# Syncing Appointments with Google Calendar

> One of the main feature of Easy!Appointments is its ability to synchronize provider calendars with Google Calendar. The synchronization mechanism supports…

Source: https://easyappointments.org/blog/syncing-appointments-with-google-calendar/

One of the main feature of Easy!Appointments is its ability to synchronize provider calendars with Google Calendar. The synchronization mechanism supports two-way syncing between Easy!Appointments and Google Calendar which means that scheduling changes will be applied in both calendars, no matter where they took place. Once the events are on Google Calendar they can then be synced and used by other services that support Google’s API.

## Requirements

-   Easy!Appointments installation
-   Provider user record
-   Google account

## Google API Credentials

The Easy!Appointments syncing algorithm requires Google API credentials in order to work. You can generate those from the Google Cloud Platform while being signed in with your Google account.

[Image: Google Cloud Platform]

_Google Cloud Platform, offered by Google, is a suite of cloud computing services that runs on the same infrastructure that Google uses internally for its end-user products, such as Google Search, Gmail, file storage, and YouTube._

After creating a new project on the Google Cloud Platform you will be able to see the main overview page (dashboard) that features plenty of information about your project and its API usage. Click on the “Go to APIs overview” button to redirect to the “APIs and Services” page.

[Image: Google APIs and Services]

_Every Google project has some API services enabled and one or more credentials for the API clients._

The first thing to do is to activate the Google Calendar API Service so that the integration becomes available once you connect your calendar. For this you will need to click the “Enable APIs And Services” button at the top, find Google Calendar in the displayed list and click on “Enable”. Afterwards you will need to create some credentials for your integration. You can do that by clicking the “Credentials” menu item on the left side of the page.

[Image: Google Calendar API Credentials]

For the integration you will need two type of credentials, an **API Key** and an **OAuth 2.0 Client**. You will need to fill the consent screen information and then select **Web Application** in the next frame. Give it a client name and add your installation domain as the **Authorised JavaScript origins** (important give only the domain not the complete URL e.g. https://mywebsite.com).

The **Authorized redirect URIs** field will need the following value.

```
https://mywebsite.com/url/to/easyappointments/folder/index.php/google/oauth_callback
```

Click on **Create** button and Google Cloud will show you two credentials (**Client ID** and **Secret**) that you need to mark for the following step.

Customers will be able to sync their appointments with Google Calendars but beforehand you will need an API Key. Click again on the **Create Credentials** button while being in the Credentials overview page and select **API Key**.

## Enter Your Credentials To Easy!Appointments

> **Update for v1.6 and newer:** paste the Client ID and Client Secret into **Settings → Integrations → Google Calendar** instead - no file editing and no API key needed. `GOOGLE_PRODUCT_NAME` and `GOOGLE_API_KEY` no longer exist. See the [Google Calendar Sync documentation](/documentation/google-calendar-sync/) for the current steps.

To enable the synchronization edit your root config.php file and update the Google Calendar Sync section with your API credentials.

-   `GOOGLE_SYNC_FEATURE` needs to be set to `TRUE`.
-   `GOOGLE_PRODUCT_NAME` needs to have the same name as the Google Cloud Console project.
-   `GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID` needs the client ID from the OAuth2 credentials.
-   `GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET` needs the client secret from the OAuth2 credentials.
-   `GOOGLE_API_KEY` needs the API key created in the previous section.

[Image: Easy!Appointments Config File]

_Edit the root config.php file of your Easy!Appointments installation and enter your Google API credentials._

Go to **backend/calendar** page, select a provider and click on the **Enable Sync** button. A new window will pop up asking you to grant concern. Enter the user’s credentials and the synchronization will be activated. Any calendar change will be automatically synced with your Google Calendar and clicking the **Sync** button will fetch Google Calendar changes to Easy!Appointments too.

[Image: Backend Calendar]

_You can enable or disable the synchronization for any provider from the backend calendar page of your Easy!Appointments installation._

You can automatically trigger the synchronization by configuring a cronjob on your server. Read the following article for more information on how to do that.

[Configuring Cron Jobs](/blog/configuring-cron-jobs/)