READ ME Documentation (Google Research)
READ ME Documentation (Google Research)
Google Research Automation
README & Setup Guide
Overview
This automation allows you to run Google news/research scrapes based on your defined topics & interests, with output into tables or lists inside your SnackPrompt library.
Requirements:
A Make.com account (to run the automation)
A SnackPrompt.com account (for managing your knowledge docs and tables)
Your own API keys for Serper.dev and OpenAI
Important: Due to technical limitations, you will need to manually set up and update certain values and connections. Please read through ALL steps before starting.
Step 1: Preparing Your Accounts
Walk-through video: https://www.loom.com/share/63c6089078174e5292a265631bc16869
If you have not done so, create a Make.com account.
Make sure you are logged in to the correct Make.com organization (this will be where you import the blueprint).
If you have not done so, create your Serper.dev account.
Get your Serper API key (for Google search)
If you have not done so, create your OpenAI API account and prepare your OpenAI API key and organization ID for setting up your connections.
Log in or sign up.
You will be duplicating some documents and tables to your own Snack Prompt library.
Step 2: Duplicate templates & Set Up the Control Document
Walk-through video: https://www.loom.com/share/b92e75ad42084adfad555ea6149a6937
This automation depends on a Control Document, an Output Table, a Stats Table, and(optionally) a Topics & Interests document in Snack Prompt.
Duplicate the Required Templates
Go to the Google Automation Items template list on Snack Prompt.
Duplicate the list into your own Snack Prompt account.
The template items include:
Control: Google Research (main config doc)
Google Research (table for outputs)
Stats: Google Research (table for automation execution stats)
Prompts: Google Research (list of main prompts used for scoring & extraction)
READ ME Docs (list of important technical documents for properly setting up and managing the automation)
Google Research Automation (the actual automation product with description and blueprint file)
Modify the Control Doc
Open your duplicated “Control: Google Research” document.
Update the fields as desired (see Configuration below).
IMPORTANT: If you want to use the advanced KMS features (managing topics dynamically), make sure you create a Topics & Interests document and link its ID in your control doc.
Step 3: Import the Automation Blueprint, Create connections, Insert Control Doc ID
Walk-through video: https://www.loom.com/share/316fb9de5be14be496c9ef0c854e7f27
Download the google_research.json scenario blueprint
Go to the Google Research Automation and download the json file.
Create the automation in make
Go to make.com
Create a new scenario
Upload the blueprint
Create and update connections
Update all the third-party module connections to use your own Snack Prompt, OpenAI, and Serper accounts you created in step one.
Step 4: Update Table IDs in Make.com
Walk-through video: https://www.loom.com/share/1714b797c776421a94fe2d8398e8145a
Technical Quirk — PLEASE READ: When you import a Make.com scenario to a new organization, all your connections break (this is normal, just create and re-select your connections). However, for Create a List modules, the table ID must be hardcoded. When you change the table ID:
Make.com clears all previously set field mappings
You must re-enter all the fields/values in the module after updating the table ID
What to do:
Before changing the table ID:
Open this document for the “Add Row to Stats” module.
Open this document for the “Add Row to Research” module.
Now, in the respective module:
Delete the YOUR_ID_HERE placeholder, and copy/paste the ID from your duplicated table to the id input field.
Table ID’s you need:
Stats: Google Research table id for the “Add Row to Stats” module
Google Research table id for the “Add Row to Research” module.
When you add the table id, the fields will appear and you will need to manually copy/paste the exact field values from the documents linked above to their respective fields in the appropriate module.
Do this for BOTH Create List modules (“Add Row to Stats”, “Add Row to Research”).
Step 5: Configuration Details
All configuration for the automation is handled in the Control Doc.
KMS/OMS integration:
If you want to use a dynamic Topics & Interests KMS doc (for managing search topics), set Use KMS: true and supply your duplicated KMS doc ID.
If you do not want to set up the KMS table, just set Use KMS: false and use the direct search queries section in the control doc.
Output Options:
Table puts all research into a simple table.
Lists creates daily research lists creating a unique document for each article scraped.
Other fields:
Search type: News or Search
Location: e.g., “United States”
Language: e.g., “EN”
Date Range: “Past 24 Hours”, “Past Week”, etc.
Results: how many articles to pull (10, 20, 30, etc.)
Troubleshooting & FAQ
Q: I changed a table ID and now my module is empty! A: This is expected. Just copy/paste all the field values to the module using the provided documents in step four.
Q: Can I dynamically create new tables from Make.com? A: Not yet! You must duplicate the required tables manually in Snack Prompt and manully change out the IDs in the appropriate make.com modules.
Q: Do I need to use KMS or OMS? A: No — you can run in “manual” mode by just editing queries in the control doc. KMS/OMS are for more advanced topic management.
Q: What if I want a new output table? A: Duplicate the “Google Research” table in Snack Prompt, then repeat the “table ID” process above in Make.com.
Links & Resources
Snack Prompt Google Research Automation Items (Templates) - The list of templates to clone into your library that support the function of the automation
Snack Prompt Docs - API and platform documentation for Snack Prompt
Snack Prompt x Make.com Integration Docs - Documentation for Snack Prompt modules on make.com
Technical Support & Troubleshooting
Stupid Simple Automations - Simply create a post with the “Support Request” tag and someone will be available to help you.
snackpromptpublic.slack.com - A publicly available slack group dedicated to supporting users of the Snack Prompt platform and helping troubleshoot automations
Read this document COMPLETELY to fully understand how to set up the Google Research Automation.