Track Document Updates Effortlessly
When a file changes in Google Drive, you immediately know via email. No more scanning for updates or missing changes while focused on other work.
Trigger
File Updated
Triggers when a file's metadata or content changes in Google Drive.
Action
Send Email
Sends an email via gmail api using the authenticated user's google profile display name, requiring `is html=true` if the body contains html and valid `s3key`, `mimetype`, `name` for any attachment.
Why this helps
File updates scatter across your workspace, and you have to remember which files to check. Critical edits can be missed entirely.
- Catch all file edits as they happen
- Maintain awareness without constant checking
- Reduce decision fatigue from manual monitoring
- Stay synced with collaborators
Setup
Build it in a few focused steps.
- 1Connect Google Drive and Gmail to Notis.
- 2Ask Notis: 'Email me whenever a file is updated in Google Drive.'
- 3Select your notification delivery channel.
- 4Choose 'File Updated' as your trigger.
- 5Verify by having someone edit a shared file and checking for the email.
Questions about this workflow
Will this notify me of minor edits?
Yes. If you want to filter for significant changes only, you can customize the automation prompt.
Can I watch specific files only?
Yes. Tell Notis to only email you about updates to specific documents or folders.
Will my own edits trigger notifications?
By default, yes. You can customize to exclude your own changes if you prefer.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
Supported Triggers and Actions
Notis builds workflows that link Google Drive to Gmail. A trigger fires from one place; an action lands in another.
Google Drive triggers
Gmail actions
Comment Added (Docs/Sheets/Slides)
Triggers when a new comment is added to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.
Modify email labels
Adds and/or removes specified gmail labels for a message; ensure `message id` and all `label ids` are valid (use 'listlabels' for custom label ids).
File Created
Triggers when a new file is created in Google Drive.
Create email draft
Creates a gmail email draft, supporting to/cc/bcc, subject, plain/html body (ensure `is html=true` for html), attachments, and threading.
File Deleted or Trashed
Triggers when a file is moved to trash or permanently deleted in Drive.
Create label
Creates a new label with a unique name in the specified user's gmail account.
File Shared (Permissions Added)
Triggers when new sharing permissions are granted to a file or folder. Uses Drive's `changes.list` endpoint with inline `permissions` in the `fields` mask so each change carries the file's current permission set provider-atomically. We diff that against `seen_permission_keys` to identify newly added grants. Drive page tokens are the primary cursor; if Drive rejects a stored token, the trigger raises `PollingTriggerError` without clearing state rather than silently re-baselining and dropping events. Limitation: truly ephemeral permissions (added and revoked between two polls without any other file modification in between) are not detected. Drive Activity API would catch those but requires an additional OAuth scope and a different payload contract.
Delete Draft
Permanently deletes a specific gmail draft using its id; ensure the draft exists and the user has necessary permissions for the given `user id`.
File Updated
Triggers when a file's metadata or content changes in Google Drive.
Delete message
Permanently deletes a specific email message by its id from a gmail mailbox; for `user id`, use 'me' for the authenticated user or an email address to which the authenticated user has delegated access.
Google Drive Changes
Triggers when changes are detected in a Google Drive.
Fetch emails
Fetches a list of email messages from a gmail account, supporting filtering, pagination, and optional full content retrieval.
New File Matching Query
Triggers when a new Google Drive file matches a provided query. This is the legacy query-centric trigger: it preserves Drive API query config such as ``corpora`` / ``driveId`` aliases and emits the historical ``file_matching_query`` event type. ``FileCreatedTrigger`` covers the broader "new file" case and emits ``file_created``.
Fetch message by message ID
Fetches a specific email message by its id, provided the `message id` exists and is accessible to the authenticated `user id`.
Fetch Message by Thread ID
Retrieves messages from a gmail thread using its `thread id`, where the thread must be accessible by the specified `user id`.
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When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
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