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Introduction

Google Docs is the most popular collaborative document editor, commonly used for meeting notes, project documentation, SOPs, knowledge base articles, and onboarding guides. With Alchemyst’s Google Docs integration, you can sync documents anytime you want, search semantically across all your docs, and share team knowledge across collaborators. Your agent sees documents as living knowledge, not static files.

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Why Connect Google Docs?

Traditional document workflows fail because:
  • Documents are scattered across drives
  • Manual exports become stale immediately
  • There’s no way to query across multiple docs
  • Collaboration happens outside agent context
With Alchemyst’s Google Docs integration, your documents sync directly into your context layer, enabling seamless collaboration and always up-to-date information.

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How to Connect

Prerequisites:
  • Google Cloud Project
  • Service Account with Google Docs API access
  • Documents shared with the service account email
What You Need:
  • Client Email (service account email address)
  • Private Key (from service account JSON key file)
  • Shared Document URL
Important: You must share each document or folder with the service account email address. The service account needs at least Viewer permission to access the content.

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What Gets Indexed

Alchemyst can index:
  • Document text
  • Formatting
  • Comments
  • Suggestions
  • Embedded images
  • Links
  • Version history

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Setting Up a Service Account

  1. Go to Google Cloud Console and create or select a project
  2. Enable Google Docs API
  3. Navigate to IAM & Admin → Service Accounts
  4. Create a new service account
  5. Generate a JSON key file
  6. Extract the client_email and private_key from the JSON
The JSON key file contains:
  • client_email: Service account email (e.g., service@project.iam.gserviceaccount.com)
  • private_key: Full private key string (including header and footer)

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Security Best Practices

For Google Docs integrations:
  • Use service accounts instead of OAuth for programmatic access
  • Store private keys in environment variables or secrets managers
  • Never commit private keys to version control
  • Rotate keys every 90 days
  • Grant only Viewer permissions to service accounts
  • Use folder-level sharing for easier management
  • Enable access logging in Google Workspace Admin Console
  • Monitor for unusual activity and set up alerts

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Version Tracking

Google Docs change constantly. Alchemyst automatically tracks versions by removing old content when documents update and indexing new content, ensuring searches always return the latest information.

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Next Steps

Once Google Docs is connected, you can:
  • Search across all your documents
  • Combine document data with databases and other sources
  • Keep your agent synchronized with team collaboration
Explore other integrations: Google Sheets, Databases, or Cloud Storage.