Google Docs

Open Google Cloud Console at console.cloud.google.com. Create a new project (or use an existing one). In the left menu, go to 'APIs & Services' → 'Library'. Search for 'Google Docs API' and click Enable. Then search for 'Google Drive API' and click Enable — you need both. Next, go to 'APIs & Services' → 'Credentials'. Click 'Create Credentials' → 'Service Account'. Give it a name like 'Bubble Docs Integration'. Click Create and Continue. For the role, select 'Editor' at the project level, or leave the role blank if you plan to share files individually (recommended for tighter security). Click Done. Find the service account in the list, click on it, go to the Keys tab, click 'Add Key' → 'Create new key' → select JSON → Create. A JSON file downloads to your computer — save it securely. The service account has an email address that looks like something@yourproject.iam.gserviceaccount.com — copy this email, you will need it in the next step.

Open the Google Doc template you want to use in your browser. Click 'Share' in the top right corner. In the sharing dialog, paste the service account email address (something@yourproject.iam.gserviceaccount.com) into the 'Add people and groups' field. Set the permission level to 'Editor' — Viewer is not sufficient because the service account needs to copy the file. Click 'Send' or 'Share'. Now look at the URL in your browser while viewing the template — it looks like: https://docs.google.com/document/d/DOCUMENT_ID/edit. Copy the DOCUMENT_ID (the long string between /d/ and /edit). This is your template document ID that you will use in the Drive API copy call. Also note the Google Drive folder where you want generated documents to be saved — share that folder with the service account email as well (Editor permission) if you want organized file management.

In Bubble, open Plugins → API Connector. You need two separate API groups because the Google Drive and Google Docs APIs have different base URLs — if you mix them under one base URL, all calls fail. Click 'Add another API'. Name the first group 'Google Drive API'. Add one shared header: key = Authorization, value = Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN — mark it Private. Note: obtaining the access_token from a service account normally requires exchanging the JSON key for a short-lived token via Google's OAuth2 token endpoint. For simplicity in Bubble, the most practical approach is to use a service account with domain-wide delegation OR to generate a long-lived access token using a script or service like Token Service, then store it in Bubble as an App Data value and reference it in the header. See the troubleshooting section for the service account token flow. Click 'Add another API' again. Name the second group 'Google Docs API'. Add the same Authorization header (Bearer token, Private). Leave the base URL at the group level empty for both — you will enter full URLs in each call.

1Google Drive API group:
2  Shared header: Authorization: Bearer <your_access_token> [Private]
3  Base URL: (leave empty)
4
5Google Docs API group:
6  Shared header: Authorization: Bearer <your_access_token> [Private]
7  Base URL: (leave empty)
8
9Note: Both groups use the same token but different API endpoint base URLs in each call.

In the 'Google Drive API' group, click 'Add another call'. Name it 'Copy Template'. Set Method to POST. Set the URL to: https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/YOUR_TEMPLATE_ID/copy — replace YOUR_TEMPLATE_ID with the document ID you copied in Step 2. Set 'Use as' to 'Action' since this call is triggered from a workflow. In the Body section, check 'Send arbitrary data' and provide the JSON body shown below — this sets the name of the newly created document. To make the document name dynamic (e.g., include the client's name), define a parameter in the body with a placeholder like <new_doc_name> that Bubble will prompt you to fill when using this call in a workflow. Click 'Initialize call'. Bubble will make the actual API call and return the new file's metadata including its id — this id is what you will pass to the Docs batchUpdate call in the next step. After initialization, confirm that the 'id' field appears in Bubble's detected response fields.

1POST https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/YOUR_TEMPLATE_ID/copy
2
3Headers (shared):
4  Authorization: Bearer <token> [Private]
5
6Body:
7{
8  "name": "<dynamic: new_doc_name>"
9}

In the 'Google Docs API' group, click 'Add another call'. Name it 'Fill Placeholders'. Set Method to POST. Set the URL to: https://docs.googleapis.com/v1/documents/DOCUMENT_ID:batchUpdate — where DOCUMENT_ID will be a dynamic parameter filled from the previous step's result. In the API Connector, configure DOCUMENT_ID as a parameter by writing it as <new_doc_id> in the URL path so Bubble prompts you to fill it in the workflow. Set 'Use as' to 'Action'. In the Body, check 'Send arbitrary data' and provide the replaceAllText request array. Each placeholder replacement is one object in the requests array. Add dynamic parameters for each value you want to fill in (e.g., <client_name>, <project_title>). Initialize the call with real example values to confirm it works before wiring into the workflow. Note: replaceAllText is case-sensitive and requires the placeholder text to match exactly — including the double curly braces if you used them in the template.

1POST https://docs.googleapis.com/v1/documents/<new_doc_id>:batchUpdate
2
3Headers (shared):
4  Authorization: Bearer <token> [Private]
5
6Body:
7{
8  "requests": [
9    {
10      "replaceAllText": {
11        "containsText": {
12          "text": "{{client_name}}",
13          "matchCase": true
14        },
15        "replaceText": "<dynamic: client_name>"
16      }
17    },
18    {
19      "replaceAllText": {
20        "containsText": {
21          "text": "{{project_title}}",
22          "matchCase": true
23        },
24        "replaceText": "<dynamic: project_title>"
25      }
26    },
27    {
28      "replaceAllText": {
29        "containsText": {
30          "text": "{{date}}",
31          "matchCase": true
32        },
33        "replaceText": "<dynamic: document_date>"
34      }
35    }
36  ]
37}

In Bubble, go to the Backend Workflows section (Settings → API → enable 'This app exposes a Workflow API', then open the Backend Workflows tab). Create a new API Workflow named something like 'Generate Document'. Add the parameters you need: client_name (text), project_title (text), date (date), and any other fields your template uses. In the workflow steps: Step 1 — Plugins → Google Drive API → Copy Template, set the new_doc_name parameter to a dynamic value combining your inputs (e.g., 'Proposal - ' + client_name). Step 2 — Plugins → Google Docs API → Fill Placeholders, set new_doc_id = Result of Step 1's id, and map client_name, project_title, and date from the workflow parameters. Step 3 — Make changes to a Thing: create or update a Bubble data type record to store the new document URL (construct it as 'https://docs.google.com/document/d/' + Step 1's id). To trigger this Backend Workflow from a regular page workflow, add a 'Schedule API Workflow' step in your form submit button's workflow and pass the form field values as the parameters. Backend Workflows on paid Bubble plans run reliably in sequence, ensuring the copy completes before the fill starts. RapidDev's team has built document generation flows like this across dozens of Bubble apps — book a free scoping call at rapidevelopers.com/contact if you get stuck.

1Backend Workflow: Generate Document
2Parameters: client_name (text), project_title (text), document_date (date)
3
4Step 1: [API] Copy Template
5  → new_doc_name: "Proposal - " + client_name
6  → returns: id (new document ID)
7
8Step 2: [API] Fill Placeholders
9  → new_doc_id: Result of Step 1's id
10  → client_name: This workflow's client_name
11  → project_title: This workflow's project_title
12  → document_date: This workflow's document_date :formatted as MM/DD/YYYY
13
14Step 3: Make changes to Thing (Order)
15  → document_url: "https://docs.google.com/document/d/" + Step 1's id