Connecting your data

Learn how to securely connect your existing user data to goldrush without compromising privacy.

goldrush is designed to work with your existing user data. We only store user IDs – never personal information – ensuring complete privacy while enabling powerful gamification.

Privacy-First Approach

Before diving into the technical details, it’s important to understand our privacy-first philosophy:

• User IDs Only: We store only the unique identifiers you specify
• No Personal Data: Names, emails, addresses, or other PII never enter our system
• Reference-Based: We reference your external data but don’t copy it
• Secure Access: All connections use secure protocols and can be revoked anytime

Google Sheets Integration

For the MVP, we support Google Sheets as the primary data source. This method is perfect for:

• Teams getting started with gamification
• Testing goldrush with existing user data
• Organisations with simple user management needs
• Non-technical teams who prefer spreadsheet interfaces

Step-by-Step Connection Process

1. Prepare Your Google Sheet

Create a Google Sheet with your user data. Here’s the recommended structure:

A          B                  C           D
user_id    email             signup_date  status
usr_001    [email protected] 2024-01-15   active
usr_002    [email protected]   2024-01-16   active
usr_003    [email protected] 2024-01-17   pending

Privacy Tip: Consider creating a dedicated sheet with only user IDs if privacy is a concern. goldrush will only access the user_id column you specify.

2. Share Your Sheet

Make your Google Sheet accessible to goldrush by:

1. Opening your Google Sheet
2. Clicking “Share” in the top-right corner
3. Selecting “Anyone with the link can view”
4. Copying the sharing URL

Security Note: Only share sheets containing data you’re comfortable being publicly accessible, or use Google Sheets API with proper authentication for sensitive data.

3. Connect in goldrush Dashboard

Navigate to your goldrush dashboard and follow these steps:

1. Go to the Connections section
2. Click “Connect via Google Sheet”
3. Paste your Google Sheet URL
4. Click “Test Connection”

goldrush will attempt to read your sheet and display the columns it finds.

4. Select Your User ID Column

This is the most critical step – choosing which column uniquely identifies each user:

• Requirements: Must be unique for each row
• Recommendations: Use IDs like “usr_001”, “customer_123”, or database primary keys
• Avoid: Email addresses or names (for privacy), sequential numbers that might clash

✅ Good Examples	❌ Poor Examples
user_12345	[email protected]
cust_a1b2c3	John Doe
uuid-style-id	1, 2, 3 (simple increments)

5. Configure Update Schedule

Choose how often goldrush should check your Google Sheet for changes:

Frequency	Best For	Considerations
Every Hour	Rapidly growing user bases, real-time campaigns	Higher API usage, more up-to-date data
Daily	Most use cases, regular user growth	Good balance of freshness and efficiency
Weekly	Stable user bases, less frequent updates	Lowest API usage, potential data lag

Viewing Connected Users

Once connected, you’ll see your users in the goldrush dashboard with:

• User ID Column: The unique identifier you selected
• Attribute Columns: Any goldrush attributes you’ve created
• Sortable Interface: Click column headers to sort users
• Real-time Updates: Reflects changes based on your sync schedule

Data Flow Diagram

┌─────────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│  Your Google    │    │   goldrush   │    │  goldrush       │
│  Sheet          │───▶│   Platform   │───▶│  Dashboard      │
│                 │    │              │    │                 │
│ • user_id       │    │ • Reads IDs  │    │ • User Table    │
│ • other_data    │    │ • Stores IDs │    │ • Attributes    │
│ • private_info  │    │ • Ignores PII│    │ • Analytics     │
└─────────────────┘    └──────────────┘    └─────────────────┘

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Connection Failed

• Verify your Google Sheet is publicly accessible
• Check that the URL is correct and complete
• Ensure the sheet contains data (not empty)

No Columns Detected

• Make sure your first row contains column headers
• Check that cells aren’t merged or formatted unusually
• Verify the sheet tab you want is the active/first tab

Duplicate User IDs

• Each user ID must be unique within your sheet
• Remove duplicate rows or modify IDs to be unique
• Consider using a different column as the user identifier

Future Data Sources

While Google Sheets is our MVP focus, we’re planning support for:

• REST APIs: Direct integration with your existing APIs
• Database Connections: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB
• CSV Uploads: One-time or periodic file uploads
• Webhooks: Real-time user data synchronisation