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Google Sheets Setup

Dinary-server stores expenses in a Google Sheets spreadsheet. You need a Google service account and a spreadsheet shared with that account.

1. Create a Google Cloud project

  1. Go to console.cloud.google.com.
  2. Click Select a project → New Project → name it (e.g. dinary) → Create.
  3. Select the newly created project.

2. Enable the required APIs

  1. Go to APIs & Services → Library.
  2. Search for Google Sheets API → click it → Enable.
  3. Go back to Library, search for Google Drive API → click it → Enable.

3. Create a service account

  1. Go to APIs & Services → Credentials → Create Credentials → Service account.
  2. Fill in:
    • Name: dinary (or any name)
    • ID: auto-generated
  3. Click Create and Continue → skip optional steps → Done.

4. Download the JSON key

  1. In Credentials, click the newly created service account.
  2. Go to Keys → Add Key → Create new key → JSON → Create.
  3. Save the downloaded file as ~/.config/gspread/service_account.json:
mkdir -p ~/.config/gspread
mv ~/Downloads/your-project-*.json ~/.config/gspread/service_account.json

Warning

Keep this file secret. Never commit it to Git — it is already in .gitignore.

5. Create and share the spreadsheet

  1. Go to sheets.google.com → create a new spreadsheet.
  2. Name it (e.g. Dinary Expenses).
  3. Copy the spreadsheet ID from the URL: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/<SPREADSHEET_ID>/edit.
  4. Click Share → paste the service account email (found in the JSON key as client_email, looks like dinary@project-id.iam.gserviceaccount.com) → set role to Editor → Send.

6. Configure dinary-server

Set these environment variables (in .env or your hosting's env config):

Variable Value
DINARY_GOOGLE_SHEETS_SPREADSHEET_ID the spreadsheet ID from step 5
DINARY_GOOGLE_SHEETS_CREDENTIALS_PATH path to credentials.json (default: credentials.json in the working directory)

Note

When using docker compose with .env, set GOOGLE_SHEETS_SPREADSHEET_ID (without the DINARY_ prefix) — docker-compose.yml adds the prefix automatically. When running directly (Oracle VM, local dev), set DINARY_GOOGLE_SHEETS_SPREADSHEET_ID.