---

name: gmail description: Gmail API via curl. Use this skill to read, send, and manage emails, labels, drafts, and threads. vm0_secrets:

• GMAIL_CLIENT_SECRET
• GMAIL_REFRESH_TOKEN vm0_vars:
• GMAIL_CLIENT_ID

---

Gmail API

Read, send, and manage emails via Google's Gmail REST API.

Official docs: https://developers.google.com/workspace/gmail/api/reference/rest

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When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• Read and search emails
• Send emails or reply to threads
• Manage drafts
• Create and manage labels
• List and modify threads
• Get user profile information

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Prerequisites

1. Create Google Cloud Project

1. Go to https://console.cloud.google.com
2. Create a new project or select existing
3. Enable Gmail API: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/library/gmail.googleapis.com

2. Configure OAuth Consent Screen

1. Go to https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials/consent
2. Select External → Create
3. Fill required fields (app name, support email, developer email)
4. Click Save and Continue through Scopes (skip adding scopes)
5. In Audience section, click Add Users and add your Gmail address as test user
6. Save and continue to finish

3. Create OAuth Client ID

1. Go to https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials
2. Click Create Credentials → OAuth client ID
3. Choose Web application (not Desktop)
4. Add Authorized redirect URI: https://developers.google.com/oauthplayground
5. Click Create and note the Client ID and Client Secret

4. Get Refresh Token (OAuth Playground)

1. Go to https://developers.google.com/oauthplayground/
2. Click Settings (gear icon ⚙️) → Check Use your own OAuth credentials
3. Enter your Client ID and Client Secret
4. In the left panel, enter scope: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify
5. Click Authorize APIs → Sign in with your test user account
6. Click Exchange authorization code for tokens
7. Copy the Refresh token

5. Set Environment Variables

Copyexport GMAIL_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"
export GMAIL_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"
export GMAIL_REFRESH_TOKEN="your-refresh-token"

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Get Access Token

Access tokens expire after 1 hour. Use refresh token to get a new one and save to /tmp:

Copybash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://oauth2.googleapis.com/token" -d "client_id=$GMAIL_CLIENT_ID" -d "client_secret=$GMAIL_CLIENT_SECRET" -d "refresh_token=$GMAIL_REFRESH_TOKEN" -d "grant_type=refresh_token"' | jq -r '.access_token' > /tmp/gmail_token.txt

# Verify token was obtained
head -c 20 /tmp/gmail_token.txt && echo "..."

Important: When using $VAR in a command that pipes to another command, wrap the command containing $VAR in bash -c '...'. Due to a Claude Code bug, environment variables are silently cleared when pipes are used directly.

Placeholders: Values in {curly-braces} like {message-id} are placeholders. Replace them with actual values when executing.

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User Profile

Get Profile

Copybash -c 'curl -s "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/profile" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

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Messages

List Messages

Copybash -c 'curl -s "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/messages?maxResults=10" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

List Messages with Query

Search using Gmail query syntax:

Copybash -c 'curl -s "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/messages?q=is:unread&maxResults=10" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

Common queries:

• is:unread - Unread messages
• from:example@gmail.com - From specific sender
• subject:hello - Subject contains "hello"
• after:2024/01/01 - After date
• has:attachment - Has attachments
• label:INBOX - In inbox

Get Message

Copybash -c 'curl -s "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/{message-id}" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

Get Message (Metadata Only)

Copybash -c 'curl -s "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/{message-id}?format=metadata&metadataHeaders=From&metadataHeaders=Subject&metadataHeaders=Date" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

Send Email

Copy# Create RFC 2822 message and base64url encode
RAW_MESSAGE=$(echo -e "To: {recipient-email}\r\nSubject: {subject}\r\nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8\r\n\r\n{body-text}" | base64 | tr '+/' '-_' | tr -d '=')

Write to /tmp/gmail_request.json:

Copy{
  "raw": "$RAW_MESSAGE"
}

Then run:

Copybash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/send" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gmail_request.json'

Reply to Thread

Copy# Include In-Reply-To and References headers for proper threading
RAW_MESSAGE=$(echo -e "To: {recipient-email}\r\nSubject: Re: {original-subject}\r\nIn-Reply-To: <{original-message-id}>\r\nReferences: <{original-message-id}>\r\nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8\r\n\r\n{reply-text}" | base64 | tr '+/' '-_' | tr -d '=')

Write to /tmp/gmail_request.json:

Copy{
  "raw": "$RAW_MESSAGE",
  "threadId": "{thread-id}"
}

Then run:

Copybash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/send" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gmail_request.json'

Modify Message Labels

Write to /tmp/gmail_request.json:

Copy{
  "addLabelIds": ["STARRED"],
  "removeLabelIds": ["UNREAD"]
}

Then run:

Copybash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/{message-id}/modify" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gmail_request.json'

Trash Message

Copybash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/{message-id}/trash" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

Delete Message Permanently

Copybash -c 'curl -s -X DELETE "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/{message-id}" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

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Threads

List Threads

Copybash -c 'curl -s "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/threads?maxResults=10" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

Get Thread

Copybash -c 'curl -s "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/threads/{thread-id}" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

Trash Thread

Copybash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/threads/{thread-id}/trash" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

---

Labels

List Labels

Copybash -c 'curl -s "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/labels" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"' | jq '.labels[] | {id, name, type}'

Create Label

Write to /tmp/gmail_request.json:

Copy{
  "name": "{label-name}",
  "labelListVisibility": "labelShow",
  "messageListVisibility": "show"
}

Then run:

Copybash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/labels" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gmail_request.json'

Delete Label

Copybash -c 'curl -s -X DELETE "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/labels/{label-id}" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

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Drafts

List Drafts

Copybash -c 'curl -s "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/drafts" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

Create Draft

CopyRAW_MESSAGE=$(echo -e "To: {recipient-email}\r\nSubject: {subject}\r\nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8\r\n\r\n{body-text}" | base64 | tr '+/' '-_' | tr -d '=')

Write to /tmp/gmail_request.json:

Copy{
  "message": {
    "raw": "$RAW_MESSAGE"
  }
}

Then run:

Copybash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/drafts" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gmail_request.json'

Send Draft

Write to /tmp/gmail_request.json:

Copy{
  "id": "{draft-id}"
}

Then run:

Copybash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/drafts/send" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gmail_request.json'

Delete Draft

Copybash -c 'curl -s -X DELETE "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/drafts/{draft-id}" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

---

Attachments

Get Attachment

Copybash -c 'curl -s "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/{message-id}/attachments/{attachment-id}" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"' | jq -r '.data' | base64 -d > attachment.bin

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Settings

Get Vacation Settings

Copybash -c 'curl -s "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/settings/vacation" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

Update Vacation Settings

Write to /tmp/gmail_request.json:

Copy{
  "enableAutoReply": true,
  "responseSubject": "Out of Office",
  "responseBodyPlainText": "I am currently out of office.",
  "restrictToContacts": false,
  "restrictToDomain": false
}

Then run:

Copybash -c 'curl -s -X PUT "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/settings/vacation" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gmail_request.json'

List Filters

Copybash -c 'curl -s "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/settings/filters" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"'

Create Filter

Write to /tmp/gmail_request.json:

Copy{
  "criteria": {
    "from": "{filter-email}"
  },
  "action": {
    "addLabelIds": ["TRASH"],
    "removeLabelIds": ["INBOX"]
  }
}

Then run:

Copybash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/settings/filters" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/gmail_request.json'

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Common Scopes

Use full URL: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify

---

Decode Message Body

Gmail returns message body as base64url encoded. To decode:

Copybash -c 'curl -s "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/{message-id}" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(cat /tmp/gmail_token.txt)"' | jq -r '.payload.body.data // .payload.parts[0].body.data' | tr '_-' '/+' | base64 -d

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Guidelines

1. Token Refresh: Access tokens expire in 1 hour; always refresh before API calls
2. Rate Limits: Gmail API has quota limits; implement exponential backoff
3. Batch Requests: Use batch endpoints for multiple operations
4. Message Format: Messages must be RFC 2822 compliant and base64url encoded
5. Scopes: Request minimum required scopes for your use case

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API Reference

• REST Reference: https://developers.google.com/workspace/gmail/api/reference/rest
• Guides: https://developers.google.com/workspace/gmail/api/guides
• OAuth Playground: https://developers.google.com/oauthplayground/
• Scopes: https://developers.google.com/identity/protocols/oauth2/scopes#gmail