# Google Sheet Monitor API - Track Row Changes on a Schedule (`vonsensey/google-sheet-monitor-change-tracker-scraper-api`) Actor

Watch a Google Sheet and get told what moved. Every row comes back stamped added, updated, removed or unchanged against the previous run, so a schedule becomes a change feed for Slack, a webhook or another Actor. Unchanged rows are never billed, so an hourly cron stays affordable.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/vonsensey/google-sheet-monitor-change-tracker-scraper-api.md
- **Developed by:** [Blackcube](https://apify.com/vonsensey) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Integrations, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 sheet rows

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Google Sheet Monitor API

#### The Google Sheets suite

- [Google Sheets Scraper API](https://apify.com/vonsensey/google-sheets-scraper-api) — any sheet as a typed dataset — every tab, SQL-like filters, private sheets, change monitoring
- [Google Spreadsheet Scraper API](https://apify.com/vonsensey/google-spreadsheet-scraper-api) — a whole Google spreadsheet as clean JSON rows, no Google login
- [Google Sheets to JSON API](https://apify.com/vonsensey/google-sheets-to-json-scraper-api) — a sheet as a JSON endpoint, with real types and server-side filtering
- [Private Google Sheets Reader API](https://apify.com/vonsensey/private-google-sheets-reader-scraper-api) — read sheets that are not link-shared, via your own service account

Watch a Google Sheet and get told what moved. Every row comes back stamped against the previous
run, so a schedule turns a living spreadsheet into a change feed.

### Quick start

1. Open the sheet → **Share** → **General access** → **Anyone with the link** → **Viewer**.

2. Click **Copy link**.

3. Paste it into the **Sheet URL** input and press **Start**.

4. Leave **Monitor for changes** on and attach a **Schedule** (hourly, daily — whatever suits).

The first run classifies everything as `added` and remembers it. Every run after that reports
only what actually moved.

### What you get back

| changeStatus | Meaning | Billed |
|---|---|---|
| `added` | a row that was not there last run | yes |
| `updated` | a row whose cells changed | yes |
| `removed` | a row (or a whole tab) that is gone — the notice carries its last known contents | **no** |
| `unchanged` | nothing moved | **no** |

Turn **Return only changes** on to receive nothing but the movements — the unchanged rows are
still counted for you in the free coverage row.

### What people use it for

- **Alerting.** Wire the dataset to Slack, e-mail or a webhook and hear about it when someone
  edits the sheet.
- **Approval and intake queues.** A new row in a request sheet starts the rest of the workflow.
- **Price and inventory sheets** a supplier keeps updating.
- **Audit trails.** Keep the record of what changed and when, which the spreadsheet itself does
  not give you in a usable form.
- **Watching several sheets at once** — put the extra links in **More sheet URLs**.

### Why an hourly schedule is affordable here

Rows that did not change are never billed. A 500-row sheet checked every hour, with a handful of
edits a day, costs a few cents a day rather than 500 rows an hour — which is the difference
between a schedule you keep and a bill you cancel.

### What a row looks like

```json
{
  "type": "row",
  "spreadsheetId": "1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms",
  "spreadsheetTitle": "Example Spreadsheet",
  "sheetName": "Class Data",
  "gid": 0,
  "rowNumber": 2,
  "changeStatus": null,
  "cells": {
    "Student Name": "Alexandra",
    "Gender": "Female",
    "Class Level": "4. Senior",
    "Home State": "CA",
    "Major": "English",
    "Extracurricular Activity": "Drama Club"
  },
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-01T00:00:00.000Z"
}
```

Every cell is keyed by its column header. With **Typed values** on (the default) numbers arrive as
numbers, booleans as booleans and date cells as ISO-8601 strings, so the data is ready for a
database load, a JSON pipeline or an LLM prompt without a cleaning pass. Turn it off and every
value is exactly the text the sheet displays. Duplicate headers are de-duplicated
(`Tags`, `Tags_2`), a headerless sheet names its columns with the sheet's own letters
(`A`, `B`, …), and the invisible trailing columns Google pads every sheet with are dropped.

Alongside the data rows every run returns free rows you are never billed for: a **coverage** row
per sheet (tabs requested, read and errored; rows read, delivered, unchanged and removed; whether
the run was complete) and one **summary** row with the exact spend.

### What it costs

| You pay for | Price |
|---|---|
| Each row delivered | **$5.00 per 1,000 rows** |
| Each row from a private sheet (service account) | **$10.00 per 1,000 rows** |
| Each spreadsheet successfully read | **$0.015** |
| Optional monthly pass: 30 days with no per-row or per-sync charges, charged once, no automatic renewal | **$19.00** |

**Free, always:** a sheet that could not be read, a tab that failed, error rows, coverage rows,
removed-row notices, the metadata row, the run summary — and on a monitoring schedule, every row
that did not change. A run that reads nothing costs nothing.

**The monthly pass** is for busy schedules: turn it on and the run charges it once, right before the first charge would be billed, then every run you start with it on for the next 30 days delivers rows and sheet syncs without per-unit charges. It pays for itself above roughly 3,800 billed rows or 1,300 sheet syncs a month - two sheets on an hourly schedule - and it is never charged silently: a run that reads nothing never charges it. No automatic renewal.

Set **Cost ceiling (USD)** to stop any run before it passes a number you choose; the free summary
row reports what the run actually spent.

### FAQ

#### Do I need a Google account, or to log in?

No. A link-shared sheet is read from its URL alone — no Google sign-in, no OAuth consent screen,
no Drive permission prompt, nothing to install in the sheet.

#### My run failed with "the sheet is not link-shared". What now?

Copying a share link does not share the sheet. Open **Share → General access** and change
**Restricted** to **Anyone with the link → Viewer**. If the sheet genuinely cannot be shared,
use the service-account route below instead.

#### Can it read a sheet that is not shared publicly?

Yes. Create a Google Cloud service account, share the sheet with its `…iam.gserviceaccount.com`
address as a Viewer, and paste its JSON key into **Service account JSON**. Those rows bill at the
private-sheet rate.

#### Does my spreadsheet ID have to be a particular length?

No. Google has issued IDs of several lengths over the years and all of them are accepted — paste
the whole URL and the ID is taken out of it for you.

#### Can I read more than one sheet in one run?

Yes. Put the extra share links in **More sheet URLs**. Every row is stamped with the spreadsheet
it came from, and the row budget is split across the sheets so the first one cannot consume it.

#### Can I filter before I pay for rows?

Yes — the **Query** input runs a SQL-like filter on Google's side, so rows you filter out are
never delivered and never billed: `select A, C where C contains 'active' order by A limit 100`.

#### Will a schedule re-charge me for data I already have?

No. Turn **Monitor for changes** on and only rows that were added, updated or removed are billed.
A quiet sheet on an hourly schedule costs only its per-sheet sync.

#### What is the monthly pass?

An optional flat fee for heavy schedules. Turn **Monthly pass** on and it is charged once, right
before the first charge of the run would be billed; for the next 30 days every run you start with
it on delivers rows and sheet syncs with no per-unit charges. It never renews by itself - it is
charged again only when you run with it on after it has expired - and a run that reads nothing
never charges it. Keep **Cost ceiling (USD)** above the pass price.

#### Do I need a proxy?

No. Everything is handled for you and there is nothing to buy on top.

#### What happens if one tab is broken?

The other tabs still deliver. The failed tab becomes a free error row that names what went wrong,
and the free coverage row tells you exactly how much of the sheet you actually got.

### Use it from n8n, MCP, the API or a schedule

Built to be called by a workflow, not only from the Store form. The Actor is `vonsensey/google-sheet-monitor-change-tracker-scraper-api`; every snippet below sends `{}`, which runs the defaults shown on the form — replace it with your own input.

#### n8n

Install the **Apify** community node (`@apify/n8n-nodes-apify` under *Settings → Community Nodes*, or search "Apify" on n8n Cloud). Add **Apify → Run Actor** with Actor `vonsensey/google-sheet-monitor-change-tracker-scraper-api` and your input JSON, then **Apify → Get Dataset Items** on the run's `defaultDatasetId` and pipe the rows anywhere. For scheduled runs, the **On new Apify Event** trigger fires when a run of this Actor finishes.

#### MCP (Claude, Cursor, VS Code, any MCP client)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=vonsensey/google-sheet-monitor-change-tracker-scraper-api",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Your agent then calls `vonsensey/google-sheet-monitor-change-tracker-scraper-api` as a tool with the same input the form takes and reads the dataset back.

#### REST API (one call, rows in the response)

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/vonsensey~google-sheet-monitor-change-tracker-scraper-api/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{}'
```

#### Python

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("vonsensey/google-sheet-monitor-change-tracker-scraper-api").call(run_input={})
for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(row)
```

#### JavaScript

```js
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';
const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('vonsensey/google-sheet-monitor-change-tracker-scraper-api').call({});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
```

#### Make, Zapier, LangChain, CrewAI

The Apify app in **Make** and **Zapier** has a *Run an Actor* module: pick `vonsensey/google-sheet-monitor-change-tracker-scraper-api`. In **LangChain** and **CrewAI** the Apify tool wrappers take the same Actor id. A daily **schedule** needs nothing but the Console: *Schedules → Create → this Actor → cron*, and the dataset fills on its own.

# Actor input Schema

## `url` (type: `string`):

The sheet's share link — copy it from Share → Copy link while the sheet is shared as 'Anyone with the link → Viewer'. Also accepted: the export/gviz/published-to-web CSV URL, the htmlview link, or the bare spreadsheet ID. No Google sign-in, no OAuth screen and no Drive permission prompt.

## `urls` (type: `array`):

Optional. Extra sheets to read in the SAME run — paste one share link per line. Every row is stamped with the spreadsheet it came from, so twelve client sheets come back in one dataset and one schema. The row budget is split across the sheets so the first one cannot eat it.

## `spreadsheetId` (type: `string`):

Optional. The long ID from the sheet URL, used directly instead of parsing the URL. It replaces the Sheet URL above when both are set; any entries in More sheet URLs are still read as well.

## `tabs` (type: `array`):

Optional. Sheet tab names or gid numbers to read, e.g. `Leads` or `0`. Leave empty to read every tab — all tabs come back in one run and one schema, with the tab name on every row.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Optional. Google's visualization query language, executed by Google before any rows are returned: `select A, B where C > 100 order by B desc limit 50`. Column letters refer to the sheet's columns. Link mode only — the Sheets API ignores it.

## `headersRow` (type: `integer`):

The row the column names live on. 1 is the sheet's first row. Set 0 when the sheet has no header row and columns will be named A, B, C… like the sheet's own column letters.

## `skipRows` (type: `integer`):

Optional. How many rows to drop between the header and the data — for sheets that carry a title or a blank line under the header. Rows skipped here are never billed.

## `typed` (type: `boolean`):

On: numbers come back as numbers, booleans as booleans, dates as ISO-8601 strings — ready for JSON pipelines, spreadsheets and LLM prompts. Off: every value is the exact text the sheet displays.

## `trimEmpty` (type: `boolean`):

Sheets carry invisible trailing columns and blank rows from edits long deleted. On drops columns that have no header and no data in any row, and rows that are completely empty.

## `includeMetadata` (type: `boolean`):

Adds one free row describing what was read: the spreadsheet title, every tab with its gid, and the per-tab row counts.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Hard ceiling on billable rows for the whole run, split evenly across the sheets you gave. Free rows — errors, coverage, removed-row notices, the summary — never count against it.

## `maxCostUsd` (type: `number`):

A backstop, not an estimate: the run stops delivering and reports budgetReached once billed rows would cost more than this. The default sits well above a full 1,000-row run at every rate, so the row cap is what normally stops a run — lower it if you want a tighter guard.

## `monitor` (type: `boolean`):

Remembers what each sheet looked like last run (key-value store, scoped to this Actor) and stamps every row: added, updated, unchanged, or removed. Pair with a schedule to watch a living sheet — unchanged rows are never billed, so a quiet sheet on an hourly cron costs only its per-sheet sync fee.

## `monitorChangesOnly` (type: `boolean`):

When monitoring, emit only added, updated and removed rows — unchanged rows are counted in the free coverage row but not delivered, and are never billed.

## `monthlyPass` (type: `boolean`):

Charge one monthly pass instead of paying per row and per sheet sync. Charged once, right before the first charge of the run would be billed, and only again after 30 days if you run with this on. While it is active every run you start with this on delivers rows and sheet syncs without per-unit charges. Worth it above roughly 3,800 billed rows or 1,300 sheet syncs a month. Keep Cost ceiling (USD) above the pass price, or the run stops before the pass is charged.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Auto picks by what you supplied: a service-account key if present, else an API key, else plain link access. Force one only when Google's endpoints misbehave.

## `googleApiKey` (type: `string`):

Optional. A Google Cloud API key with the Sheets API enabled. Gives exact tab names and gids from the official API instead of the public HTML page. The sheet must still be link-shared; a key alone cannot read a Restricted sheet.

## `serviceAccountKey` (type: `string`):

Optional. The full JSON key of a Google Cloud service account. Share the sheet with the account's email (Share → add editor-less viewer) and this Actor reads PRIVATE sheets through the official Sheets API — the only way to reach a sheet that is not link-shared. Billed at the private-sheet rate.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "url": "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms/edit?usp=sharing",
  "urls": [],
  "tabs": [],
  "query": "select A,C where C contains 'Senior' order by A limit 20",
  "headersRow": 1,
  "skipRows": 0,
  "typed": true,
  "trimEmpty": true,
  "includeMetadata": false,
  "maxItems": 1000,
  "maxCostUsd": 25,
  "monitor": true,
  "monitorChangesOnly": false,
  "monthlyPass": false,
  "mode": "auto"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "url": "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms/edit?usp=sharing",
    "urls": [],
    "tabs": [],
    "headersRow": 1,
    "skipRows": 0,
    "typed": true,
    "trimEmpty": true,
    "includeMetadata": false,
    "maxItems": 1000,
    "maxCostUsd": 25,
    "monitor": true,
    "monitorChangesOnly": false,
    "monthlyPass": false,
    "mode": "auto"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("vonsensey/google-sheet-monitor-change-tracker-scraper-api").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "url": "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms/edit?usp=sharing",
    "urls": [],
    "tabs": [],
    "headersRow": 1,
    "skipRows": 0,
    "typed": True,
    "trimEmpty": True,
    "includeMetadata": False,
    "maxItems": 1000,
    "maxCostUsd": 25,
    "monitor": True,
    "monitorChangesOnly": False,
    "monthlyPass": False,
    "mode": "auto",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("vonsensey/google-sheet-monitor-change-tracker-scraper-api").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "url": "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms/edit?usp=sharing",
  "urls": [],
  "tabs": [],
  "headersRow": 1,
  "skipRows": 0,
  "typed": true,
  "trimEmpty": true,
  "includeMetadata": false,
  "maxItems": 1000,
  "maxCostUsd": 25,
  "monitor": true,
  "monitorChangesOnly": false,
  "monthlyPass": false,
  "mode": "auto"
}' |
apify call vonsensey/google-sheet-monitor-change-tracker-scraper-api --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,vonsensey/google-sheet-monitor-change-tracker-scraper-api"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/VfuTS3K4pPAWFoYXK/builds/Nlvh47Lix5sBfs6Pk/openapi.json