Why is it such a hassle to connect Google Accounts?

[Barbara2]

Hello

Generally I really like Make.com.

However, connecting google accounts is not the easiest thing to achieve with Make.com.

At first I thought it was only cumbersome and some work to set up OAuth etc.

I followed the instructions here: https://www.make.com/en/help/app/gmail and here https://www.make.com/en/help/apps/it-and-development/g-suite-admin#create-a-project-967647

Someone in a Youtube video recommended to leave the app in testing which seemed a great solution at first until I realised that you need to reconnect gmail once a week which is not a great option for a business owner.

However publishing the app doesn’t seem great either since you need to provide quite a few things:

Also how can you even do point 4. if you don’t own make.com and integromat.com. How can you verify your domains in Google Search Console?

On the other hand Make advertises its services for people who are not very technical. maybe freelancers or solopreneurs who want to automate their business.

But connecting google accounts doesn’t seem to be very beginner-friendly.

other apps like Airtable are much easier.

Why is that? Is there a reason why it’s so hard to connect google?
Or am I doing it just wrong?
Should beginners just opt out of using Google and use Dropbox?
Or is the recommend way for freelancers to use a Google Busness account like here Productivity Apps for Business Owners & Entrepreneurs | Google Workspace Individual ?

thanks
bettina

[samliew]

Yes, you have to click confirm. This is a recent new thing by Google, but you don’t have to do anything after clicking it.

Hope this helps! Let me know if there are any further questions or issues.

— @samliew

P.S.: Investing some effort into the Make Academy will save you lots of time and frustration using Make.

[Barbara2]

Hi Sam

Thank you for the quick response!

I clicked “confirm”, but now it wants to verify the app.
Will entering the business home page and a privacy policy link be enough?

Kind regards
bettina

[samliew]

See 3A below.

Follow this main guide on how to set up a custom OAuth 2.0 custom app in Make.

Provided below are additional supplementary instructions in case the above isn’t clear enough.

---

Enable APIs

1. Enable the relevant APIs that you want to use

Search for the relevant Google API here: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/library

• Go to each API page that you want to use, end click “Enable”

• Usually you’ll want to enable at least Drive (includes Docs/Sheets) and Gmail.

  

---

OAuth Client

Direct Link: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials

2a. Create “OAuth client ID” Credentials

2b. Insert all the Google Redirect URIs for your app

Google Redirect URIs

Here are some commonly-needed redirect URIs you need for your Google Cloud Console OAuth app. If you set these up, you can reuse the same GCP app for other Google apps and modules on Make.

https://www.make.com/oauth/cb/google
https://www.make.com/oauth/cb/google-custom
https://www.make.com/oauth/cb/google-restricted
https://www.make.com/oauth/cb/google-cloud-speech
https://www.make.com/oauth/cb/youtube
https://www.make.com/oauth/cb/oauth2
https://www.integromat.com/oauth/cb/oauth2

Note: Once you’ve set these up, you can use/reuse the same Make connection for all the supported Google apps & modules on Make - you’ll only have to enable the APIs for your custom app.

---

OAuth consent screen

Direct Link: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials/consent/edit

3a. Insert Two Authorised Domains

• Insert make.com and integromat.com

• Fill in other required fields

• Click “Save and Continue”.

  

3b. Add All Scopes

• Click “Add or Remove Scopes”

• Select 100 “Rows per page”, for each page, check all the rows, OR

• Manually type in the scopes you need

• Click “Update” at the bottom

  

3c. Step through and go to dashboard

At the last step/page, click “BACK TO DASHBOARD” instead of “Prepare for Verification”

3d. Publish your GCP OAuth2 app

You will need to set your OAuth application to “Production”, otherwise the credentials expire very frequently.

• To do this, go back to “OAuth consent screen”

• Then click the “PUBLISH APP” button

• Then click the “CONFIRM” button

  

---

Create New Connection (HTTP, or respective Google module)

You can find the Client ID and Client Secret in the OAuth2 app you created in GCP, on the right-hand side of where you inserted the callback URLs in step 2:

4a. Specific Google module (Sheets, Docs, Drive, Gmail, etc.)

Insert the GCP app client ID and secret here BEFORE clicking “Sign in”

(Gmail example)

OR,

4b. HTTP OAuth 2.0 Request module

You need a “Authorize Parameters” key of redirect_uri with the above Make OAuth2 callback URL.

Hope this helps! Let me know if there are any further questions or issues.

— @samliew

P.S.: Investing some effort into the Make Academy will save you lots of time and frustration using Make.

[Barbara2]

hi Sam

Thank you so much.
I double checked, but it always wants to verify.

Case 1 - configure the Oauth app but leave it in testing first. Change to publish later → it requires verification.

Case 2- configure the Oauth app but publish it right away. → it requires verification.

Case 1:

• Click on OAuth consent screen in the left hand side menu
• Click on “Edit App” (since app was already there)
• Fill in App name, 2 domains (make.com, integromat.com) etc. then click on “continue”
• On the next page there are scope. I have lots of scopes and some are restricted
• click on “continue”
• The click on “back to dashboard”. There is no "prepare for verification " as in your picture 3c
  -Then click on “publish app”. and "confirm2.

=> Result: As above. It wants verification.

Case 2:

• Click on OAuth consent screen in the left hand side menu
• Click on “Edit App” (since app was already there)
• Fill in everything and click thorugh as above
• The click on “back to dashboard”. There is no "prepare for verification " as in your picture 3c

=> Result: As above. It wants verification.

Sorry.

[samliew]

Yes correct, Google may have changed a few steps, but you can ignore the warning to verify.

[alex.newpath]

@Barbara2

However, connecting google accounts is not the easiest thing to achieve with Make.com.

If you use a paid Google Workspace account these problems disappear, as if by magic.

[Barbara2]

Hi Alex, thank you for your message.

Yes, I was wondering if this is what Make.com recommends (use a paid Google Workspace account). I am not fixated on the free account. Do you know if there is an official document by Make.com regarding these issues? And do you know if there is an officail reason why it only works with the paid account compared to Zapier?

Regards

PS: Apparently users still have problem even with a Paid Google Workspace account: Gmail/Google Drive verification issues (error 400): how to solve

[Barbara2]

Hi Sam

thanks for your help.
You are right it is possible to ignore the warnings to verify. My make scenarios do work regardless of the warning.

However when I create the “Gmail client credentials” it says:

So basically when ignoring the verification warning, the problem will reappear in the future, possibly at a very inconvenient moment.

Maybe the paid Google Workspace account is the safer way to go.

Thank you so much for taking the time.
Regards!

[alex.newpath]

@Barbara2

Do you know if there is an official document by Make.com regarding these issues? And do you know if there is an officail reason why it only works with the paid account compared to Zapier?

I think this is in the documentation on the Google Make apps. And I have no idea why this is the case with Make and why Zapier works ok with free Google accounts. Maybe zapier has a special way to authenticate that Google provided them?