Installation

Connect Google Docs to Rootly for automated document generation

Connect Google Docs to Rootly so workflows can automatically generate retrospectives, runbooks, and other incident documents from your templates. Setup takes 2 minutes via OAuth or about 10 minutes via a service account.

Before You Begin

You must be an Admin or Owner in Rootly to install integrations.

• OAuth: Requires a Google account with access to Google Drive
• Service Account: Requires Google Workspace admin access and a Google Cloud project

Choose your setup method based on your environment:

OAuth (Personal Account)

Best for: Testing, evaluation, or personal use

Connects your personal Google account. If that account loses access or the person leaves, the integration breaks.

Service Account (Recommended)

Best for: Teams and production environments

Uses a dedicated service account that isn’t tied to any individual. More resilient and easier to manage at scale.

Quick Setup (OAuth)

OAuth connects your personal Google account in about 2 minutes.

1. In Rootly, go to Configuration → Integrations

   Use the search bar to find Google Docs among the available integrations.

   

   
2. Click Setup and choose OAuth

   Select the OAuth connection method, then choose which Google account to connect.

   
3. Approve the requested permissions

   Google will ask Rootly to access Google Drive and Docs on your behalf. Approve to complete the connection.

   You’ll be redirected back to Rootly once the authorization completes.

Google Docs is now connected. You can create templates and wire them up in workflows — head to the Workflows page to get started.

Production Setup (Service Account)

A service account keeps the integration running independent of any individual’s Google account. This setup involves creating the account in Google Cloud, uploading its credentials to Rootly, and granting it domain-wide delegation.

1. In Google Cloud Console, go to IAM & Admin → Service Accounts

   If you don’t have a project yet, create one first. You’ll create the service account inside an existing project.

   
2. Create a new Service Account

   Click Create Service Account, fill in a name and description, then click Done.

   

   

   After creating the account, click on its email address to open its details.

   
3. Create a JSON key for the service account

   Go to the Keys tab → Add Key → Create new key. Select JSON as the key type and click Create.

   

   

   A .json file will download automatically — keep it safe, you’ll need it in the next step.

4. Upload the JSON key to Rootly

   In Rootly, go to Configuration → Integrations → Google Docs → Setup. Choose the Service Account connection method and upload the JSON file you just downloaded.

   

   You should see a success message confirming the integration is active.

5. Enable Domain-wide Delegation

   The service account needs domain-wide delegation to create documents on behalf of users in your Google Workspace.

   In Google Admin Console, go to Security → API Controls → Domain-wide Delegation and click Add new. Enter your service account’s Client ID (found in GCP Console under the service account details), then add these OAuth scopes:

   https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file
   https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.appdata
   https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents
   

   Click Authorize.

   

Without domain-wide delegation, the service account can’t create documents on behalf of users. If you skip this step, document creation will fail silently in workflows.

Verify the Connection

Once connected, confirm the integration is working before building templates and workflows.

OAuth

1. The integration should show Connected status with your Google account email
2. Try creating a test document in Google Drive to confirm access is working

Service Account

1. The integration should show Connected status with the service account email
2. Confirm domain-wide delegation is active — changes can take up to 15 minutes to propagate
3. Run a test workflow (see the Workflows page) to validate end-to-end

Troubleshooting

Authentication failed

OAuth: Try signing in again using a different browser or an incognito window.

Service Account: Verify the JSON key file is valid and hasn’t been corrupted or truncated.

403 Forbidden when creating documents

This is almost always a domain-wide delegation issue. Check that:

• The Client ID in Google Admin matches your service account exactly
• All three OAuth scopes are entered as shown (no extra spaces or typos)
• You’ve waited at least 15 minutes for Google to propagate the changes

Integration shows connected but documents aren't created

OAuth: Re-authenticate to refresh your access token.

Service Account: Confirm the service account has Editor access to the target folder in Google Drive.

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Uninstall

To remove the Google Docs integration, go to Configuration → Integrations, find Google Docs, and click the Connected button to reveal the disconnect option.

Disconnecting stops Rootly from creating new documents. Documents already generated by Rootly are not affected.

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Next Steps

Create Templates & Workflows

Set up a Liquid template and wire it to a workflow to auto-generate documents on incident events

View Examples

Browse ready-to-use template examples for retrospectives and executive summaries