How can i trigger a make workflow when i save changes in a Google docs?

Features
1

From my understanding, the “Google Docs Watch Document” just checks if there have been changes. What I want to have is a trigger on save to start my workflow. Is that possible?

2

Welcome to the Make community!

That is only possible if you add a Google Apps Script to your document to trigger a Custom Webhook module when you save that document.

Otherwise, the “Watch Documents” is a polling trigger, and does not run immediately upon save, but based on the schedule you set for it.

There are two main types of triggers, Polling (scheduled), and Instant (webhooks). Polling triggers can only run on a schedule. Instant triggers can be run as soon as data is received by the webhook.

Polling means Make checks external service for changes (pull changes to Make).
Webhook (instant) triggers means external service calls Make when there are new changes (push changes to Make).

The module you are using does not push changes — it’s basically a API request that Make has to occasionally “call” to fetch the latest changes/items.

To find out more on the different types of Trigger modules, see refer to Types of Modules and Webhooks sections of the Make help center.

See if your app has an “Instant” or “Webhook” trigger in Make. If not, check if the third-party service has a feature that can send out a webhooks when content is created/updated - and then you can point it to a “Custom Webhook” trigger in your scenario.

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3

I’ll just add a couple things…

  1. Google Docs don’t have a typically “save” like you’re used to. They are constantly saving every few minutes while you work on it.
  2. If you have Google Workspace paid plan, you can set up an alert on your document or folder in Alert Center. That will send out an email when something is edited or changed. You might be able to set that up to email you on changes, then set up an auto-forward rule to forward those emails to a Make Mailhook, which will trigger your scenario. It’s a lot of work but that’s all I can think of here!
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