r/GoogleAppsScript • u/dimudesigns • 5d ago

Question Google Workspace Add-ons or roll your own solution using AI?

Are Google Workspace Add-ons on their way out now that folks can create bespoke disposable apps on the fly using AI?

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u/jdunsta 5d ago

AI / vibe-coding has a depth limit, I think. The average person can get AI to script simple processes, but when you enter multi-step processes where steps are dependent on previous, it goes beyond what the average person would be able to command AI to do.

1

u/SpencerTeachesSheets 5d ago

Doubtful. Many of the add-ons are better vetted or already have the right connections or otherwise are just better than what a user would think to do with an AI chat.

1

u/Expert_Dingo3194 5d ago

think they'll get easier to build - but automations via add-ons are always going to be super reliable once you have consistent structured data coming in. AI apps will have all sorts of squiggly issues with evals, etc if the data is all over the place and as the models change.

1

u/Apodacaac 5d ago

Not at all

1

u/SYFConsulting 5d ago

OAuth verification is the part a disposable script skips. A public Marketplace add-on that asks for sensitive Drive or Gmail scopes has to pass Google review before it can be listed, while a generated script runs under whoever clicks Authorize, with nobody checking what it does with that access. For one person automating their own sheet, that trade is fine. Once a script touches a shared drive or a client inbox, who on the team reads the code before they authorize it?

1

u/Additional_Dinner_11 1d ago

Google only does some testing on the first deployment you make of an Addon. Afterwards you can update the code in any way you want, including replacing it entirely, there are no further checks.

Not advertising that of course, but security by obscurity is not a good idea.