At the heart of any business process or workflow is a document—invoices, proposals, contracts, reports, you name it. But the workflows you rely on to run your business often connect to content and services that also live outside of documents.

One way to keep work flowing between documents and the apps you use everyday is to use APIs. Today, we’re announcing a new API that can be used to automate tasks and jumpstart documentation: the Google Docs API.

 

Speedy documents, automatic workflows

When your business requires documents that need consistency and accuracy, an API makes a difference. Take invoicing for example. With the Docs API, you can generate invoices automatically and programmatically add information like order numbers or when a balance is due. You can also use the API to import and export documents from your content management system (CMS)—this way you can collaborate within Docs without leaving your system. Or you can use the API to make programmatic edits to the same document over time (or even multiple documents at once) to reduce documentation errors and eliminate unnecessary review processes. There are tons of opportunities.

We first introduced the Google Docs API at Cloud Next 2018, where we kicked off our developer preview.

Since then, we’ve collaborated with several partners to automate workflows. Check them out:

  • Create new documents from templates in Zapier. Zapier is an automation tool that helps you create custom workflows. With its Docs API integration you can create, collaborate, and share dynamic documents using Docs templates with just a few workflow rules. For example, if you’re an HR manager, you might use the same template for offer letters. Instead of manually populating information, you can use the Docs API to automatically populate details in an offer letter every time a candidate reaches the right stage.