Everything on the formulas page can be typed by hand. The sidebar exists so you do not have to: it lists every source, shows what each one returns, and writes the formula into the cell you have selected.
It is the same panel in both spreadsheets. In Google Sheets open it from Extensions → VerveSheets → Open VerveSheets; in Excel, the VerveSheets button on the Home ribbon.
The header
Two things sit at the top of every screen.
- The credit meter — your remaining balance, refreshed as you work. Click it to open the dashboard.
- The connection status — a dot and a label.
Connectedmeans formulas will resolve; anything else means they will return#ERR.
When a balance runs low or runs out, a banner appears above the source list with the specific problem and a link that fixes it. It stays visible on the source detail screen too, because that is where you are most likely to be reading a formula you are about to run.
Connecting
The connect screen offers two paths, and both store the credential against your account rather than in the workbook:
- Sign in with VerveSheets — the consent screen. Best default: nothing to copy, and the connection renews itself.
- Paste an API key — take it from API keys. Useful where the consent screen is blocked by an organisation policy.
You can browse sources and read formulas before connecting. A formula copied while signed out
carries a warning under it, because that is the one path no gate covers — nothing stops you
typing a formula by hand, and it will return #ERR until there is a credential to run it with.
Disconnect at the foot of the panel clears the stored credential and asks first. Formulas stay in the sheet; they stop resolving until you connect again.
Finding a source
The list is the whole catalog, with a search box and a category filter. Search matches names and descriptions, so "email" finds the validator without you knowing its id.
Open one and you get its inputs, its data points, and a live formula preview.
Reading the inputs
Required inputs appear as chips under the heading. Hover one for its type, what it means, and a worked example value — and the example is also printed under the chips, because hover-only guidance is invisible to anyone typing a formula by hand.
Below that, the panel shows the live mapping for your current selection: which column each input will be read from, and which column the answers land in. Change the selection and it updates. This is the fastest way to check a fill is pointed at the right columns before it spends anything.
The resting preview is a template — <city>, <field>. Copied as-is, those reach the source as
literal text and come back as a failed lookup. The add-in catches this one and tells you what to
put there instead, naming the source's own example value.
Data points, Formula or Values
The Data points list is everything the source returns. Picking one decides what a cell will
hold — it becomes the "field" argument.
Next to it, a two-way toggle that decides what gets written:
| Mode | Writes | Recalculates | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formula | A live =VERVE() in the selected cell | Yes — each recalculation is a fresh lookup | Values that need to stay current |
| Values | The answers as static cells | No | Enriching a column once |
In Formula mode with many rows selected, the panel nudges you toward Values, and it is worth taking: a Values fill fetches the entire selection in one batched request, where a dragged formula is one lookup per row, repeated on every recalculation.
Above 50 rows, a fill asks you to confirm and shows what it will cost first.
After a fill
A fill writes into cells you may not be looking at, so it always reports back. The note names how many rows were filled and how many were skipped — a blank input row is never looked up, and dropping those silently would read as lost data.
If any cell came back #PREMIUM(…), a notice appears with a link to the plans page. That means
the field exists and the source has it, but your plan does not include it — see
plans.
The formula preview
At the bottom of the detail screen, a formula bar showing exactly what the current selection would insert, with a copy button. It is a live preview, not a template: change the selected cells or pick a different data point and it rewrites itself.
Copy it into a script, an email to a colleague, or another workbook. It is the same string the Formula button would have written.
Next
Formulas is the full function reference, for everything the sidebar does not have a button for. All sources is the same catalog on the web, one page per source, with the inputs and paths listed in full.