Integrate with Google Forms

Before you begin

You need to have a basic Javascript knowledge
You must be familiar with Google App Script documentation
Ensure you have created the form and have the form's ID. You can find the ID in the URL of the form page.
Make sure you have the Next Matter API key. If you don't have it, contact your organization admin, or, if you're an admin, generate the key in Next Matter by going to Company > Next Matter API keys.
You need the ID of the workflow that should be started from Google Forms. You can get the ID by clicking the process and copying the number from the URL in your browser.

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Good to know: Check out our ready-made templates available when you add a step and select Templates > 3rd party templates. You can use the templates to create a set of pre-configured steps.
Need a specific template? Click the Contact us button in the top right of the page and let us know.

Connect with Next Matter

Create your Next Matter workflow.
Click the top right corner menu icon in your Google form, and click More > Script editor. Alternatively, navigate to https://script.google.com/home/ and click New Project. This will open the script editor with a pre-populated function template.
Create your app script for the form. Make sure the process and form field IDs, as well as the response item sequence are those of your target workflow.

View the script example


const API_KEY = "ADD_TARGET_ORG_API_KEY_HERE";
const FORM_ID = "ADD_SOURCE_GOOGLE_FORM_ID_HERE";

const PROCESS_ID = "ADD_NM_TARGET_PROCESS_ID_HERE";
const INSTANCES_URL = "https://core.nextmatter.com/api/instances/";

const fetchOptions = {
  muteHttpExceptions: true,
  method: "post",
  contentType: "application/json",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Api-Key ${API_KEY}`,
  },
};

function submitForm(e) {
  if (!e || !e.response) {
    return;
  }

  let apiResponse = UrlFetchApp.fetch(INSTANCES_URL, {
    ...fetchOptions,
    payload: JSON.stringify({
      name: "Product form " + new Date().toUTCString(),
      process: `https://core.nextmatter.com/api/processes/${PROCESS_ID}/`,
      tags: [`form:${FORM_ID}`, `response:${e.response.getId()}`],
    }),
  });

  let responseCode = apiResponse.getResponseCode();

  if (!apiResponse || ![200, 201].includes(responseCode)) {
    Logger.log("Next Matter API call failed");
    if (apiResponse) {
      Logger.log(apiResponse.getContentText());
    }
    return;
  }

  const instance = JSON.parse(apiResponse.getContentText());
  const { id, active_step_ids } = instance;

  Logger.log(`Instance ID: ${id}`);

  const completeStepUrl = `${INSTANCES_URL}${id}/complete_step/`;
  const responses = e.response.getItemResponses();

  const responseCollectionItems = responses[5].getResponse();
  const allCollectionItems = responses[5]
    .getItem()
    .asCheckboxItem()
    .getChoices()
    .map((choice) => ({
      name: choice.getValue(),
      checked: responseCollectionItems.includes(choice.getValue()),
    }));

  const actions = [
    {
      action_id: 19566,
      input_object: {
        inputValue: responses[0].getResponse(),
      },
    },
    {
      action_id: 19568,
      input_object: {
        inputValue: responses[1].getResponse(),
      },
    },
    {
      action_id: 19569,
      input_object: {
        date: new Date(responses[2].getResponse()).toISOString(),
      },
    },
    {
      action_id: 19572,
      input_object: {
        itemSelected: responses[3].getResponse(),
      },
    },
    {
      action_id: 19573,
      input_object: {
        radioItemSelected: responses[4].getResponse(),
      },
    },
    {
      action_id: 19574,
      input_object: {
        allItems: allCollectionItems,
        itemsChecked: allCollectionItems
          .filter((item) => item.checked == true)
          .map((item) => item.name),
        itemsNotChecked: allCollectionItems
          .filter((item) => item.checked == false)
          .map((item) => item.name),
        numberOfItemsChecked: responseCollectionItems.length,
        numberOfItemsNotChecked:
          allCollectionItems.length - responseCollectionItems.length,
      },
    },
    {
      action_id: 19575,
      input_object: {
        inputValue: responses[6].getResponse(),
      },
    },
  ];

  Logger.log(JSON.stringify(actions));

  apiResponse = UrlFetchApp.fetch(completeStepUrl, {
    ...fetchOptions,
    payload: JSON.stringify({
      step_id: active_step_ids[0],
      actions,
    }),
  });

  responseCode = apiResponse.getResponseCode();

  if (!apiResponse || ![200, 201].includes(responseCode)) {
    Logger.log("Next Matter API call failed");
    if (apiResponse) {
      Logger.log(apiResponse.getContentText());
    }
    return;
  }

  Logger.log(apiResponse.getContentText());

In the Google Apps Script project, click Triggers > Add trigger.

You can also call ScriptApp.newTrigger(functionName), which returns a TriggerBuilder.

Configure the trigger for the "On form submit" event type, and click Save.

Your trigger might look like the following:

function setUpTrigger() {
ScriptApp.newTrigger('startProcess') 
 .forForm('<enter_form_ID>') 
 .onFormSubmit() 
 .create(); 
}
function startProcess() {
  const PROCESS_ID = "ADD__WORKFLOW_ID_HERE";
  const INSTANCES_URL = "https://core.nextmatter.com/api/instances/";
}

Now, if you fill in your Google forms sheet and click Submit, a new instance of the process will be created.