This page describes your options for extending the Google Workspace user interface (UI). You can extend the Google Workspace UI for many reasons, including:
- Integrate your app or service into Google Workspace, so that users can use the app directly from one or more Google Workspace apps. For example, build a Google Workspace Add-on that creates smart chips and link previews for your service inside Google Docs.
- Help Google Workspace users be more productive or improve their workflow. For example, build a Google Chat app that lets users report weekly timesheets directly from Google Chat.
- Add capabilities that aren't natively available in Google Workspace. For example, add a custom menu in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.
You can publish most of the options for extending the Google Workspace UI to the Google Workspace Marketplace, an online store where users can find and install third-party apps that integrate with Google Workspace.
Overview of options for extending the Google Workspace UI
The following table lists the options for extending the Google Workspace UI and compares them by these characteristics:
- Apps extended: Lists the Google Workspace apps that you can extend with the given option.
- Coding options: Lists the ways that you can build, including:
- AppSheet: A no-code development platform.
- Apps Script: A cloud-based, low-code development platform based in JavaScript.
- Full dev: Your own tech stack that supports your preferred coding language.
- UI frameworks: Indicates the types of UI frameworks that you
can use to to build each option, including:
- Card-based: Card interfaces are predefined widgets and cards built with either the Card Service using Apps Script or by returning properly formatted JSON to render cards with your preferred tech stack (full dev). Card-based interfaces don't require knowledge of HTML or CSS, and work well on both desktop and mobile clients.
- HTML: Apps Script offers an HTML service for developing web pages that can interact with server-side Apps Script functions. Interfaces developed with the HTML service are highly customizable, but require more manual work to create a great user experience.
- iFrame: iFrames embed external content into Google Workspace and offer the most customizability for user interfaces.
Following the table are descriptions for each option.
| What you can build | Preview | Apps extended | Coding options | Card-based UI | HTML UI | iFrame UI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Workspace Add-ons |
|
Gmail  Drive
Calendar
Docs
Sheets
Slides |
Apps Script
Full dev
|
|||
| Link previews and smart chips | Google Workspace Add-ons |
|
Docs
|
AppSheet
Apps Script
Full dev
|
|||
| Email drafts | Google Workspace Add-ons |
|
Gmail |
Apps Script
Full dev
|
|||
| Calendar conferencing | Google Workspace Add-ons |
|
Calendar
|
Apps Script
|
Uses existing UI |
||
| Editor Add-ons |
|
Docs
Sheets
Slides
Forms |
Apps Script
|
|||
| Google Chat apps |
|
Chat
|
AppSheet
Apps Script
Full dev
|
|||
| Custom functions |
|
Sheets
|
Apps Script
|
Uses existing UI |
||
| Macros |
|
Sheets
|
Apps Script
|
Uses existing UI |
||
| Custom menus, dialogs, and sidebars |
|
Docs
Sheets
Slides
Forms |
Apps Script
|
|||
| Google Drive apps |
|
Drive
|
Full dev
|
Uses existing UI |
||
Google Workspace Add-ons
Google Workspace Add-ons are applications that integrate with Google Workspace apps. A Google Workspace Add-on can extend multiple Google Workspace apps. Most often, the app opens in a sidebar from within the Google Workspace app that it extends.
View Google Workspace Add-ons documentation
Publishable
Coding options:
Apps Script
Full dev
Extends the following apps:
Gmail
Drive
Calendar
Docs
Sheets
Slides
Available UI frameworks:
Card framework
Link previews and smart chips | Google Workspace Add-ons
Google Workspace Add-ons that extend Docs can create custom link previews from a third-party service. Similar to smart chips that Docs generates for mentions of a person, file, calendar event, or other entity within a Google Workspace application, an add-on can generate a smart chip for a third-party link and show a preview card when someone hovers over the chip.
You can add link previews to existing Google Workspace Add-ons or create a separate Google Workspace Add-on specifically for link previews.
View link previews and smart chips documentation
Publishable
Coding options:
AppSheet
Apps Script
Full dev
Extends the following apps:
Docs
Available UI frameworks:
Card framework
Email drafts | Google Workspace Add-ons
Google Workspace Add-ons that extend Gmail can provide a custom interface when the user composes new messages or replies to existing messages. To use this interface, users open the add-on from within the email draft, either at the bottom of the draft or in the More options menu.
View email drafts documentation
Publishable
Coding options:
Apps Script
Full dev
Extends the following apps:
Gmail
Available UI frameworks:
Card framework
Calendar conferencing | Google Workspace Add-ons
If you're a web conferencing provider, you can build a Google Workspace Add-on that extends Google Calendar with your conference solution. The add-on adds a conferencing option for Calendar events, letting users create and join those conferences directly from Calendar.
View Calendar conferencing documentation
Publishable
Coding options:
Apps Script
Extends the following apps:
Calendar
Available UI frameworks:
Uses existing UI
Editor Add-ons
Editor Add-ons are apps that extend Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Forms. Editor Add-ons can only extend one app per add-on, but you can publish multiple Editor Add-ons in the same Marketplace listing. Users open Editor Add-ons from the Extensions menu in the app that they extend.
You can use the following interfaces for an Editor Add-on:
- A sidebar next to the application that it extends.
- A dialog overlaying the app it extends.
- A menu item that runs a script.
View Editor Add-ons documentation
Publishable
Coding options:
Apps Script
Extends the following apps:
Docs
Sheets
Slides
Forms
Available UI frameworks:
HTML
iFrame
Chat apps
Chat apps bring resources and services into Chat. You can design Chat apps to interact with users in many ways, including:
- Respond to slash commands with a text message or card message.
- Open a dialog to help users complete multi-step processes, like filling in form data.
- Preview links by attaching cards with helpful information that let users take action directly from the conversation.
Publishable
Coding options:
AppSheet
Apps Script
Full dev
Extends the following apps:
Chat
Available UI frameworks:
Card framework
Custom functions
Custom functions let you add more functions in Sheets. Users can find and use them just like any of the hundreds of built-in functions available in Sheets.
View custom functions documentation
Publishable
Coding options:
Apps Script
Extends the following apps:
Sheets
Available UI frameworks:
Uses existing UI
Macros
Macros are recordings in Sheets that duplicate a specific series of UI interactions that you define. You can link a macro to a keyboard shortcut or run it from the Extensions > Macros menu.
When you record a macro, Sheets automatically creates an Apps Script function that replicates the UI interactions. You can edit macros directly within the Apps Script editor. You can write macros from scratch in Apps Script, or take functions you've already written and turn them into macros.
Coding options:
Apps Script
Extends the following apps:
Sheets
Available UI frameworks:
Uses existing UI
Custom menus, dialogs, and sidebars
You can add custom menus, prompts, alerts, and HTML-based dialogs and sidebars to files in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms. Custom menus appear next to the default menus of the app they extend. Dialogs, sidebars, prompts, and alerts are typically activated by user actions like menu item clicks, or by triggers like event-driven triggers.
View custom menus, dialogs, and sidebars documentation
Coding options:
Apps Script
Extends the following apps:
Docs
Sheets
Slides
Forms
Available UI frameworks:
HTML
iFrame
Drive apps
If your app supports Drive files, you can integrate with the Drive user interface to present your app as an option to create or open files. Your app can appear in the New > More menu and the Open with menu when a user right-clicks a file in Drive. When a user selects your app from either menu, your app opens in a new window.
Publishable
Coding options:
Full dev
Extends the following apps:
Drive
Available UI frameworks:
Uses existing UI