Integrate Unsiloed with Google Sheets

Google Sheets formulas don’t make authenticated REST API requests directly. A spreadsheet-bound Google Apps Script provides the bridge: it reads values or images from the sheet, calls the Unsiloed API, and writes the result back to cells. In this guide, we’ll connect a spreadsheet to Unsiloed and verify the API key. The resulting Apps Script project is the starting point for menu commands, custom functions, and automated document-processing workflows.

This setup is for a script attached to one spreadsheet. If you need the same integration across many spreadsheets, package the script as a Google Workspace add-on instead of copying it into each file.

How Unsiloed Works with Google Sheets

The integration follows one request path: Google Sheets → Apps Script → Unsiloed API → Apps Script → Google Sheets Apps Script can turn this connection into several spreadsheet workflows:

Menu commands process a selected cell or range and write results to another sheet. Use this approach for images, files, and jobs that require polling.
Custom functions send a cell value or public URL to Unsiloed and return a value directly into the formula cell, such as =UNSILOED(A2). Custom functions can’t edit arbitrary cells, and Google stops them after 30 seconds.
Batch workflows loop over a range and process several documents from one menu command or trigger. Batch writes reduce calls to the Google Sheets service.

Use a menu command for the first integration. It can request authorization, write to multiple cells, and wait for asynchronous Unsiloed jobs. Add a custom function when the input and output fit naturally into a single formula.

Requirements for the Google Sheets Integration

Before you start, gather:

A Google account and a spreadsheet you can edit
An Unsiloed API key from the Unsiloed dashboard
Permission to run Apps Script in your Google Workspace organization

The script uses Google’s UrlFetchApp service to call Unsiloed. Google asks you to authorize external requests the first time you run it.

Connect Google Sheets to Unsiloed

We’ll create a script attached to the spreadsheet, store the API key outside the source code, and call a read-only endpoint to verify the connection.

Create a spreadsheet-bound script

Open the spreadsheet, then choose Extensions → Apps Script. Google creates an Apps Script project attached to that spreadsheet and opens Code.gs.A spreadsheet-bound script can read the active cell, add menus, display sidebars, and define custom functions for its spreadsheet.

Store the Unsiloed API key

In the Apps Script editor, open Project Settings from the left sidebar. Under Script Properties, click Add script property.Add the following property name and use your API key as its value:

UNSILOED_API_KEY

Click Save script properties. The Properties service stores the key for this script, so you don’t need to paste it into Code.gs.

Add a connection check

Replace the contents of Code.gs with the following code:

Code.gs

const UNSILOED_USAGE_URL =
  "https://platformbackend.unsiloed.ai/api/v1/org/get_usage";

function unsiloedApiKey() {
  const apiKey = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties()
    .getProperty("UNSILOED_API_KEY");

  if (!apiKey) {
    throw new Error("Add UNSILOED_API_KEY to the script properties.");
  }

  return apiKey;
}

function checkUnsiloedConnection() {
  const response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(
    UNSILOED_USAGE_URL,
    { headers: { "api-key": unsiloedApiKey() } }
  );
  const usage = JSON.parse(response.getContentText());

  SpreadsheetApp.getActive().toast(
    "Connected to " + usage.org_name,
    "Unsiloed"
  );
}

The helper reads the current property value whenever the script makes a request. The connection check uses the read-only usage endpoint and displays the organization name in the spreadsheet. The workflow cookbooks use the separate document-processing API at prod.visionapi.unsiloed.ai.

Run and authorize the connection check

Click Save, select checkUnsiloedConnection from the function dropdown, and click Run.Google asks for permission the first time. Choose your account, then review the two things the script needs: access to this spreadsheet, so it can show the toast, and permission to connect to an external service, so it can reach Unsiloed. Click Allow.Return to the spreadsheet after the function finishes. A toast should confirm the Unsiloed organization connected to the API key.

Anyone who can edit the spreadsheet can also view its bound Apps Script project. Use a dedicated API key, and don’t share the spreadsheet with untrusted editors.

Choose a Google Sheets Workflow

The connection is now ready for a task-specific script. Start with the table extraction cookbook, which adds a menu command that sends an in-cell image to /parse and writes the detected table to a second sheet. Use /parse when the sheet needs the document’s original structure, including tables and text sections. Use /v2/extract when each row needs the same typed fields, such as an invoice number, date, and total.

Extract a Table from an Image

Turn an image in a cell into editable rows with a spreadsheet menu command.

Extract Chart Data with a Formula

Turn a public chart image into numeric cells with UNSILOED_CHART.

Parse Documents

Review the parsing workflow, supported files, and response structure.

Extract Typed Fields

Return a predictable set of fields by supplying a JSON Schema.

Google Sheets Constraints

Apps Script runs on Google infrastructure, so its execution rules shape the integration:

Custom functions return a value to their formula cell but can’t write elsewhere in the spreadsheet.
Custom functions never request authorization. They can use supported services, including UrlFetchApp, but can’t use services that require access to personal Google data. Use a menu command when a workflow needs those services.
Custom functions are stopped at 30 seconds, which is the tightest limit here. Unsiloed document-processing endpoints return jobs that you then poll. In our tests, a small job often takes around 20 seconds, so even one can approach the limit and two sequential jobs are unlikely to finish in time. Keep custom functions to one small job, and use a menu command, which gets six minutes, for anything larger.
A script can only read an image placed in a cell. An image floating over the grid exposes no method that returns its bytes, so no script can reach it.
Menu commands can update ranges, open dialogs, and run workflows that require authorization.
Repeated formulas can create one API request per cell. Prefer a function that accepts a range or a menu-driven batch for larger datasets.
Script properties belong to the Apps Script project, not to the spreadsheet. Copying a spreadsheet copies its script but not its properties, so the copy starts with no API key and its first run fails until you add one.

See the Google custom functions guide for the current service and execution restrictions.

Getting Started

Document Processing

Integrations

FAQ

Integrate Unsiloed with Google Sheets

How Unsiloed Works with Google Sheets

Requirements for the Google Sheets Integration

Connect Google Sheets to Unsiloed

Choose a Google Sheets Workflow

Extract a Table from an Image

Extract Chart Data with a Formula

Parse Documents

Extract Typed Fields

Google Sheets Constraints

​How Unsiloed Works with Google Sheets

​Requirements for the Google Sheets Integration

​Connect Google Sheets to Unsiloed

​Choose a Google Sheets Workflow

Extract a Table from an Image

Extract Chart Data with a Formula

Parse Documents

Extract Typed Fields

​Google Sheets Constraints

How Unsiloed Works with Google Sheets

Requirements for the Google Sheets Integration

Connect Google Sheets to Unsiloed

Choose a Google Sheets Workflow

Google Sheets Constraints