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openclaw/docs/channels/gmail.md

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summary read_when
Gmail channel status, capabilities, and configuration using polling or Pub/Sub
Working on Gmail channel features or debugging email sync

Gmail (plugin)

The Gmail channel allows Clawdbot to send and receive emails via the Google Gmail API. It leverages the gog CLI tool for authentication and API interactions.

Status

  • Text: Fully supported (Markdown auto-converted to rich HTML).
  • Threading: Fully supported (replies thread to original emails).
  • Attachments: Automatic metadata injection (Filename, Type, Size, ID). Agents can download attachments on-demand using gog.
  • Sync: Supports robust polling with circuit breaker and optional Pub/Sub webhooks.

Attachments

Keith automatically manages attachments to optimize for speed and storage:

  1. Auto-Download: Attachments under 5MB are automatically downloaded to Keith's local cache. The agent sees a direct file path (e.g., ~/.attachments/thread-123/invoice.pdf) and can read it immediately.
  2. On-Demand: Larger attachments are presented as metadata: [Attachment: large-video.mp4 (Type: video/mp4, Size: 150 MB, ID: ...)]. If Keith needs these, he must use the gog tool to download them explicitly.

Safety & Security

Allowlist Enforcement

Keith strictly enforces an allowlist to prevent unauthorized usage and spam.

  • Inbound Protection (Quarantine): If an email arrives from a sender NOT in the allowFrom list:

    • It is quarantined: The label not-allow-listed is applied.
    • It is removed from Inbox: The INBOX label is removed.
    • It remains UNREAD: So you can review it later if needed.
    • Keith never sees it: The message is silently filtered before reaching the agent logic.

  • Outbound Protection:

    • Keith cannot send new emails to addresses not on the allowlist.
    • Replies are permitted: If Keith is replying to a valid thread (one that passed the inbound filter), the reply is allowed regardless of the recipient list, as the thread is trusted.

"Reply All" Behavior

To function as a collaborative participant, Keith defaults to Reply All behavior when responding to threads.

  • When Keith replies to a thread, the response goes to the Sender and all CC'd recipients of the latest message in that thread.
  • Privacy Note: Be aware that if an allowed sender includes external parties on a thread, Keith's reply will be visible to them.

Opinionated "Inbox Zero" Workflow

Important: The Gmail channel enforces an "Inbox Zero" philosophy to maintain a clean state and prevent infinite reply loops.

  • Reply = Archive: When Keith sends a reply to a thread, that thread is automatically archived (the INBOX label is removed).
  • Why?: If the thread remained in the Inbox, future sync cycles might re-process it or confuse the agent about what is "pending."
  • Result: You will see Keith's replies in "All Mail" or "Sent," but the thread will disappear from your Inbox view once handled.

Prerequisites

  1. Install gog: Ensure the gog binary is in your PATH. The channel will fail to start if gog is missing.
  2. Authenticate: Run gog auth login for the accounts you want Keith to use. 
    gog auth login

Configuration Reference

The following configuration options are available in clawdbot.json under channels.gmail.

Global Channel Settings

Key Type Default Description
enabled boolean true Globally enable or disable the Gmail channel.
accounts object {} Map of account configurations (keyed by account ID).
defaults object {} Default settings applied to all accounts.

Account Settings (channels.gmail.accounts.<id>)

Key Type Default Description
enabled boolean true Enable/disable this specific account.
email string Required The Gmail address to monitor and send from.
name string email Display name for this account in logs and UI.
allowFrom string[] [] Whitelist of senders. Supports exact emails or @domain.com wildcards. Use ["*"] for open access.
pollIntervalMs number 60000 Frequency of polling for new messages in milliseconds.
delegate string null Optional: The email address of a delegator if using Gmail delegation.
sessionTtlDays number 7 How many days to keep inactive thread sessions before pruning.

Example clawdbot.json

{
  "channels": {
    "gmail": {
      "enabled": true,
      "accounts": {
        "work": {
          "email": "keith.agent@company.com",
          "allowFrom": ["*@company.com"],
          "pollIntervalMs": 30000
        },
        "personal": {
          "email": "my-bot@gmail.com",
          "allowFrom": ["my-phone@gmail.com"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

How it works

Inbound Processing

  1. Sync: Every pollIntervalMs, the monitor loop uses gog to search for label:INBOX is:unread.
  2. Parsing:
    • Extracts plain text and HTML.
    • Prepends [Thread Context: Subject is "..."] to the body so the agent always knows the context of the email chain.
    • Strips quoted "On [date], [user] wrote:" text to keep the prompt clean.
  3. Resilience: A per-account Circuit Breaker tracks failures. If the API returns repeated errors (403, 500, etc.), the account will enter a "backoff" state, increasing the wait time between retries to avoid account lockout.

Outbound Processing

  1. Markdown: Keith's responses are parsed as Markdown.
  2. HTML Generation: Markdown is converted to rich HTML (tables, bold, links, etc.) using marked and sanitized.
  3. Delivery: Replies are sent via gog gmail send.
  4. Threading: Replies automatically include the In-Reply-To and References headers derived from the original message ID.
  5. Archiving: To prevent "reply loops," the original thread is automatically removed from the INBOX label after Keith sends a response.

Routing & Sessions

  • Session Key: gmail:<account_email>:<thread_id>
  • Each Gmail thread is isolated. This means Keith maintains a separate memory/history for every unique email conversation.
  • If you forward an email to Keith, it will start a new session based on that new thread ID.

Target Formats (CLI/Cron)

To send an email via CLI or a cron job:

  • Target: gmail:<email> (starts a new thread) or gmail:<thread_id> (replies to existing).
  • Command: 
    clawdbot message send --channel gmail --target "boss@example.com" --message "Report is ready."

Troubleshooting

  • Monitor Latency: If emails take too long to arrive, check pollIntervalMs.
  • Request IDs: Every inbound message is assigned a 8-character ID. Search logs for [gmail][<id>] to see the full lifecycle from sync to reply.
  • Token Expiry: Run gog auth list to check token status. If an account stops syncing, try gog auth login --account <email>.
  • Permission Errors: Ensure the Google Cloud Project has the Gmail API enabled.