Connect Google Chat

What you get

• Updates in a Google Chat space as work moves: new tasks, sign-off requests, finished work and more. You choose which.
• A tidy card for each update, with a button that opens the task in Taskshire.
• Each task’s updates kept together in one thread, so the space stays easy to follow.
• An optional morning summary of what’s overdue, due today and waiting for sign-off.

To approve work, select the button on the card and approve in Taskshire.

Before you start

• You need a Google Workspace account: a work or school account. Personal Gmail accounts can’t add webhooks to a space.
• You need to be a member of the space. In some spaces, only space managers can add webhooks.

Who can set it up

• In Taskshire: a project admin.
• In Google Chat: a member of the space (or a space manager). A Google Workspace admin may need to allow webhooks first. See Troubleshooting.

Get a link from Google Chat

A webhook link is a private web address that lets Taskshire post into one space. Treat it like a password.

1. Open Google Chat (at chat.google.com, or in Gmail) and go to the space.
2. Select the space’s name at the top, then Apps & integrations.
3. Under Webhooks, select Add webhooks.
4. Name it “Taskshire”. You can leave Avatar URL empty. Select Save.
5. Next to the new webhook, select More (⋮), then Copy link.

The link starts with https://chat.googleapis.com/v1/spaces/ and includes key= and token=. Copy all of it.

Connect it in Taskshire

1. Open your project, then select Tools → Integrations.
2. On the Google Chat card, select Connect.
3. Paste the link into Webhook link. Give it a Channel name you’ll recognise, such as “Marketing space”.
4. Choose what to post. The recommended choices are ticked for you.
5. Leave Send a hello message so we can check it works ticked, then select Connect Google Chat.
6. Look in the space for the “Taskshire is connected” card.

Choose what to post

Under Post a message when…, tick what the space should hear about. The recommended choices are ticked for you: New tasks, Work needs sign-off, Changes are requested, Work is done or published, Publishing fails and Tasks become overdue.

To change them later, select Edit on the channel. The integrations overview explains every choice, plus boards and the morning summary.

Threads

The first message about a task starts a thread. Later updates about that task reply in the same thread, so you can see a task’s whole story in one place.

To post every update as a new message instead:

1. Under Connected channels, select Edit on the space.
2. Untick Keep each task’s updates in one thread.
3. Select Save.

Troubleshooting

Nothing arrived

• Under Connected channels, check the space says On, then select Send test.
• Select Recent messages to see whether the message was Delivered or Failed, and why.
• Check what’s ticked under Post a message when…, and which boards are ticked.
• Updates about a task may be in that task’s thread rather than at the bottom of the space. Look for the thread.

I can’t see Apps & integrations, or Webhooks

• Check you’re signed in with your work or school account, not a personal Gmail account.
• A Google Workspace admin can turn off incoming webhooks for your whole organisation. Ask them to allow incoming webhooks for Google Chat in the Google Admin console. You can send them this page.

It says “Stopped”

Google Chat told Taskshire the link doesn’t work any more, or 10 messages in a row failed. Usually the webhook was removed from the space, or the space was deleted.

1. Add a new webhook to the space (see Get a link from Google Chat).
2. Connect the new link in Taskshire.
3. Disconnect the old one.

I want to change the space

A webhook always posts to the space it was made in. Add a webhook to the new space, connect its link, and Disconnect the old one. Then remove the old webhook from the old space.

“Google Chat webhook links start with…”

Part of the link is missing. Copy it again with More (⋮) → Copy link, so it includes both key= and token=.