Automations Actions Guide

Everything you can add as an action, in the order they appear in the automation builder. Add more than one action and they run in order — if you use an action like Find/create Doc before an Email, the email can reference the document it just created or found.

Not every action makes sense for every source (an action that “copy the file” needs a file to copy, so it won’t do anything useful on a Google Sheet source). See README.md for source guides, each of which lists what’s actually useful there.

Notify someone

Email

Sends an email you write.

  • To — a fixed address, or a placeholder like {column:Email} to send to whoever’s in that row/submission.
  • Subject
  • Body — plain text; line breaks are kept.

Slack

Posts a message to a Slack channel.

  • Slack Webhook URL — from your Slack workspace’s Incoming Webhook settings.
  • Message

Google Chat

Posts a message to a Google Chat space.

  • Google Chat Webhook URL — from a Space’s Apps & Integrations → Webhooks.
  • Message

Webhook

Sends the event’s data as JSON to any HTTPS endpoint you control — useful for connecting to tools FileDrop doesn’t integrate with directly.

  • Webhook URL — must be HTTPS.

Send file

Forwards the actual file — from a Drive file/folder trigger, or an uploaded file from a form submission — to an external service as an upload. Not available on Google Sheet or Incoming Webhook sources (there’s no file to send). Google Docs/Sheets/Slides can’t be forwarded as raw files. 100 MB limit per file.

  • Destination URL — HTTPS endpoint that receives the upload.
  • Form field name — the multipart field name the file is attached under (defaults to file).
  • Timeout — seconds to wait, useful to raise for large files.
  • Auth header name / value (optional) — one custom header, e.g. an API key.
  • HMAC signing secret (optional) — if set, each upload is signed so the receiving service can verify it really came from FileDrop.

Work with spreadsheets

New row

Adds a new row to any spreadsheet you choose — the columns are entirely up to you, built from placeholders, so it works no matter what triggered the automation.

  • Target spreadsheet — pick with the Google Drive picker.
  • Sheet tab (optional) — defaults to the first tab.
  • Column → Value — add one entry per column, e.g. column A = {file_name}, column B = {triggered_at}.

Copy row

Copies the entire row that triggered the automation into another spreadsheet. Only useful when the trigger actually has row data — Google Sheet, Form Submission, or Incoming Webhook sources. (On a Drive file/folder trigger there’s no row to copy.)

  • Target spreadsheet — also accepts a placeholder like {column:B} so you can route different rows to different sheets automatically.
  • Sheet tab (optional)
  • Skip duplicates — key column (optional) — if this column’s value already exists in the destination, the copy is skipped.
  • Preserve from source — checkboxes to also carry over formulas (not just their computed values), cell formatting, and cell notes.

Move row

Same as Copy row, but the original row is deleted from the source sheet after a successful copy. This can’t be undone. If the copy is skipped because of a duplicate, the source row is left alone.

Update cell

Writes a value into one cell of the row that triggered the automation, in the sheet you’re monitoring — handy for stamping “Processed” or today’s date into a Status column after something happens. Only works on a Google Sheet source.

  • Column to update — letter or header name.
  • New value — plain text or a placeholder.

Remove duplicates

Scans the whole sheet and deletes duplicate rows based on a column you choose. Requires the Scheduled trigger — it runs on your chosen schedule, not on individual row changes.

  • Key column — which column defines a duplicate.
  • Keep — first occurrence or last occurrence.

Rows with a blank key column are never deleted. This permanently deletes rows.

Backup sheet

Pro and above. Creates a backup copy of the sheet you’re monitoring on each scheduled run. Requires the Scheduled trigger.

  • File name — supports placeholders like {sheet_name} — {date}.
  • File format — Excel (.xlsx) or Google Sheet.
  • Deliver to — a Google Drive folder, or up to 5 email addresses.

Work with Drive files and folders

Copy/move file

Copies or moves the file that triggered the automation into another folder. Only available when watching a Drive folder, file, or Shared Drive.

  • Operation — Copy (keeps the original) or Move (removes it from the source).
  • Destination folder — also accepts {column:...} for routing files to different folders by value.

Create folder

Creates a new Drive folder. Works with any source since the folder name is entirely built from placeholders.

  • Folder name — e.g. {column:Name} — {triggered_at}.
  • Parent folder (optional) — defaults to your Drive root; can also be a placeholder for dynamic routing.
  • Write folder URL back to column (optional) — if your trigger has row data, writes the new folder’s link into that column.

Find/create Doc

Finds a Google Doc by its exact name (optionally inside a specific folder), or creates it if it doesn’t exist. Useful as a first step before appending to a running log or archive — later actions in the same automation can reference the document it found or created using {doc_id}, {doc_url}, and {doc_name}.

  • Document name — supports placeholders, e.g. Meeting Archive - {month_name} {year}.
  • Folder to search/create in (optional)

Append Doc

Adds text to the end of an existing Google Doc — typically chained after Find/create Doc.

  • Document ID — usually {doc_id} from a preceding Find/create Doc action.
  • Text to append

Replace Doc

Replaces the entire body of a Google Doc with new text — use this instead of Append when you want to fully rebuild a document rather than add to it. This overwrites everything currently in the doc.

  • Document ID
  • New document body

Convert to Doc

Converts a triggering PDF or image file into a Google Doc. PDFs convert natively; images are processed with OCR (text recognition) — with an option to output plain text or CSV instead of a Doc, and a table-detection mode for scanned tables. Files that aren’t a PDF or image are simply skipped, not treated as an error.

  • Output file name (optional) — defaults to the source file’s name.
  • Output format (image files only) — Google Doc, plain text (.txt), or CSV.
  • Table mode (image files only) — detect tables and output them as structured data; works best paired with CSV output.
  • File ID column — required if the trigger isn’t a Drive file/folder itself (e.g. a sheet row that contains a Drive file ID to convert).
  • Destination folder (optional)
  • Delete original file after conversion (optional)

Result is available to later actions as {doc_id}, {doc_url}, {doc_name}.

Delete file

Deletes or trashes a Drive file — put this action last, since it only runs after earlier actions in the same automation succeed.

  • File ID (optional for Drive triggers — leave blank to use the file that triggered the automation)
  • File ID column (for non-Drive triggers, e.g. a sheet column holding a Drive file ID)
  • Delete mode — move to trash, or permanently delete.

FileDrop actions

Send invite

Sends a FileDrop form invitation email to an address pulled from the triggering data — useful for chaining one form into another (e.g. a lead form that automatically invites the lead to a follow-up intake form).

  • Form to invite to
  • Email column — e.g. {column:C}.
  • Personal message (optional)

If an active invitation already exists for that email on that form, it isn’t sent again.