Google Calendar

The Google Calendar integration auto-creates a calendar event for every booking customers make on your booking site. Configure once with a Google Cloud Service Account, share the calendar with the service account, and bookings flow into your team's shared calendar with customizable event details.

Getting started

Navigate to Settings > Company groups, open the group, switch to the Integrations tab, and click Configure integration on the Google Calendar card.

How it works

Google's API requires a service account to talk to a calendar on your behalf. The setup has six phases: create a service account in Google Cloud, enable the Calendar API, generate a JSON key for the service account, share your calendar with the service account email, paste the credentials into the integration, and configure the event title and description templates.

Once active, every new booking on your booking site creates a calendar event automatically, and edits to bookings update the corresponding event.

Step-by-step guide

Phase 1: Create a service account

Step	Action
1	Open the Google Cloud Console
2	Pick or create the project you want to use
3	Navigate to IAM & Admin > Service Accounts
4	Click Create Service Account
5	Name the account (e.g., "otc-calendar-sync")
6	Assign the Owner role
7	Finish the creation flow

Phase 2: Enable the Calendar API

Step	Action
1	In Google Cloud Console, go to APIs & Services > Library
2	Search for Google Calendar API
3	Click Enable

Phase 3: Generate a key file

Step	Action
1	Back in Service Accounts, click the service account you created
2	Open the Keys tab
3	Click Add Key > Create New Key
4	Pick JSON format
5	Save the downloaded file. Keep it secure — anyone with this file has full access

Phase 4: Share your calendar with the service account

Step	Action
1	Open Google Calendar
2	In My calendars on the left, hover over the target calendar and click the three-dot menu
3	Pick Settings and sharing
4	Scroll to Share with specific people or groups
5	Click Add people and groups
6	Paste the service account email (looks like `name@project-id.iam.gserviceaccount.com`)
7	Set the permission to Make changes to events
8	Click Send

Phase 5: Paste credentials into the integration

Open the downloaded JSON file in a text editor.

Field	Where to find it
Service account email (client email)	The `client_email` value in the JSON. Paste into the Service account email field
Calendar ID	In Google Calendar settings, scroll to Integrate calendar and copy the Calendar ID (looks like `name@group.calendar.google.com` or your own email)
Private key	The `private_key` value in the JSON. Includes `-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----` and `-----END PRIVATE KEY-----` markers and several lines of base64. Paste the entire value into the 7-row textarea

Click Save at the bottom of the integration view, then toggle Active on.

Phase 6: Configure event title and description

Field	What it controls
Calendar event summary	The event title in Google Calendar. Supports dynamic variables
Calendar event description	The event body in Google Calendar. Supports dynamic variables. 3-row textarea

The supported dynamic variables get interpolated per-booking. Click the down-arrow icon under Supported dynamic variables to expand the list with copy buttons next to each variable.

Variable	What it inserts
`[Booking Id]`	The booking's internal id
`[Game Name]`	The event the customer booked
`[Group Size]`	Participant count
`[Customer First Name]`	First name on the order
`[Customer Last Name]`	Last name on the order
`[Customer Phone]`	Phone number on the order
`[Customer Email]`	Email on the order
`[Transaction Id]`	Order number
`[Transaction Link]`	Direct link back to the transaction in the console
`[Amount Paid]`	Amount collected so far
`[Amount Due]`	Outstanding balance

A typical event summary template might be [Game Name] – [Customer First Name] [Customer Last Name] (x[Group Size]). A typical description might combine [Customer Phone], [Customer Email], [Amount Paid], [Amount Due], and [Transaction Link].

Update or rotate credentials

Once credentials are saved, the configuration view shows the Service account email and Calendar ID as read-only values. To replace them (e.g., after rotating the key), click Change credentials at the top right of the credential block. The form re-opens with all three fields editable.

Reference

Configuration view layout

Section	Content
Setup guide	6-phase walkthrough with links to Google Cloud Console and Google Calendar
Supported dynamic variables	Collapsible list (toggled by an arrow icon) with copy button per variable
Credential block	Service account email, Calendar ID, Private key. Switches between read-only display and edit form via Change credentials
Event templates	Calendar event summary, Calendar event description
Active toggle	Enable or disable calendar sync
Cancel / Save	Footer buttons

Credential fields

Field	Type	Source
Service account email (client email)	Text input	`client_email` in the JSON key file
Calendar ID	Text input	Google Calendar settings → Integrate calendar
Private key	Textarea (7 rows)	`private_key` in the JSON key file (entire value including BEGIN/END markers)

Event template fields

Field	Type	Notes
Calendar event summary	Text input	Event title shown in Google Calendar
Calendar event description	Textarea (3 rows)	Event body shown when the event is opened

Dynamic variables

Variable	Description
[Booking Id]	Booking reference number
[Game Name]	Name of the booked event
[Group Size]	Number of participants
[Customer First Name]	Customer's first name
[Customer Last Name]	Customer's last name
[Customer Phone]	Customer's phone number
[Customer Email]	Customer's email address
[Transaction Id]	Order number
[Transaction Link]	Link to the transaction in the console
[Amount Paid]	Amount collected
[Amount Due]	Remaining balance

Save / cancel

Button	Effect
Cancel	Discards changes and returns to the integration list
Save	Commits credentials, templates, and active toggle
Change credentials	Re-opens the credential form when credentials are already saved

Good to know

Calendar events are created automatically for new bookings only. Bookings made before the integration was activated are not retroactively synced. Manually re-save them to trigger a sync if you need backfill.
The service account needs "Make changes to events" permission, not just view access. Without it, the calendar API rejects writes and events never appear.
The private key is multi-line. Copy the entire private_key value from the JSON, including the -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY----- and -----END PRIVATE KEY----- markers and every line in between. Missing one line breaks the signature.
One calendar per group. If you have multiple groups, configure each with its own service account (or share calendars across groups using the same service account email).
Cancellations update the calendar event — typically the event is updated to reflect the cancellation rather than deleted, so your team's history stays intact.
The Calendar ID isn't your email unless you're syncing to your personal calendar. For shared/team calendars, the ID looks like team-bookings@group.calendar.google.com and is found in Calendar settings > Integrate calendar.
Rotate the service account key every so often for security. Generate a new key in Google Cloud, download the JSON, and use Change credentials in the integration to swap them out.
The dynamic variables use square brackets, not curly braces. [Customer First Name] is correct; {{Customer First Name}} will not interpolate.

FAQ

Q: Can I sync to multiple calendars?

A: One calendar per group. If you have multiple groups (locations), each can sync to its own calendar. For multi-calendar sync within a single group, you'd need to extend the integration outside this UI.

Q: Will changes to bookings update the calendar event?

A: Yes. Booking edits and cancellations update the corresponding calendar event automatically. Manual edits made directly in Google Calendar may be overwritten by the next sync, so make changes in the booking, not the calendar.

Q: Why are calendar events not appearing?

A: 1) Confirm Active is on. 2) Confirm the service account email has Make changes to events permission on the target calendar. 3) Confirm Google Calendar API is enabled in your Google Cloud project. 4) Confirm the Calendar ID is correct (it's not your email unless syncing to a personal calendar). 5) Confirm the private key was pasted in full, including BEGIN/END markers. 6) Try a fresh test booking — past bookings don't backfill.

Q: Can I use a personal Gmail calendar?

A: Yes. The Calendar ID is your Gmail address (the email you use to log into Google). Share that calendar with the service account email, and bookings sync to it.

Q: How do I revoke the integration?

A: Two options: 1) toggle Active off in the integration view (preserves credentials, just stops syncing), or 2) revoke the service account in Google Cloud Console (cuts off API access entirely). For full security on key rotation, do both: revoke the key in Google Cloud, then re-add a new one.

Q: My events have the wrong title format. How do I fix it?

A: Update the Calendar event summary template in the integration view. The change applies to new bookings going forward; existing calendar events keep their old title until the booking is edited.

Q: Can I include a Zoom link or custom URL in the event description?

A: Yes. Type any custom text or URL into the Calendar event description field; it renders verbatim. Combine with dynamic variables for personalized event bodies.

Q: The integration shows my service account email as read-only. How do I change it?

A: Click Change credentials at the top right of the credential block. The form re-opens for all three fields.

Q: I see events being created but with empty titles. Why?

A: Likely the Calendar event summary template is empty or only contains an unsupported variable. Confirm at least one valid variable or static text is in the template.