Create a DingTalk AI Sheet data source

Step 1: Obtain application authorization

Create an in-house enterprise application on the DingTalk Open Platform to obtain authorization credentials. Quick BI uses these credentials to authenticate the data source connection.

1. Log on to the DingTalk Developer Console and apply for developer permissions.

2. Click Create Application. In the dialog box that appears, enter the application details and click Save.

3. Quick BI reads data from DingTalk AI Sheet through APIs. Therefore, you must apply for API call permissions for your application. In your application's Developer Console, navigate to Permission Management and configure the required permissions.

   Note

   Due to DingTalk's limitations, the Standard Edition API has a cumulative call limit of 5,000 per month. If this quota is insufficient for your needs, you can upgrade to the Professional or Exclusive Edition to increase the limit. For more information, see DingTalk PaaS Capability Adjustment Announcement.

   You must select the following API permissions and click Enable in Batches.

   • Read permission for AI Sheet applications

   • Read permission for member information

   • Read permission for enterprise storage application

4. In the left-side navigation pane, navigate to Application Release > Version Management and Release and click Create Version.

5. On the Version Details page that appears, enter the version information and click Save. This triggers an approval workflow for the application release. After approval, DingTalk automatically publishes the application.

6. After the application is published, navigate to the Credentials and Basic Information page. Copy and save the Client ID and Client Secret.

Step 2: Obtain the DingTalk AI Sheet link

Log on to DingTalk Docs, locate the target DingTalk AI Sheet, and then copy and save its shareable link.

1. In the DingTalk Docs document list, find the target sheet and click the Share () icon in the Actions column.

   Note

   Before you proceed, ensure your DingTalk AI Sheet meets the following requirements:

   • A single sheet cannot exceed 100 columns or 10,000 rows.

   • The following field types cannot be imported: some common fields (including Document, Currency, Image, Attachment, Progress, Formula, One-way Association, and Two-way Association), advanced fields (except Member and Department), AI Agent fields, and utility fields.

   • A sheet cannot be empty, and the file must contain 5 or fewer sheets.

2. In the Share dialog box, configure the sharing scope for the link.

3. Click Copy Link to copy and save the shareable link for the current sheet.

Step 3: Create the data source

After obtaining the application credentials and sheet link, add them in Quick BI to create the DingTalk AI Sheet data source.

1. Log on to the Quick BI Workbench, go to Data Sources, and then click Add Data Source in the upper-right corner.

2. On the Add Data Source page, choose Application Services > DingTalk AI Sheet.

   Note

   Ensure your organization has enabled DingTalk integration in Organization Management > Office Software Integration. Otherwise, you cannot connect to a DingTalk data source. You can contact your organization administrator to grant the authorization. For more information, see DingTalk integration.

3. On the configuration page, enter the DingTalk authorization credentials from Step 1 and Step 2.

   Parameter	Description
   AppKey	Enter the unique identifier of the DingTalk application. This corresponds to the Client ID on the Credentials and Basic Information page in the DingTalk Developer Console.
   AppSecret	Enter the secret key of the DingTalk application, which is automatically generated by the DingTalk platform when the application is created. This corresponds to the Client Secret on the Credentials and Basic Information page in the DingTalk Developer Console.
   DingTalk AI Sheet Link	Enter the shareable link of the DingTalk AI Sheet. This corresponds to the link you copied from the DingTalk Docs sharing page. Note Ensure that you have view permissions for the AI sheet corresponding to this link. For information about how to configure permissions, see Obtain the DingTalk AI Sheet link.

4. Click Test Connection. A successful test displays information about the authorized application.

5. Click Confirm and Connect. The system automatically parses and reads the content of the sheets at the specified URL.

   Note

   A maximum of the first five sheets are parsed.

   • If the sheets parse successfully, Quick BI redirects you to the Data Preview page. On this page, you can preview information and perform related operations.

     Area	Action	Description
     Area ① Display name of the table in Quick BI	Rename the display name	You can customize the data source's display name. Note The display name cannot contain special characters or leading or trailing spaces.
     Area ② Shareable link of the table	View the source document	Click the icon next to the table link to view the source document in a new window.
     Area ③ Number and titles of the sheets	Switch sheets	Click a tab to switch to a different sheet and preview its data. The data content in Area ④ changes accordingly.
     	Rename a sheet	Double-click a sheet name to rename it. By default, the sheet name from DingTalk is used. Note Sheet names cannot contain special characters or leading or trailing spaces.
     Area ④ Data content of the table	Data Preview	On the Data Preview tab, you can preview the data and perform the following operations: Modify a field name: Click the field name text box to modify the name. Modify a field type: Click the field type icon and select a suitable type from the drop-down list. Supported types include Text, Number, and Date.
     	Field Details	After a sheet is connected, it is stored as a database table. The Database Field Name and Field Type are the name and type in the generated database table, while the Field Name corresponds to the field name in the AI Sheet. You can rename fields and modify field types as needed. To remove a field that you do not need, click the icon. Note Quick BI does not support importing fields of the Attachment, One-way Association, Two-way Association, and Formula types and automatically filters them out.
     	Automatic Parsing	A cell in a DingTalk AI Sheet can contain rich elements like cards and tag lists, not just simple text or numbers. When Quick BI extracts data by using an API, these complex fields are sent in JSON format to preserve the complete data hierarchy and semantics. After Quick BI receives this JSON data, it must be parsed into standard fields for data analysis. You can enable the automatic parsing feature to use Quick BI's DingTalk AI Sheet parsing rules to automatically convert JSON data into corresponding field types. Alternatively, you can create calculated field to define custom parsing rules. By default, automatic parsing is enabled for the data source. You can click the toggle () to change the status. Note When you create a calculated field for a dataset created from a DingTalk AI Sheet data source, you can use only built-in system functions.
     	Set scheduled synchronization	If you need to regularly synchronize the latest business data to your DingTalk AI Sheet data source, enable the Scheduled Synchronization toggle. In the Scheduled Data Synchronization dialog box, set a specific time for daily data synchronization. After the schedule is set, you can click the icon to modify the existing settings. Note Each synchronization performs a full overwrite of the existing data. The synchronization limit for a single sheet is 10,000 rows and 100 columns. This setting applies only to the current sheet. If you need to synchronize multiple sheets, you must switch to each sheet's tab and configure its schedule separately.
     Area ⑤ Table synchronization settings	Synchronize all sheets immediately after connection	If you select this option, Quick BI automatically synchronizes the content of the first five sheets of the AI sheet after the connection is established, eliminating the need for manual synchronization.

   • If a sheet fails to parse, you can view the reason for the failure on the Data Preview page. After you correct the content based on the prompt, click Refresh in the upper-right corner to apply the changes. If the sheet is not required, you can ignore the error. The failed sheet is automatically filtered out when you connect to the DingTalk workbook.

6. After you complete the configuration, click Confirm and Connect to create the data source.

7. Return to the Data Sources page. In the data source list, find the new DingTalk AI Sheet data source, and click the icon in the Actions column for each sheet to synchronize the data.

   Note

   If you selected the Synchronize all sheets immediately after connection checkbox when connecting the data source, the system has already synchronized the content automatically. You can skip this step.

8. (Optional) On the Data Sources page, you can view and manage the created DingTalk AI Sheet data sources and their sheets. The following operations are supported:

   • Preview data table: In the Name column, find the data table that you want to preview and click its name. You can view the content of the data table on the Preview Data page.

   • Set scheduled synchronization: Click the scheduled synchronization toggle to enable or disable the feature. If scheduled synchronization is enabled, you can click the icon to modify the synchronization time.

   • Create dataset: Click the icon to go to the dataset creation page and create a dataset based on the current sheet. For more information about how to create a dataset, see Create a dataset.

     Note

     Ensure that the synchronization status of the current sheet is successful. Otherwise, you cannot create a dataset from it.

   • Sync data: Click the icon to manually trigger a synchronization task.

   • View sync records: Click the icon. In the View Logs dialog box, you can view the update history of the current sheet. The displayed information includes the update time, status, duration, and log details. You can also query logs for a specific time range.

Step 4: Edit the data source

After connecting a DingTalk AI Sheet, you can edit its authorization credentials, shareable link, display name, and other settings.

1. In the DingTalk AI Sheet list, find the target data source and click Edit.

2. On the Select Data page for the DingTalk AI Sheet, modify the authorization information of the DingTalk application.

   Parameter	Description
   Authorized Application	Click the icon next to the authorized application. The AppKey and AppSecret input fields appear. Enter the AppKey and AppSecret for the new application.
   DingTalk Sheet Link	Enter the shareable link of the new sheet.

3. Click Test Connection. After the test is successful, click Confirm and Connect to go to the Preview Data page. On this page, you can edit the sheet's display name, scheduled synchronization settings, field names, and data types as needed. The procedure is the same as in step 5 of Step 3: Create the data source.

4. After you finish editing, click Confirm and Connect.

The information for the current sheet, including the sheet name, field names, and data types, is retrieved again.