timleegoodman/google-sheet-crm-builder

Sheet Tracker Builder

Turn a vague "make me a sheet to track X" into a clean, structured Google Sheet: sensible columns, click-to-pick dropdowns, color-coded sections with dividers, and tidy alignment — built so a non-technical owner can edit it later without touching any settings.

When to use / not use

• Use for any lightweight record-keeping/management sheet the user wants built and formatted nicely (CRM, orders, leads, inventory, bookings…).
• Don't use for heavy data analysis, pivot/dashboard work, or editing an existing complex spreadsheet's data — this skill is about creating a clean tracker from scratch.

Delivery paths

1. Google Sheet (primary) — automate sheets.google.com via the Claude Chrome extension. Requires the extension connected.
2. Offline file (fallback) — if Chrome isn't connected and the user can't connect it, build the same structure as an .xlsx they upload to Drive. See offline-fallback.md.

Check first: load the Chrome tools and call list_connected_browsers. If it returns [], ask the user to connect the extension (don't silently degrade); if they'd rather not, switch to the offline path.

Workflow

1. Scope it (ask 2–3 questions, then confirm)

• What are they tracking? Infer CRM vs order tracker vs other.
• Propose a concrete column list from design-system.md (starter templates), tailored to their business. Ask what custom columns they need.
• Show the proposed columns + section grouping and get a "go" before building. (Owner is usually non-technical — plan first, then execute directly.)

2. Create the workbook

• Navigate to https://sheets.new → dismiss the Gemini popups.
• Rename the spreadsheet; rename Sheet1 to the data tab (e.g. Orders).
• Add a second tab named Lists for dropdown options.
• Details + exact UI steps: browser-automation.md.

3. Headers

• Enter all headers across row 1 (type + Tab). Bold row 1 and freeze it.

4. Dropdowns (the part that's easy to get wrong)

• Put each dropdown's options in its own column on the Lists tab.
• Wire Data → Data validation → Dropdown (from a range) on the data columns.
• CRITICAL: the source range MUST be absolute and open-ended — lock the column and the start row with dollar signs (exact literal form is in browser-automation.md; it's kept out of this file so the skill loader doesn't read the $+digit as a placeholder). A relative range (Lists!A2:A) shifts down one row per row and silently drops the first option on every row after the first. An absolute open-ended range also auto-includes new options added to the Lists tab.
• This makes options owner-editable: they just edit the Lists tab, no menus.

5. Formatting

• Currency ($) on amount columns; date format on date columns; force text for leading-zero IDs ('001).
• Photos/attachments: use Insert ▸ Image ▸ Image in cell, or a Drive link. Do not use =IMAGE(url) — it triggers an "Allow access" external-data prompt and shows #REF! until granted.

6. Section design (layout / color / dividers)

Group columns into contiguous sections, each a gentle pastel hue:

• Header = deeper shade, content = lighter shade, same section = same hue.
• Bold vertical divider between sections, colored to match the left section's header shade (not black).
• Whole table: horizontal center + vertical middle so headers sit right over their content.
• Canonical section list, hex palette, and grouping rules: design-system.md.

7. Sample row + handoff

• Optionally add ONE clearly-labeled sample row ("Sample — delete before use") so the owner sees dropdowns/formatting working; tell them to delete it.
• Hand off with: the sheet link, what each section is, and the two "edit-it-yourself" tips (edit Lists tab for dropdowns; columns are plain cells).

References

• design-system.md — column templates (CRM / order tracker), section grouping, hex color palette, alignment, number formats.
• browser-automation.md — exact Chrome-extension steps, browser_batch patterns, Name-box selection, data-validation flow, the absolute-range gotcha, palette/border mechanics, and coordinate caveats.
• offline-fallback.md — build the same tracker as an .xlsx/.csv when Chrome isn't available.