docrefgen

🔖 DocRefGen

Document Reference Number Generator for Google Docs

DocRefGen is a Chrome extension that auto-generates unique reference numbers for your HR and Legal documents — and keeps a searchable audit log of every document created. Built for small teams that need traceable, auditable records without the overhead of a full DMS.

Built by @abhikuchbhi

What it does

Place `` anywhere in your Google Doc — body, header, or footer
DOC-REF-NO in is the placeholder
Open the doc, click Generate Ref & Insert in the popup
Reference number gets inserted instantly: AMZ-EMP-2026-847293
Optionally log every generated ref to a Google Sheet audit trail

Generated format:

[COMPANY]-[DOCTYPE]-[YEAR]-[6-DIGIT-TIMESTAMP]

Examples:
AMZ-2026-847293        ← company + year + timestamp
AMZ-EMP-2026-847293   ← with document type prefix

Features

Feature	Details
Header & Footer support	Detects `` anywhere in the doc — body, header, footer
Copy detection	If you open a “Copy of…” doc, it offers to generate a fresh ref
On-demand generation	Click Generate anytime — full user control, no auto-trigger
Audit trail	Optional Google Sheet log — ref number, doc title, link, date, type
Per-team setup	Each team sets their own prefix and sheet. HR, Legal, Finance stay separate
No backend	Zero servers, zero hosting. All logic runs in the browser

Usage

In your Google Doc template:

Place  wherever the reference number should appear.
Works in the document body, header, and footer.

Generating a ref number:

Open the doc (a copy of your template)
Click the DocRefGen icon in Chrome toolbar
Click Generate Ref & Insert into Doc
The placeholder is replaced with e.g. AMZ-EMP-2026-847293
Optionally click Log to Audit Sheet

Audit Sheet columns (auto-created):

| Ref Number | Doc Title | Doc Link | Doc Type | Created By | Date & Time | |—|—|—|—|—|—|

Story behind the Tool

While running a company I realised, I am generating so many documents across Finance, Legal, HR, Business etc, and many of the times I need to reference a document in email or conversation or in legal letters as a version or sometime i need to see which document i had sent out. I looked for tools but most of the document management tools are suites and expensive. I tried building google scripts and sheets but that approach was not scalable. Thus, I build a chrome extension, now my entire team uses this, we have a common audit log sheet to audit and all the documents have uniformity, without spending a penny. Hope this helps you and your team too. If it does, dont forget to give a shoutout to me on Twitter :P abhikuchbhi.in —

License

MIT — do what you want with it.