An AI agent that works on your Google Sheets
Give Ara a sheet and a question. It reads the values and is told to work them out with a script on its own machine, then answer with the number, a small table and a chart, keeping the script so the answer can be checked. It can also clean a sheet, or fill one from another connected app. It does not live inside a cell: you ask from Slack, a linked messenger or the dashboard.
How it connects: Through Composio, as a connection separate from Gmail and Drive. It reaches the sheets the connected Google account can open.
What Ara does with Google Sheets
Answer a question from a sheet
You say: In the [name] sheet, which region grew slowest last quarter, and why might that be?
Ara is told to state the rows, columns, gaps and date range first, compute with a script and not in its head, and check that totals reconcile. The reply is one sentence, a table of up to 8 rows, a chart and the caveats. A large answer from the sheet is saved to a file, so it can work on all of it.
Tools it can use
- GOOGLESHEETS_GET_SHEET_NAMES
- GOOGLESHEETS_VALUES_GET
- GOOGLESHEETS_BATCH_GET
Clean up a messy sheet
You say: Standardize the country names in column C, sort by date and add a dropdown for status.
Ara makes the edits in the sheet itself. Work on a copy or set a rule if the sheet matters, because writes don't pause unless a rule says so.
Tools it can use
- GOOGLESHEETS_FIND_REPLACE
- GOOGLESHEETS_SORT_RANGE
- GOOGLESHEETS_SET_DATA_VALIDATION_RULE
Fill a sheet from another app
You say: Make a new sheet with every open deal from the CRM, with owner, stage and close date.
If the other app is connected, Ara reads it, builds the rows and writes them to a new sheet, then sends you the link. If it isn't connected, Ara sends the link to connect it first.
Tools it can use
- GOOGLESHEETS_CREATE_GOOGLE_SHEET1
- GOOGLESHEETS_SPREADSHEETS_VALUES_APPEND
Keep a weekly log going
You say: Every Friday at 5, add this week's totals as a new row and tell me what moved most.
A workspace admin says it once from a direct chat and it becomes a schedule. Each run appends the row and reports back where it was made.
Tools it can use
- GOOGLESHEETS_UPSERT_ROWS
- GOOGLESHEETS_SPREADSHEETS_VALUES_APPEND
What a reply looks like
Request: Which region grew slowest last quarter?
Reply: [Region] grew slowest, at [x]%. Read [n] rows, [n] columns, [start] to [end]; [n] blank rows in [column] were left out. Table: [region, last quarter, previous quarter, change]. Chart attached. How computed: analysis/[name].py.
Setup
- In the dashboard, open Your apps, search for Google Sheets and press Connect. Sign-in happens on the app's own page.
- Paste the sheet's link or name in your request. To only read, press "Reads only" under Permissions.
- For read-only work, use "Reads only" and not a rule: see the note on rules below.
Runs without asking
- All the computing in its own sandbox. That touches a copy of the values, not your sheet.
- With no rule, GOOGLESHEETS_VALUES_UPDATE overwrites as soon as Ara calls it, and GOOGLESHEETS_DELETE_SHEET removes a tab if it stays on.
What waits for a person
- Under "Asks a person first", reading tools such as GOOGLESHEETS_VALUES_GET and GOOGLESHEETS_BATCH_GET wait too, because a rule goes by the tool's name. Under "Never runs" they are refused. So a rule makes reading slow or impossible here.
- GOOGLESHEETS_FIND_REPLACE changes data, but its name starts with a read verb, so a rule does not stop it. Switch it off if you rely on review. "Reads only" does switch it off.
Limits
- There is no function to type in a cell, and no panel inside Sheets. You ask elsewhere and the result comes back there or into the sheet.
- It works from the values the connection returns. If a definition is ambiguous, such as what counts as an active user, it is told to ask once and write the answer into its reply.
- Every completed run uses credits, so a cell-by-cell job across a big sheet is the wrong shape for it. Ask for the whole job in one go.
When Ara is not the right fit for Google Sheets
- You want to type a formula that fills a column with AI text. Google has its own AI function in Sheets for that, right in the cell.
- You want a live dashboard. Ara reports on request or on a schedule.
How control works on every connected app
- Every tool has a switch on the account that connected it. All are on until you switch them off, and "Reads only" leaves only the reads. A switched-off tool never runs.
- An admin can set one rule per app: "Runs without asking", "Asks a person first" or "Never runs". With no rule, which is the default, nothing waits, and that includes sending, changing and deleting.
- A waiting action shows what would change. Any member can decide it, and if nobody does, it expires and nothing runs. The decision can be made in the dashboard.
- A rule tells reads from changes by the tool's name. That is why this page names the exceptions on this app.
- Ara looks when asked or on a schedule. Starting a run the moment something changes in an app is not switched on for arator.rinda.ai today.
- Ara acts as the connected account, with one live account per app. To switch accounts, disconnect first. You work with Ara in Slack, a linked messenger or the dashboard, not inside the app.
- Only a workspace admin can create a schedule, and not from a group chat.
- What Ara reads passes through Composio and a model provider. If your data may not pass through a third party, Ara is not for you. We don't train models on your data, and what a provider keeps follows its own terms.
Tool names
A sample from the catalogue on arator.rinda.ai, read on 2026-11-04, with the class Ara shows on the permissions screen. Composio owns this list and can change it, so your permissions screen is the current one. Every tool has its own switch.
Read
- GOOGLESHEETS_VALUES_GET
- GOOGLESHEETS_BATCH_GET
- GOOGLESHEETS_GET_SHEET_NAMES
- GOOGLESHEETS_SEARCH_SPREADSHEETS
- GOOGLESHEETS_LOOKUP_SPREADSHEET_ROW
- GOOGLESHEETS_EXPORT_SHEET_AS_PDF
Write
- GOOGLESHEETS_VALUES_UPDATE
- GOOGLESHEETS_SPREADSHEETS_VALUES_APPEND
- GOOGLESHEETS_UPSERT_ROWS
- GOOGLESHEETS_FIND_REPLACE
- GOOGLESHEETS_SORT_RANGE
- GOOGLESHEETS_CREATE_CHART
Deletes or overwrites
- GOOGLESHEETS_CLEAR_VALUES
- GOOGLESHEETS_DELETE_SHEET
- GOOGLESHEETS_DELETE_DIMENSION
Questions
- Can I trust the numbers?
- Ara is told to compute with a script and keep it, so you can read how each number was made. It can still misread your sheet, so check the definitions it states.
- Can Ara overwrite my data?
- Yes, if the write tools are on and no rule stops it. Press "Reads only" under Permissions to prevent it.
What it costs
Free to start with 20 credits and no card. 1 credit per completed run plus external data lookups; failed runs cost nothing. Business is quoted. A scheduled run and a first look use credits like any other completed run, even on a quiet day when you hear nothing.
How we checked this
Read from Ara's own code and the live site on 2026-11-04. Example jobs show what the tools and instructions allow, and an AI model can still get things wrong. If something here is out of date, tell us
Products mentioned
Other integrations
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