thilak0105/google-sheets

Google Sheets Interaction Skill

Overview

This skill provides patterns and best practices for automating Google Sheets interactions through browser automation. Google Sheets is a canvas-based web app — standard DOM element references are often unreliable; prefer keyboard shortcuts and coordinate clicks.

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Agent Workflow (Always Follow This Order)

1. Orient — Take a screenshot. Confirm you're on the right tab/sheet. Identify existing data range.
2. Plan — Decide what cells to read or write, in what order.
3. Execute in small steps — One logical action at a time (one row, one format operation, etc.).
4. Verify — Take a screenshot after each meaningful action to confirm the result before continuing.
5. Recover if needed — If something looks wrong, Cmd+Z immediately before doing anything else.

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1. Session Setup / Opening a Sheet

Starting from scratch:

• Navigate to https://sheets.google.com
• Click "Blank spreadsheet" to create new, or click an existing file
• After clicking, wait for the new tab — Sheets often opens in a new tab. Switch to it before proceeding.

Opening an existing file:

• Navigate to https://drive.google.com, search for the file, and open it
• Or navigate directly via a known URL

Before acting on any sheet:

• Take a screenshot to confirm the sheet is loaded (look for the grid and toolbar)
• Confirm which sheet tab is active (bottom of screen)
• Use Cmd+Home to go to A1 and orient yourself

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2. Reading / Understanding Existing Data

Before writing anything, read what's already there:

• Screenshot first — Get a visual overview of the data layout
• browser_get_text — Extracts cell text content; useful for reading values without clicking
• Cmd+End — Jumps to the last cell with data; tells you the extent of the dataset
• Cmd+Home — Returns to A1

To read a specific cell's value: Click the cell and read the formula bar (visible in screenshot), or use browser_get_text and parse the result.

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3. Navigation & Cell Selection

DO NOT type cell references into the Name Box — it often enters text into cells instead of navigating.

Preferred navigation methods: | Goal | Method | |------|--------| | Go to A1 | Cmd+Home | | Go to start of row | Home | | Go to last data cell | Cmd+End | | Move right | Tab | | Move down | Enter | | Move by one cell | Arrow keys | | Select entire row | Click the row number on the left (e.g., "2") | | Select entire column | Click the column letter at top (e.g., "A") | | Select a range | Click start cell, then Shift+click end cell | | Select column range (for resize) | Click first column letter, Shift+click last |

Confirming current cell location:

• Take a screenshot and look at the Name Box (top-left, shows current cell address like "A1")
• Look at the formula bar (top center) which shows the selected cell's content
• The selected cell has a blue/green border — visible in screenshots

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4. Data Entry

Basic pattern for tabular data:

1. Click on the starting cell (e.g., A1)
2. Type value → Tab (moves right)
3. Type value → Tab → Tab → ...
4. At end of row: press Enter (moves to next row, returns to column where you started)
5. Press Home to ensure you're at column A
6. Repeat

Entering a single value:

1. Click the target cell
2. Type the value
3. Press Enter or Tab to confirm (don't leave it unconfirmed)

Pasting multi-line data:

• Prepare data as tab-separated text (TSV)
• Click the target starting cell
• Paste with Cmd+V
• Verify result with a screenshot

Avoid:

• Typing tab characters inside a string to separate columns — they won't work as cell separators
• Leaving a cell in edit mode (blinking cursor) before navigating away — always confirm with Enter or Tab

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5. Formulas

Entering a formula:

1. Click target cell
2. Type = followed by the formula (e.g., =SUM(A1:A10))
3. Press Enter to confirm

Common formulas:

| Formula | Purpose | | --------------------------- | --------------------- | | =SUM(A1:A10) | Sum a range | | =AVERAGE(B2:B20) | Average | | =COUNT(C2:C100) | Count non-empty cells | | =IF(A1>10,"Yes","No") | Conditional | | =VLOOKUP(key,range,col,0) | Lookup | | =A1&" "&B1 | Concatenate cells | | =TODAY() | Today's date |

Copying a formula down a column:

1. Click the cell with the formula
2. Press Cmd+C to copy
3. Select the range below (click first cell, Shift+click last)
4. Press Cmd+V to paste

Or: click the cell, then double-click the small blue square in the cell's bottom-right corner (auto-fill handle) — this fills down to match adjacent data.

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6. Formatting

Bold / Italic / Underline:

1. Select cell(s) or row (click row number)
2. Cmd+B (bold), Cmd+I (italic), Cmd+U (underline)

Header row formatting (recommended pattern):

1. Click the row number to select the entire row
2. Cmd+B for bold
3. Click the Fill Color button (paint bucket in toolbar) → choose a color
4. View > Freeze > 1 row (so header stays visible when scrolling)

Number formatting:

Format > Number > choose format (Currency, Percent, Date, etc.)

Text wrapping:

Format > Wrapping > Wrap (or Overflow / Clip)

Column width auto-fit:

1. Click first column letter, Shift+click last column letter to select range
2. Right-click on any selected column header
3. "Resize columns A - X"
4. Choose "Fit to data" → OK

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7. Sheet Tabs (Multiple Sheets)

Sheet tabs appear at the bottom of the screen.

| Action | Method | | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | Switch to a sheet | Click its tab at the bottom | | Add a new sheet | Click the + button at the bottom left | | Rename a sheet | Double-click the tab, type new name, Enter | | Duplicate a sheet | Right-click the tab → "Duplicate" | | Delete a sheet | Right-click the tab → "Delete" |

Always confirm which sheet tab is active before reading or writing data.

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8. Menus Reference

| Menu | Useful For | | ---------------------------- | ---------------------- | | View > Freeze | Freeze rows/columns | | Format > Number | Number/date formatting | | Format > Wrapping | Text wrap in cells | | Data > Sort range | Sort by column | | Data > Filter | Add filter dropdowns | | Data > Split text to columns | Split delimited text | | Insert > Row / Column | Insert rows or columns |

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9. Common Keyboard Shortcuts

| Action | Shortcut | | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | | Bold | Cmd+B | | Italic | Cmd+I | | Undo | Cmd+Z | | Redo | Cmd+Shift+Z | | Select All | Cmd+A | | Copy | Cmd+C | | Paste | Cmd+V | | Go to A1 | Cmd+Home | | Go to last data cell | Cmd+End | | Go to start of row | Home | | Move right | Tab | | Move down | Enter | | Delete cell contents | Delete | | Find & Replace | Cmd+H | | Insert row above | Cmd+Option+Shift+= (with row selected) |

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10. Error Recovery

Something went wrong — act immediately:

1. Cmd+Z — Undo the last action (do this before anything else)
2. Take a screenshot to assess current state
3. Re-orient: Cmd+Home to go to A1
4. Re-read the data before retrying

Common problems and fixes: | Problem | Fix | |---------|-----| | Text entered into wrong cell | Cmd+Z, then navigate correctly and re-enter | | Formula shows as text (starts with = but not computing) | Click cell, press F2 to edit, confirm cell is not formatted as plain text | | Dialog appeared unexpectedly | Screenshot to read it, then press Escape or respond appropriately | | Sheet opened in new browser tab | Use browser_tabs / tabs tool to switch to the new tab | | Cell stuck in edit mode | Press Escape to cancel edit, or Enter to confirm |

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11. Saving

Google Sheets auto-saves continuously. You do not need to manually save.

• Watch for "Saving..." → "All changes saved" in the top bar to confirm
• If you see a "Save" prompt, the file may be a non-Google format (e.g., .xlsx) — click Save to keep changes

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12. Browser Automation Tips

• Google Sheets is a canvas app — DOM element references (ref_id) often don't work for cells. Use coordinate clicks instead.
• Always screenshot before and after significant actions
• Use keyboard shortcuts over toolbar button clicks whenever possible — more reliable
• Toolbar buttons can be clicked by coordinate if needed; take a screenshot to locate them first
• Name Box (top-left showing cell address): Read it in screenshots to confirm position, but don't type into it for navigation
• After creating a new sheet, wait for the new browser tab to open, then switch to it before interacting