATE_MESSAGE and use the same cardId from the card that contained the action.

If false , the form values are cleared when the action is triggered. To prevent the user from making changes while the action is being processed, set LoadIndicator to SPINNER .

interaction

enum ( Interaction )

Optional. Required when opening a dialog .

What to do in response to an interaction with a user, such as a user clicking button on a card message.

If unspecified, the app responds by executing an action - like opening a link or running a function - as normal.

By specifying an interaction , the app can respond in special interactive ways. For example, by setting interaction to OPEN_DIALOG , the app can open a dialog .

When specified, a loading indicator is not shown.

Supported by Chat apps, but not Google Workspace Add-ons. If specified for an add-on, the entire card is stripped and nothing is shown in the client.

ActionParameter

List of string parameters to supply when the action method is invoked. For example, consider three snooze buttons: snooze now, snooze 1 day, snooze next week. You might use action method = snooze(), passing the snooze type and snooze time in the list of string parameters.

To learn more, see CommonEventObject .

JSON representation
{
  "key": string,
  "value": string
}
Fields
key

string

The name of the parameter for the action script.

value

string

The value of the parameter.

LoadIndicator

Specifies the loading indicator that the action displays while making the call to the action.

Enums
SPINNER Displays a spinner to indicate that content is loading.
NONE Nothing is displayed.

Interaction

Optional. Required when opening a dialog .

What to do in response to an interaction with a user, such as a user clicking button on a card message.

If unspecified, the app responds by executing an action - like opening a link or running a function - as normal.

By specifying an interaction , the app can respond in special interactive ways. For example, by setting interaction to OPEN_DIALOG , the app can open a dialog .

When specified, a loading indicator is not shown.

Supported by Chat apps, but not Google Workspace Add-ons. If specified for an add-on, the entire card is stripped and nothing is shown in the client.

Enums
INTERACTION_UNSPECIFIED Default value. The action executes as normal.
OPEN_DIALOG

Opens a dialog , a windowed, card-based interface that Chat apps use to interact with users.

Only supported by Chat apps in response to button-clicks on card messages.

Not supported by Google Workspace Add-ons. If specified for an add-on, the entire card is stripped and nothing is shown in the client.