Guide to Actor in xFanatical Foresight: Automate as Another User

This article is written for Google Workspace Administrators.

Introduction to Actor: Who performs the action

The Actor is the Google account a trigger or action runs as. It decides whose calendar, mailbox or files the automation works with, and whose name appears on the changes it makes. You choose the actor for each trigger and action in a rule.
There are two ways to run automation:

New triggers and actions act as yourself by default. You can change the actor at any time while editing a rule.

Not every trigger and action supports acting as another user. If a trigger or action doesn't support it, only Act as yourself is available.

Automate as Your Own Google Account

The simplest way to automate is to act as yourself. The trigger or action uses your own Google account, so it works with your calendar, mailbox and files, just as if you did the work by hand.

Instructions

1. Sign into xFanatical Foresight.
2. Go to the Rules page and create or edit a rule.
3. On the trigger or action, click the Actor field.
4. Under Act as yourself, select your Google account.
5. If you see Grant permissions to act as yourself, click Connect with Google and allow the requested access.
6. Now save the rule.

Notes

• xFanatical Foresight asks for permissions as you add triggers and actions. You may be asked to authorize more than once.
• If your organization restricts third-party apps, a Google admin may need to whitelist xFanatical Foresight in Google Admin console first.
• The rule keeps working only while your Google account is connected. If you change your password, disconnect xFanatical Foresight, or leave the organization, the rule may stop. To keep it running regardless, act as another user through a service account.

Automate on Behalf of Users in Google Workspace

As a Google Workspace administrator, you can build rules that act as other users in your domain. This is called impersonation. For example, a rule can add an event to a new hire's calendar, or read a colleague's agenda, without that person signing into xFanatical Foresight or approving anything.

Impersonation uses your organization's service account. The service account has permission, through Domain Wide Delegation, to act as users in your domain for the specific scopes you authorize.

Prerequisites 

• xFanatical Foresight active Elite Plan.
• You are a Google Workspace administrator with the Users > Read, Domain Management and Reports privilege (Super Admins have it.)
• Service account in Ready state. See Create Service Account.

Who can be impersonated

• Only users in your organization's domain. External users can't be impersonated.
• Only active users. Suspended, archived or deleted users can't be impersonated.

Instructions

1. Sign into xFanatical Foresight.
2. Go to the Rules page and click to create a rule.
3. On the Select a trigger or Select an action screen, select the trigger or action you want to run on behalf of another user in your organization.
4. Click the Actor field. Under Act as another user in your Google Workspace organization, choose who to act as:
   1. A specific user: Enter at least 3 characters of the user's name or email address, then select them under Domain users. Use this when the rule should always act as the same person, for example the owner of a shared calendar.
   2. A variable: select a variable under Variables that holds the user's primary email, for example User Created => User Primary Email. Use this when the user is only known when the rule runs, for example whoever the trigger event is about.
5. If an error displays in the Actor field, hover over and follow the steps to grant the missing permissions.
6. When errors are resolved, configure the rest of the trigger or action, then save the rule.
7. Execute the rule and go to the Logs page to check the rule execution summary.

Use Actor

Set the Actor on each trigger and action to control which Google account it runs as. Each trigger and action in a rule can have its own actor.

Instructions

1. Sign into xFanatical Foresight.
2. Go to the Rules page and create or edit a rule.
3. Open the trigger or action to configure, and click the Actor field.
4. Choose who to act as:
   • Yourself: under Act as yourself, select your Google account. Click Connect with Google if asked.
   • A specific user: under Act as another user in your Google Workspace organization, enter at least 2 characters of the user's name or email, then select them under Domain users.
   • A user known only when the rule runs: under Act as another user in your Google Workspace organization, select a variable under Variables that holds the user's primary email.
5. Fix any error by following instructions from hovering over help menu.
6. Repeat for the other triggers and actions in the rule.
7. Save the rule.

Troubleshooting Guide

Having trouble with the Actor field, or a rule that acts as another user? See the Service Account and Actor Troubleshooting Guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the Actor?
  The Google account a trigger or action runs as. It can be your own account, or another user in your Google Workspace domain.
• What is impersonation?
  xFanatical Foresight acting as another user in your domain, through your organization's service account. The user doesn't need to sign in or give consent.
• Who can impersonate other users?
  Google Workspace administrators on the Elite plan with the Users > Read, Domain Management and Reports privilege, once a service account is set up and Ready.
• Do I need a service account to act as myself?
  No. Acting as yourself only needs your connected Google account.
• Can every trigger and action act as another user?
  No. Only supported triggers and actions show the Act as another user in your Google Workspace organization option. For example, Create Gmail label action
• Can I use different actors in the same rule?
  Yes. Each trigger and action has its own Actor field. For example, the trigger can act as yourself and an action can act as another user.
• Can I impersonate external users, such as gmail.com accounts?
  No. Only active users in your organization's domain can be impersonated.
• Can I impersonate a suspended or archived user?
  No. The user must be active. If a user becomes suspended or archived, rules that act as them are turned off and you are notified.
• How do I act as "whoever the event is about"?
  Instead of choosing a specific person, click and select a value from the event, such as Primary email. The actor is then decided automatically each time the rule runs, based on who that event was about.
• Does the impersonated user know?
  They are not asked for consent. Changes the rule makes appear in Google Workspace as made by that user.
• What happens to my rules if the service account is disabled or deleted?
  Rules that act as another user are disabled. Rules that act as yourself keep running. After the service account is ready again, turn the disabled rules back on yourself.
• How can I see who a rule acted as?
  Open the Logs page. Each step shows the account it ran as.
• Why does the Actor field ask me to grant permissions again?
  Each trigger and action needs its own Google scopes. When you add one that needs a new scope, you grant it once, either with Connect with Google (yourself) or through Domain Wide Delegation (another user).