Page Summary

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• This guide outlines the process of building a Google Workspace add-on that integrates third-party conferencing solutions into Google Calendar, primarily for conference providers.

• The development process involves enabling the Calendar advanced service, defining conference solutions within the add-on's manifest, and writing code to manage conference creation and synchronization with Google Calendar events.

• Developers need to implement code to handle conference creation based on Google Calendar event details and ensure synchronization between the third-party system and Google Calendar to reflect event updates.

• Add-ons can optionally include a settings page to allow users to customize conference parameters or add notes, enhancing user control and flexibility.

• The guide builds upon the general Google Workspace add-on development process, focusing on the conferencing-specific steps and considerations.

Note: This functionality was built for conference providersspecifically, and was originally available asCalendar conferencing add-ons.

The procedure to build a Google Workspace add-on thatprovides Google Calendar third-party conferencing solutions is essentially thesame as theprocedure for building Google Workspace add-ons,with a few additional steps (shown in bold below):

1. Choose an add-on project owner and collaborators.
2. Create an Apps Script project.
3. Design your add-on appearance and behavior.
4. Enable the Calendar advanced service.
5. Configure the add-on project manifest.
   1. Define conference solutions in the manifest.
6. Write code to define the add-on's appearance and behavior, using thebuilt-in Apps ScriptCard service.
   1. Write code to manage conference solutions,using Apps Script's built-inConferenceDataservice.
   2. (Optional)Create and configure an add-on settings page.
7. Verify your add-on's OAuth scopes.
8. Test the add-on within thehost applicationsit extends.
9. Publish the add-on.

This page provides a general overview of each of the new steps (seeBuilding Google Workspace add-onsfor an overview of the other steps).

Enable the Calendar advanced service

TheCalendar advanced servicelets you call theCalendar APIdirectly from an Apps Script project. Some common operationssuch asCalendar event syncs can onlybe performed using the advanced service. Before you can use the advancedservice, you must enable it for your add-on project.

You canenable the Calendar advanced servicefrom the Apps Script editor. Be sure to enable the API inboth the editorAdvanced Google Services dialog and the Google API console.

Note: For consistency and accuracy, it's best to use either the Calendaradvanced service or thebuilt-in Calendar service, not both. Ifyou enable the Calendar advanced service, use it exclusively throughout yourcode.

Define conference solutions in the manifest

The add-on manifest provides the basic information that Google Calendar needsto display and activate the add-on conference solutions correctly. Your add-onmanifest must define (in itscalendar section)one or more conference solutions that describe the types of third-partyconferences Google Calendar events can use.

SeeManifests for detailson how to configure your add-on's manifest.

Add code to create and sync conferences

Once you have created a script project, you can begin addingcode to define the add-on's conferencing-related behavior. You can use theCalendar advanced service,theConferenceData service, andother Apps Script services to control this behavior.

As you add conference handling code to your add-on, you must add code tocreate conferences,sync calendar changes, and optionallyadd a settings page.

Refer to theadd-on style guide as you codefor guidelines on how to design your add-on user experience.

Creating conferences

Your add-on must be able to take information about the Google Calendar eventand use it to create a conference on the third-party conference system. Youmust implement one or moreonCreateFunction methods that execute thisprocess, and configure these methods in your add-on manifest.

For more details, seeCreate third-party conferences.

Sync calendar changes

After a conference is created and linked to a Google Calendar event, theconference often needs to be updated to reflect changes in the event. Forexample, if a user changes the time of the event, the conference data inthe third-party conferencing system needs to be updated to reflect this.The process of updating the conference data in response to event changesis calledsyncing.

For more details, seeSync calendar changes.

Add settings

You may wish to have optional settings that let users configure your add-on.For example, you may want to let users to set conference parameters or notesthat are attached to the conference.

Whenever you want to provide users some degree of control over the add-onbehavior, you can provide those options in an add-on settings page. This isa web page (either hosted by the add-on script or else hosted externally) thatis opened when the user accesses the add-on settings within the Google CalendarUI.

Creating an add-on settings page is optional. For more details, seeAdd settings.