Table of contents
Note: This write up is a companion article for users that use the Dashboards feature to display reports, dashboards, or URLs that sit behind authentication on their TV screens.
You can learn more about that feature in our Dashboards Overview.
Why create a dedicated service account?
Most dashboard and reporting tools - Salesforce, Tableau, Looker Studio, HubSpot, and others - let you sign in either directly with a username and password, or via Google Single Sign-On (SSO), where Google itself authenticates you as a third-party identity provider. If your dashboard is set up to use Google SSO, this guide walks you through configuring the Google account Fugo will use to sign in.
When you set up a dashboard in Fugo, you can technically point it at your own personal Google account. We strongly recommend against this. Fugo signs in and captures a fresh screenshot of your dashboard on a repeating schedule, unattended - no one is sitting at a browser to approve anything. Running that against your actual day-to-day account risks security alerts, unexpected sign-outs, and "was this you?" prompts, all triggered by an automated, repeating login that looks nothing like normal usage.
A service account - a dedicated Google account, scoped to read-only access on just the dashboard(s) you want on screen - avoids all of that. It's not a real employee's login, so there's no one to lock out and nothing else at risk if its credentials are only ever used for this one purpose.
Best practices for using Google as your dashboard's identity provider
Use a dedicated, least-privileged account
Set this account up with your IT admin or directly in Google Workspace, and grant it only the access it needs to view the dashboard(s) you're displaying - nothing more.
Configure the account's verification method
Fugo can't respond to Google's interactive "verify it's you" prompts, push notifications, or SMS codes during an automated sign-in - there's no one there to approve them, so any of these will interrupt the login and stop your dashboard from refreshing. Make sure the account's only verification method is one Fugo can actually complete on its own:
If the account needs 2FA, it's fine as long as it's TOTP-based (a time-based code from an authenticator app) - Fugo can generate these itself once you've handed it the underlying secret key. Our 2FA with Google guide covers getting that secret key and entering it in Fugo.
🆕 New - Passkey support
As an alternative to setting up 2FA, you can now add a passkey to a dashboard instead - Fugo signs in with it directly instead of a Secret Key. You don't need an existing passkey; Fugo creates its own the moment you set one up on the dashboard.
You'll find the option to add one from the dashboard's Home tab:
Some services let an admin restrict passkey registration to device-bound credentials only, which blocks Fugo from adding one; the feature is still being refined.
See Dashboards Overview for the full picture.
Configuring your Google service account
Once your dedicated account exists, there are two settings to change inside it before handing its credentials to Fugo.
Remove recovery email and phone
Google may prompt for recovery verification - confirming a phone number or email - any time it treats a sign-in as unusual, which an automated, repeating login often looks like. Since there's no one available to respond to that prompt, it will stall Fugo's sign-in. Removing the recovery phone and email closes off that prompt entirely.
1. Go to myaccount.google.com and open the Security page.
2. Scroll to Ways we can verify it's you and select Recovery phone. Confirm your password if asked, then remove the number.
3, Repeat the same steps for Recovery email, if one is set.
Sign out of mobile devices
A service account signed in on a phone or tablet can also trigger "new sign-in" prompts when Fugo logs in from its own servers. Signing out of every mobile device removes that source of interruptions too.
1. On the same Security page, scroll to Your devices.
2. Click Manage devices, then use the three-dot menu next to each listed device to Sign out.
Once both are done, your service account is ready.
When creating your dashboard, you'll be prompted to select your Authentication Method. Choose Google and input your service account's credentials:
Need more help?
Fugo can be used to access just about any dashboard, report, or URL living behind a secure login. A few of our most-used services have their own dedicated setup guides:
For everything else, browse the Dashboards Overview, or reach out and our dashboards team will help you get it connected.