Python backend for Google Sheets with FastAPI and xlwings

This is a sample repo with boilerplate code to build a FastAPI backend for Google Sheets, connected by xlwings PRO. It shows:

• How to authenticate users for a specific Google Workspace domain (previously called G Suite)
• How to access the user object
• How to authorize users based on their group membership. Groups can be queried from any service you like (e.g., Okta, Azure AD or LDAP), but this repo shows how to define them in environment variables or how to query Google Directory (see below under Google Directory integration).

NOTE: while this repo uses FastAPI, xlwings is framework-agnostic, so it's easy enough to swap FastAPI with your favorite tool, whether that's Django, Flask, etc.

Google Sheets Template

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r9vygz57zvgCrQzrIlyGhe6Gx32qR3GRSYfDN3damVc/template/preview

Instructions

1. Click one of the following buttons to deploy this repo to your favorite service:
   

   

2. Render will ask you to provide two environment variables (make sure to set them up manually for Google Cloud Run):

   • XLWINGS_LICENSE_KEY: visit https://www.xlwings.org/trial to get a free trial license for xlwings PRO. Note that xlwings PRO is free for non-commercial use, see: https://docs.xlwings.org/en/stable/pro.html
   • GOOGLE_ALLOWED_DOMAINS: type in your domain(s) that you use on Google Workspace in the form of a list, i.e., ["yourdomain.com"].

3. Once the server is up and running, open a new Google Sheet, go to Extensions > Apps Script and paste the content of xlwings.js into an Apps Script module. At the top, replace URL with the actual url of your backend. Now you can run the three functions: hello1, hello2 and hello3 that demonstrate the use of authentication and authorization.

NOTE:

• When you run your very first function in Apps Script, you will be asked for a few permissions.
• The hello3 function will give you a permission error as its purpose is to demo authorization. To authorize yourself, go back to your server and add the env var GROUP_ADMIN with the following value ["you@yourdomain.com"]. In Render, you will do that under Dashboard > Environment. Make sure to hit Save Changes, which will start a new deploy. Once deployed, try again: hello3 will now work for you (but will continue to block anybody else of your Google Workspace organization).
• Instead of running the function directly in the Apps Script editor, you could draw a button on the sheet or build a Google Sheets extension.

Local development

To develop locally, follow these steps:

• Copy .env.template to .env and fill in at least XLWINGS_LICENSE_KEY and GOOGLE_ALLOWED_DOMAINS. Note that .env is part of .gitignore.
• Run pip install -r requirements.txt
• Run the server with python run.py

To connect directly to Google Sheets, you can:

• Expose your local port via a tool like ngrok
• Develop in a cloud-based IDE like GitPod where you can easily expose a port

Alternatively, you could also develop against a local Desktop Excel version.

For more detailed information about all these options, see:
https://docs.xlwings.org/en/stable/remote_interpreter.html

Running tests

If you have gone through the steps under local development, you can run the tests as follows:

• Install the additionally required packages by running pip install -r requirements-dev.txt.
• Run the tests by running the following command in your Terminal (in the root directory): pytest

You'll find the test configuration in pyproject.toml.

Google Directory integration

To be able to use FastAPI's scope-based permissioning system in connection with your Google groups, you'll need to set up a GCP service account according to these instructions.

NOTE: this is only required if you want to query your groups from Google Directory (part of Google Workspace), it is not required if you only need authentication or would like to use a different directory service.

Google Cloud Console (GCP)

1. Sign in to Google cloud console at https://console.cloud.google.com.
2. Double-check that you're logged in with the correct account on the top right.
3. Click on the dropdown next to the GCP logo on the top left: in the pop-up that opens, click on New Project on the top right. Give it a project name e.g., xlwings, Google Directory or similar. Once created (this may take a moment), refresh the page and select your newly created project in the dropdown next to the GCP logo. Note that no billing account is required, and you could also use an existing project instead of creating a new one.
4. In the navigation menu on the left (the "hamburger"), click on APIs & Services > Enabled APIs & services (if you don't see APIs & Services, click on More Products first). Click on + Enable APIs and Services at the top and search for Admin SDK API. Then click on Enable.
5. In the navigation menu, click on APIs & Services > Credentials. At the top, click on + Create Credentials > Service account. Give it a name (this should automatically create a Service account ID), then click on Done (you can ignore the rest).
6. Now you can see the new service account listed: click on it and select Keys in the tabs at the top. Click on the Add Key dropdown and select Create new key. In the pop-up, select JSON, then click on Create. This downloads a JSON file to your computer. This file has sensitive information, so keep it secure.
7. On the Details tab, make note of the Unique ID of the service account as you will need it in the next steps.

Google Workspace Admin Console

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console at https://admin.google.com.
2. Again: make sure to log in with the proper account.
3. On the menu on the left-hand side, select Security > Overview. Scroll down on the page, then click on API controls. At the bottom of the page you'll find Domain wide delegation. Click on the Manage Domain Wide Delegation link. Now click on Add new and paste the Client ID (the Unique ID that we noted previously from GCP). Add the following two OAuth Scopes: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.group.readonly and https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.group.member.readonly (once you paste one, there will be another line appearing where you can paste the second one). See https://developers.google.com/admin-sdk/directory/reference/rest for other potential scopes, if you're implementation differs from this project.

FastAPI

1. Now you can use the is_member function from directory_google.py by switching the DIRECTORY env var to google and by updating the SCOPES env var to a list of email addresses corresponding to the google group, e.g., SCOPES=["mygroup@mydomain.com"].
2. Paste the JSON string from the downloaded file from GCP as your GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_INFO env var (make sure to enclose it in single quotes if you run things locally and paste this into the .env file).
3. Set the GOOGLE_DELEGATE_EMAIL env var to your own email as this account will eventually be used to access the Google directory, see https://developers.google.com/admin-sdk/directory/v1/guides/delegation for further information.