I'm trying to mention a particular individual on a Google spreadsheet whenever a specific dropdown is selected, so they can take over the task. I've created an IF statement that will paste their email address, but I can't get it to actually tag the individual so that they get some kind of notification that there's an action item for them.
My current formula in cell B1 is =IF(A1="complete", "roni_25@work.com, " ")
Unfortunately, there are no functions in cells to add the "chip" or do an external notification. That's only available in the UI at this point.
Your best bet will be to create a notification tool using (google apps script|cloud functions|something else) to notify people on updated cells manually (not using the action item chip)
Of course, this might also be the right time to shift from a spreadsheet to a proper application that manages state and features like this.
There is a public request for adding this to the API, if you'd like to +1 the issue, and maybe add a comment on how it would impact your work.