Tabrixel

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Getting Started ​

Tabrixel authenticates with a Google service account JSON key. This page walks through creating one, granting it access to a spreadsheet, pointing tbxl at the key, and verifying the setup.

1. Create a service account and key ​

In the Google Cloud Console:

  1. Create (or select) a project.
  2. Enable the Google Sheets API for that project.
  3. Create a service account.
  4. Create a JSON key for the service account and download it. This file is your credential — keep it secret.

2. Share the spreadsheet ​

A service account is its own identity with its own email address (something like [email protected]). It can only see spreadsheets that have been shared with it.

Open your target spreadsheet in Google Sheets, click Share, and add the service account's email — as Viewer for read-only commands, or Editor if you intend to add, update, or delete rows.

3. Point Tabrixel at the key ​

There are three ways to supply the credential. They are tried in this order, and the first one present wins:

  1. The --credentials <path> flag.
  2. The GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS environment variable.
  3. The credentials config key (tbxl config set credentials <path>).
sh
# 1. Per-command flag
tbxl auth check --credentials ./key.json

# 2. Environment variable
export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=./key.json   # PowerShell: $env:GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS = "./key.json"
tbxl auth check

# 3. Persisted config (see the Configuration guide)
tbxl config set credentials ./key.json
tbxl auth check

See Configuration for the full precedence chain and how to persist the spreadsheet ID and sheet too.

4. Verify your setup ​

tbxl auth check validates the key and reports the resolved configuration and where each value came from. Add --spreadsheet-id to also confirm the service account can reach a specific document:

sh
tbxl auth check --spreadsheet-id <SPREADSHEET_ID>

The spreadsheet ID is the long token in the document URL: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/<SPREADSHEET_ID>/edit.

No session state

There is no login that "sticks." Every command resolves credentials and the spreadsheet ID independently, so supply them on each call — or persist them with config set or environment variables.

Next steps ​

sh
tbxl describe --spreadsheet-id <ID>          # see all sheets and their columns
tbxl rows list --spreadsheet-id <ID> --sheet Users

Continue to the Commands reference for everything tbxl can do.