Build automations using AppSheet databases

This is a beta release of building automations using AppSheet databases. See Track and manage feature releases. Beta offerings are intended for use in test environments only. This feature is not recommended for use in production apps. For questions or assistance with this feature, contact AppSheet Support.

Build an automation using AppSheet databases to trigger events when there are changes made to one or more columns, as described in the following sections:

• Get started
• Steps to build automations using AppSheet databases
• Copy apps with AppSheet database events
• Known issues

See also Automation limits.

Get started

To get started building automations using AppSheet databases, see Quick start: Build your first automation using an AppSheet database.

Steps to build automations using AppSheet databases

Build automations using Google Forms to trigger events when there are changes made to one or more columns by performing the following steps.

#	Step	Description
1	Create an AppSheet database	Before you can build an automation, you must create an AppSheet database. See Create and copy databases.
2	Add the AppSheet database to your app	Do one of the following: Create an app from the AppSheet database Add the AppSheet database to an existing app In each case, select AppSheet databases as the data source, then navigate to the database and click Select.
3	Use adds, updates, or deletes in the AppSheet database to trigger an event	Build an automation and configure an AppSheet database event.  App concepts or table settings defined in the app editor (such as making a column non-editable or required) won't effect how the bot gets triggered for event sources that are external to the app. For example, even if a column is marked as non-editable for apps, it can still be selected in the Column to watch for setting in the event.

Copy apps with AppSheet database events

To copy an app with AppSheet database events, follow the steps described in Copy apps and select AppSheet database in the Save app to field. Otherwise, the AppSheet database event will no longer work.

Known issues

The following are known issues for the beta release:

• By default, the bot will be executed using the app owner’s credentials. Hence, security filters will always be bypassed. Currently the "Bypass security filters toggle" is still present but it will be removed. 
• Triggers for Lookup columns are currently not supported, although "Columns to watch for" allows their selection. We are working on enabling triggers for Lookup columns.
• When a column name is changed in the AppSheet database, you must regenerate the table schema before making changes to the bot reading from that table. Otherwise, changes to the bot cannot be saved.
• If you have an Enum drop-down column that doesn't have options defined, a permanent warning is displayed in the AppSheet app editor prompting you to regenerate the schema. To avoid this error, make sure that the Enum drop-down column has at least one option defined.