💡 New script: forms-to-action (Google Forms response automation pipeline)

[github-actions[bot]]

Summary

A Google Apps Script that triggers configurable actions when a Google Form is submitted: formatted email notifications to specified recipients, structured Sheets logging with timestamps, and optional Calendar event creation from response data. Configurable via the browser-based deploy page with Form ID picker and action-type selectors.

Market Signal

Form response automation is consistently the #1 most-requested GAS automation on Stack Overflow and Reddit. Zapier charges $30/month for form-to-email-to-Sheets workflows. Google Forms' built-in email notification only says "someone submitted a response" with no formatting, filtering, or multi-action capability. IFTTT's form integration is limited to simple applets. Google Tables' discontinuation (2025) left a gap in form-to-action workflows for non-enterprise users. No free, open-source, browser-deployable alternative exists.

User Signal

Community research confirms form response automation as the single most-requested workflow in the Google Apps Script ecosystem. FormApp.onFormSubmit is one of the most-used GAS triggers. The project's existing deploy page pattern — browser-based, zero-CLI, zero-coding — would make this trivially deployable for the exact non-technical audience that needs it most.

Technical Opportunity

FormApp is a core GAS service with a well-supported onFormSubmit trigger. The project's dependency injection pattern (extract logic to src/index.js, inject GAS services as parameters) maps perfectly to FormApp + MailApp + CalendarApp + SpreadsheetApp. Config schema follows the established config.gs pattern: form ID, notification recipients, action types. The SCRIPT_CATALOG entry in deploy/index.html adds this to the browser-based deployment catalog with zero friction — the same extensibility pattern proven by calendar-to-briefing-doc.

Assessment

Dimension	Score	Rationale
Feasibility	high	FormApp, MailApp, SpreadsheetApp are all core GAS services. Proven architecture pattern. onFormSubmit trigger is native and well-documented.
Impact	high	Fills the #1 most-requested automation gap. Displaces $30/month Zapier workflows. Extends the script catalog into a new Google service (Forms).
Urgency	med	Demand is steady and evergreen — not tied to a specific market event, but the opportunity has existed for years without an open-source answer.

Adversarial Review

Strongest objection: Google Forms already has a basic email notification feature built in. Why build another one?

Rebuttal: Native Forms notification is limited to a generic "new response received" alert with no formatting, conditional logic, or multi-action capability. This script offers: formatted response emails with field labels and values, conditional routing based on response values (Phase 2), Calendar event creation from date fields, and structured Sheets logging — all configurable from the deploy page. Every paid alternative (Zapier, Make, IFTTT Pro+) charges monthly for this exact workflow.

Suggested Next Step

Create a tech spec defining the config.gs schema (form ID, notification email, action types), the src/index.js module with FormApp/MailApp/SpreadsheetApp dependency injection, and the SCRIPT_CATALOG entry for the deploy page. MVP scope: form submission → formatted email + Sheets row. Phase 2: conditional routing + Calendar event creation.