Connect Third-Party Tools and External Services to Google

Learn how to connect Google to external tools using OAuth 2.0 and API keys, manage active integrations, and revoke access when needed.

Google is designed to fit into the tools your team already relies on. By connecting third-party applications, you can push notifications into your communication channels, trigger automated workflows from data events, sync content across platforms, and build custom pipelines using the API. Integrations are managed centrally from your workspace settings, giving you a clear picture of what’s connected, when it was last active, and how to remove access when it’s no longer needed. This guide covers both connection methods — OAuth 2.0 for user-facing app authorization and API keys for server-to-server integrations — along with how to manage and secure everything after setup.

Available Integration Methods

Google supports two primary methods for connecting external tools:

OAuth 2.0

Best for user-facing applications and SaaS tools where a human authorizes the connection. OAuth lets a third-party app act on your behalf without exposing your credentials. The access is scoped, revocable, and logged.

API Key

Best for server-to-server integrations, automation scripts, and backend services. You generate a static API key in your workspace and supply it to the external system. Keys can be rotated or revoked at any time.

Use OAuth when the integration requires access to a specific user’s data or needs to perform actions on behalf of a person. Use API keys when the integration runs autonomously in the background without user interaction.

Connect via OAuth

1. Open the Integrations Settings

   In your workspace, navigate to Settings → Integrations. You’ll see a list of available integrations and any you’ve already connected.

2. Add a New Integration

   Click Add Integration next to the tool you want to connect. A modal will appear describing what permissions the integration requests and which data it can access.

3. Authorize with the Provider

   Click Authorize to be redirected to the third-party provider’s login and consent screen. Sign in with the appropriate account and grant the requested permissions. You’ll be redirected back to Google automatically after authorization is complete.

4. Confirm the Connection

   Back in Settings → Integrations, the newly connected app will appear with a green Connected status badge and a timestamp showing when the connection was established. You can now configure event subscriptions or field mappings specific to that integration.

OAuth tokens are stored securely and never exposed in the dashboard UI. If you want to inspect the scopes granted to a connected app, click the app name in Settings → Integrations to view the full permissions list.

Connect via API Key

API keys are the simplest way to give a server-side tool access to your workspace data. To get started:

1. Navigate to Settings → API Keys and click Create API Key.
2. Give the key a descriptive name (for example, zapier-automation or github-sync) so you can identify it later.
3. Copy the key immediately — it is only shown once at creation time.
4. Paste the key into the third-party tool’s configuration, usually in a field labeled API Key, Secret, or Token.

# Example: passing your Google API key as a header
curl -X GET "https://api.google.com/v1/data" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ggl_live_a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0"

Treat API keys like passwords. Do not commit them to source control, include them in client-side code, or share them in chat. If a key is accidentally exposed, rotate it immediately from Settings → API Keys — the old key is invalidated the moment you rotate it.

Manage Active Integrations

You can review and control all connected tools from Settings → Integrations → Active. For each integration you can see:

• App name and icon — quickly identify what’s connected
• Connection method — OAuth or API key
• Connected by — the workspace member who authorized the connection
• Last active — the timestamp of the most recent API call made by the integration
• Disconnect — immediately revoke the integration’s access

To disconnect an integration, click the ⋯ menu next to it and select Disconnect. You’ll be asked to confirm before the access is revoked.

Revoking an integration cuts off its access to your workspace immediately and completely. Any automated workflows, syncs, or notifications that depend on that integration will stop working at once. Make sure you’ve updated or disabled any dependent automation before disconnecting.

Common Integrations

Slack

Send real-time notifications to Slack channels when data is created, updated, or flagged. Configure event filters to control exactly which activity triggers a message and which channel it goes to.

Zapier

Connect Google to thousands of other apps using Zapier’s no-code automation builder. Trigger Zaps from Google events or use Google as an action step to create or update records automatically.

GitHub

Sync repository metadata, issues, and pull request activity into your Google workspace. Keep your data and engineering workflows in the same searchable environment.

Notion

Push content from Google into Notion pages or pull Notion documents into your workspace for unified search. Ideal for teams that manage knowledge bases alongside operational data.