I’m working on a project where I create two Google Sheets using an API. One sheet needs to pull data from the other using the IMPORTRANGE function. The problem is that it asks for manual approval to connect the sheets.
Is there a way to make this connection automatically through code? I’m using the .NET API for Google Sheets and Drive.
I’ve looked through the API docs but couldn’t find anything about this. Has anyone figured out how to bypass the manual ‘Allow access’ step when linking sheets?
If there’s no direct way, are there any workarounds? Maybe creating a service account with the right permissions?
As someone who’s delved deep into Google Sheets automation, I can tell you there’s no straightforward way to bypass the IMPORTRANGE approval process via API. It’s a security feature Google implemented to prevent unauthorized data access.
However, I’ve found a reliable workaround in my projects. Instead of IMPORTRANGE, I use the Sheets API to read data from the source sheet and write it to the destination sheet. This method gives you more control and eliminates the need for manual approval.
Here’s the gist of how I do it:
Set up a service account with access to both sheets.
Use the API to read the data from the source sheet.
Process the data as needed (optional).
Write the data to the destination sheet using the API.
This approach has served me well in various scenarios, from small projects to large-scale data pipelines. It’s more code-intensive initially, but it pays off in reliability and flexibility. Plus, you can schedule these operations to run automatically, keeping your sheets in sync without manual intervention.
hey there, i’ve been thru this. afaik there’s no api to auto-approve IMPORTRANGE. you might use a service account with full perms on both sheets, or fetch & write data via the sheets api instead. hope that helps!
I’ve encountered this issue before in a similar project. Unfortunately, there’s no direct API method to automatically approve IMPORTRANGE connections. However, I found a workaround that might help. Instead of using IMPORTRANGE, you can use the Sheets API to programmatically read data from one sheet and write it to the other. This approach eliminates the need for manual approval altogether. It requires a bit more code, but it’s more robust and gives you finer control over the data transfer process. Just ensure your service account has the necessary permissions for both sheets. This method has worked well for me in production environments, offering better reliability and easier troubleshooting.