P Platform Setup

Platform Setup confirms you have the accounts and access needed for the rest of the setup. This phase assumes you already have a production GA4 property and a web GTM container in use. If you're starting from scratch, see the notes in each section below.

What this phase does

Platform Setup verifies that your existing Google accounts, properties, and containers are accessible. It does not change your production tracking — it only confirms that what you already have is ready for the assistant to scan.

Platform overview

  1. P.1 Google Cloud (GCP) Setup: prepare a GCP project for the server-side infrastructure. Project selection in the assistant is deferred until Phase B.
  2. P.2 GA4: confirm you have admin access to the GA4 account with your existing production property.
  3. P.3 GTM: confirm you have access to the GTM account with your existing web container.
  4. P.4 Settings: desktop pairing, Google access, and API verification (available when the assistant launches).

P.1 Google Cloud (GCP) Setup

The server-side infrastructure runs on Google Cloud. You'll need a GCP project with billing enabled and the required APIs turned on. You don't need to select the project in the assistant until Phase B — but having it ready saves time.

How to set up the GCP project for GetServerSide

Project structure, billing, free tier, permissions, required APIs, and a step-by-step walkthrough.

P.2 GA4

The assistant needs access to your existing production GA4 property so it can scan your current setup. Confirm you have admin access to the GA4 account and that the property has at least one web data stream with an active measurement ID.

A temporary test GA4 property will be created later during Phase B (Validation). You do not need to create it now.

Starting from scratch? If you don't have a GA4 property yet, create one in Google Analytics and add a web data stream for your site before continuing.

P.3 GTM

The assistant scans your existing web GTM container to classify your tags and events. Confirm you have edit access to the GTM account and that the web container is published and active on your site.

A server GTM container will be created during Phase B (Validation) if you don't already have one. You do not need to create it now.

Starting from scratch? If you don't have a GTM account or web container, create one in Google Tag Manager and install the snippet on your site before continuing.

P.4 Settings

The following describes the assistant's Settings workflow. These steps will be available when the assistant launches.

  1. 1

    Pair this device with the local desktop app

    Open the app Settings page and complete pairing so the website can call the local agent for discovery and validation.

  2. 2

    Add the Google OAuth client secret

    Provide the desktop app with the OAuth client secret so it can complete Google sign-in for the APIs used during setup.

    To download the client secret from GCP:

    1. Open the GCP Credentials page for your project.
    2. Under OAuth 2.0 Client IDs, find the client you created for this implementation (or create one: Application type = Desktop app).
    3. Click the download icon (or the client name, then Download JSON) to get the client_secret.json file.
    4. Save this file where the assistant can find it. The app will prompt you for the file location during setup.

    Walkthrough: Create and download the OAuth Desktop client

    Create credentials
    Select OAuth client ID
    Select Desktop app
    Create the client
    Download JSON
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    Create credentials

    On the GCP Credentials page, click Create credentials.

    Select OAuth client ID

    Choose OAuth client ID from the dropdown.

    Select Desktop app

    Set the application type to Desktop app.

    Create the client

    Enter a name (for example, 'GSS Desktop Client') and click Create.

    Download JSON

    Click Download JSON to save the client_secret.json file. This is the file the assistant needs.

  3. 3

    Authenticate the Google account you will use for setup

    Sign in with the Google account that has access to the Analytics, GTM, Cloud Run, and GCP resources for this implementation.

  4. 4

    GCP project selection (deferred)

    GCP project selection happens later in the setup, after scanning and readiness. You don't need to choose a project during initial setup.

Walkthrough: Assistant Settings

This walkthrough shows the Settings flow in the Desktop App. The Desktop App has not been released yet. It will guide you through these steps when it launches.

Open Settings
Device pairing
Upload the client secret
GCP project selection (later)
Project selected
Settings complete
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Open Settings

Navigate to the Settings page in the assistant. This shows the current status of each setup prerequisite.

Device pairing

If you need to re-pair, click 'Reset pairing on this device' to clear the existing connection and start fresh.

Upload the client secret

Click 'Select Client Secret File' and choose the client_secret.json file you downloaded from GCP.

GCP project selection (later)

GCP project selection is shown here for reference but happens later in the setup, after scanning.

Project selected

Once selected, the assistant uses this project for Cloud Run deployment and validation.

Settings complete

Core prerequisites are configured. You're ready to start scanning your setup.

What you'll have when done

A GCP project with required APIs enabled, confirmed access to your existing GA4 property and GTM web container, and (when the Desktop App launches) a paired app with Google access. You're ready to scan.