Google Sheets

Spreadsheet operations built for how small businesses actually track data.

Uses the gws CLI for all Sheets operations. See the google-workspace skill for setup.

Triggers

• "read the spreadsheet"
• "update the sheet"
• "add a row to..."
• "create a spreadsheet"
• "pull data from sheets"
• "log this to a spreadsheet"
• Any request involving spreadsheet read/write operations

Prerequisites

• gws CLI installed and authenticated with Sheets + Drive scope
• Run gws auth login -s sheets,drive if not already done

Core Commands

gws sheets +read                   # Read values from a spreadsheet
gws sheets +append                 # Append a row to a spreadsheet
gws sheets spreadsheets create     # Create a new spreadsheet
gws sheets spreadsheets get        # Get spreadsheet metadata

Common Operations

Read data from a sheet

# Read a range
gws sheets +read
# When prompted: spreadsheet ID + range (e.g., "Sheet1!A1:D10")

# Read via API directly
gws sheets spreadsheets values get --params '{
  "spreadsheetId": "SPREADSHEET_ID",
  "range": "Sheet1!A1:D100"
}'

# Read entire sheet
gws sheets spreadsheets values get --params '{
  "spreadsheetId": "SPREADSHEET_ID",
  "range": "Sheet1"
}'

Append a row

# Append a single row
gws sheets +append
# When prompted: spreadsheet ID, range, values

# Append via API directly
gws sheets spreadsheets values append --params '{
  "spreadsheetId": "SPREADSHEET_ID",
  "range": "Sheet1!A:D",
  "valueInputOption": "USER_ENTERED"
}' --json '{
  "values": [["2026-01-15", "Widget A", "50", "$12.50"]]
}'

Write / Update cells

# Update a specific range
gws sheets spreadsheets values update --params '{
  "spreadsheetId": "SPREADSHEET_ID",
  "range": "Sheet1!B2",
  "valueInputOption": "USER_ENTERED"
}' --json '{
  "values": [["updated value"]]
}'

# Batch update multiple ranges
gws sheets spreadsheets values batchUpdate --params '{
  "spreadsheetId": "SPREADSHEET_ID"
}' --json '{
  "valueInputOption": "USER_ENTERED",
  "data": [
    {"range": "Sheet1!A1", "values": [["Revenue"]]},
    {"range": "Sheet1!B1", "values": [["Date"]]},
    {"range": "Sheet1!A2", "values": [["$1,250"]]}
  ]
}'

Create a new spreadsheet

gws sheets spreadsheets create --json '{
  "properties": {"title": "Q1 2026 Sales Tracker"},
  "sheets": [
    {"properties": {"title": "Daily Sales"}},
    {"properties": {"title": "Summary"}},
    {"properties": {"title": "By Product"}}
  ]
}'

SMB Spreadsheet Templates

For ready-to-adapt sheet designs — Daily Sales, Inventory, Expense Tracking, Vendor Log, Order Log, and a simple P&L — see references/smb-sheet-templates.md. Each template includes a recommended column layout, conditional formatting rules, and SUMIFS/INDEX formulas you can drop in.

SMB Spreadsheet Patterns

Daily Sales Log

Track daily revenue with a simple append workflow:

# Append today's sales data
gws sheets spreadsheets values append --params '{
  "spreadsheetId": "SALES_SHEET_ID",
  "range": "Daily Sales!A:E",
  "valueInputOption": "USER_ENTERED"
}' --json '{
  "values": [["2026-01-15", "Store 1", "$2,450", "87 transactions", "Wednesday"]]
}'

Inventory Tracking

# Read current inventory levels
gws sheets spreadsheets values get --params '{
  "spreadsheetId": "INVENTORY_SHEET_ID",
  "range": "Current Stock!A2:D"
}' --format json | jq '.values[] | select(.[2] | try tonumber catch -1) | select(.[2] | tonumber < 10)'
# Find items with less than 10 units.
# Note: `A2:D` skips the header row; the `try/catch` guards against non-numeric cells.

Expense Tracking

# Log an expense
gws sheets spreadsheets values append --params '{
  "spreadsheetId": "EXPENSE_SHEET_ID",
  "range": "Expenses!A:E",
  "valueInputOption": "USER_ENTERED"
}' --json '{
  "values": [["2026-01-15", "Office Supplies", "Staples", "$47.32", "Receipt in Drive"]]
}'

Simple Reporting

# Read summary data for a report
gws sheets spreadsheets values get --params '{
  "spreadsheetId": "REPORT_SHEET_ID",
  "range": "Summary!A1:C12"
}' --format table

Data Export

# Export sheet as CSV (via Drive export)
gws drive files export --params '{
  "fileId": "SPREADSHEET_ID",
  "mimeType": "text/csv"
}' -o ./export.csv

# Export as Excel
gws drive files export --params '{
  "fileId": "SPREADSHEET_ID",
  "mimeType": "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet"
}' -o ./export.xlsx

Finding Spreadsheets

# List all spreadsheets
gws drive files list --params '{
  "q": "mimeType=\"application/vnd.google-apps.spreadsheet\"",
  "pageSize": 20,
  "orderBy": "modifiedTime desc"
}' --format table

# Search by name
gws drive files list --params '{
  "q": "mimeType=\"application/vnd.google-apps.spreadsheet\" and name contains '\''sales'\''",
  "pageSize": 10
}'

Integration with Other Skills

• autoresearch — Track experiment results in sheets; use sheet data as eval input
• google-drive — Sheets are Drive files; use Drive for search and permissions
• gmail — Email sheet data as reports
• morning-briefing — Pull KPIs from sheets for daily briefing
• semantic-layer-audit — Document sheet data sources in your semantic layer

Tips

• Use valueInputOption: "USER_ENTERED" to let Sheets parse dates, numbers, and formulas
• Use valueInputOption: "RAW" when you want exact text (no parsing)
• Spreadsheet IDs are in the URL: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/SPREADSHEET_ID/edit
• Use named ranges in your sheets for more readable API calls
• For large datasets, consider BigQuery instead of Sheets (Sheets has a 10M cell limit)
• --format csv output from gws can be piped directly into other tools

Related Skills

• google-workspace — Required setup (install and auth)
• google-drive — File-level operations on spreadsheets
• autoresearch — Use sheets as parameter/experiment tracking
• morning-briefing — Pull sheet KPIs into daily digest

Sheets are the swiss army knife of small business data. Simple, flexible, and accessible.