Gmail Actions

Automate your email workflows with comprehensive Gmail actions. Send emails, manage drafts, search your inbox, and handle email threads — all within SmartFlow.

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Prerequisites

Before using Gmail actions, you must:

1. Connect your Gmail account in Channels → Gmail
2. Authorize the required permissions via Google OAuth

See Gmail Channel Setup for detailed connection instructions.

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Available Triggers

📥 Gmail AI Draft

Trigger Type: CHAT_SERVICE

Triggered when a user sends an email to your connected Gmail instance. Use this to automatically process incoming emails with AI.

Field	Description
Channel	Gmail
Event	New email received

Example Workflow:

Gmail AI Draft (Trigger)
    ↓
AI Request (Analyze email content)
    ↓
Create Gmail Draft (Generate AI response)

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Available Actions

Action	Code	Description
📤 Send Gmail Email	GMAIL_SEND_EMAIL	Send a new email directly
📬 Read Gmail Emails	GMAIL_READ_EMAILS	Fetch emails from your inbox
📧 Get Gmail Email	GMAIL_GET_EMAIL	Get a specific email by ID
↩️ Reply to Gmail Email	GMAIL_REPLY	Reply to an existing email thread
🔍 Search Gmail Emails	GMAIL_SEARCH	Search emails with Gmail query syntax
✅ Mark Gmail Email as Read	GMAIL_MARK_READ	Mark an email as read
📝 Create Gmail Draft	GMAIL_CREATE_DRAFT	Create a new email draft
📋 List Gmail Drafts	GMAIL_LIST_DRAFTS	List all drafts in your account
📨 Send Gmail Draft	GMAIL_SEND_DRAFT	Send an existing draft
🗑️ Delete Gmail Draft	GMAIL_DELETE_DRAFT	Delete a draft
📂 Get Email Thread	GMAIL_GET_THREAD	Retrieve full email conversation

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📤 Send Gmail Email

Send a new email directly from your connected Gmail account.

Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
To	Email	✅	Recipient email address
Subject	String	✅	Email subject line
Body	String	✅	Email content (HTML supported)
CC	Email	❌	Carbon copy recipients
BCC	Email	❌	Blind carbon copy recipients

Output Variables

Variable	Type	Description
messageId	String	Unique ID of sent email
threadId	String	Thread ID for replies

Example

Action: Send Gmail Email
  To: "{{customer_email}}"
  Subject: "Your order #{{order_id}} has shipped!"
  Body: |
    Hi {{customer_name}},
    
    Great news! Your order has shipped.
    
    Tracking number: {{tracking_number}}
    
    Best regards,
    The Team

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📬 Read Gmail Emails

Fetch recent emails from your inbox with optional filtering.

Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
Max Results	Number	❌	Maximum emails to retrieve (default: 10)
Label	String	❌	Gmail label to filter (e.g., "INBOX", "UNREAD")
Query	String	❌	Gmail search query

Output Variables

Variable	Type	Description
emails	Array	List of email objects
emails[].id	String	Email ID
emails[].subject	String	Email subject
emails[].from	String	Sender email
emails[].snippet	String	Email preview
emails[].date	String	Received date

Example

Action: Read Gmail Emails
  Max Results: 5
  Label: "UNREAD"
  Query: "from:support@example.com"

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📧 Get Gmail Email

Retrieve a specific email by its ID with full content.

Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
Email ID	String	✅	The Gmail message ID

Output Variables

Variable	Type	Description
email	Object	Full email object
email.id	String	Email ID
email.threadId	String	Thread ID
email.subject	String	Email subject
email.from	String	Sender
email.to	String	Recipients
email.body	String	Full email body
email.date	String	Date received
email.attachments	Array	List of attachments

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↩️ Reply to Gmail Email

Reply to an existing email, maintaining the thread context.

Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
Thread ID	String	✅	The thread to reply to
Message ID	String	✅	The specific message to reply to
Body	String	✅	Reply content
Reply All	Boolean	❌	Reply to all recipients (default: false)

Output Variables

Variable	Type	Description
messageId	String	ID of the reply
threadId	String	Thread ID

Example

Action: Reply to Gmail Email
  Thread ID: "{{email.threadId}}"
  Message ID: "{{email.id}}"
  Body: |
    {{ai_response}}
    
    ---
    This is an AI-assisted response.

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🔍 Search Gmail Emails

Search your Gmail using Gmail's powerful query syntax.

Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
Query	String	✅	Gmail search query
Max Results	Number	❌	Maximum results (default: 10)

Gmail Query Syntax

Query	Description
from:email@example.com	Emails from specific sender
to:email@example.com	Emails to specific recipient
subject:keyword	Subject contains keyword
is:unread	Unread emails only
is:starred	Starred emails
has:attachment	Emails with attachments
after:2025/01/01	Emails after date
before:2025/12/31	Emails before date
label:important	Emails with label
"exact phrase"	Exact phrase match

Example

Action: Search Gmail Emails
  Query: "from:{{customer_email}} is:unread subject:order"
  Max Results: 5

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✅ Mark Gmail Email as Read

Mark an email as read in Gmail.

Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
Email ID	String	✅	The email to mark as read

Example

Action: Mark Gmail Email as Read
  Email ID: "{{email.id}}"

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📝 Create Gmail Draft

Create a draft email for human review before sending.

Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
To	Email	✅	Recipient email
Subject	String	✅	Email subject
Body	String	✅	Email content
CC	Email	❌	Carbon copy
BCC	Email	❌	Blind carbon copy
Thread ID	String	❌	For draft replies

Output Variables

Variable	Type	Description
draftId	String	ID of created draft
messageId	String	Message ID

Use Case: AI Draft Mode

Trigger: Gmail AI Draft
    ↓
AI Request:
  Prompt: "Generate a professional response to this email"
  Input: "{{email.body}}"
    ↓
Create Gmail Draft:
  To: "{{email.from}}"
  Subject: "Re: {{email.subject}}"
  Body: "{{ai_response}}"

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📋 List Gmail Drafts

Retrieve all drafts from your Gmail account.

Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
Max Results	Number	❌	Maximum drafts to list

Output Variables

Variable	Type	Description
drafts	Array	List of draft objects
drafts[].id	String	Draft ID
drafts[].message	Object	Draft message preview

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📨 Send Gmail Draft

Send an existing draft from your Gmail.

Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
Draft ID	String	✅	The draft to send

Output Variables

Variable	Type	Description
messageId	String	ID of sent message
threadId	String	Thread ID

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🗑️ Delete Gmail Draft

Delete a draft from your Gmail account.

Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
Draft ID	String	✅	The draft to delete

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📂 Get Email Thread

Retrieve a complete email conversation thread.

Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
Thread ID	String	✅	The thread to retrieve

Output Variables

Variable	Type	Description
thread	Object	Full thread object
thread.id	String	Thread ID
thread.messages	Array	All messages in thread
thread.historyId	String	History ID

Example

Action: Get Email Thread
  Thread ID: "{{email.threadId}}"

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Complete Workflow Examples

Example 1: AI Email Assistant

Automatically process incoming emails and create AI-generated draft responses.

Gmail AI Draft (Trigger)
    ↓
Get Email Thread (Get full context)
    ↓
AI Request
  - System: "You are a helpful email assistant"
  - Input: "{{thread.messages}}"
  - Output: Structured (response, sentiment, urgency)
    ↓
If Condition: urgency == "high"
    ├── Yes: Send Gmail Email (immediate response)
    └── No: Create Gmail Draft (for review)

Example 2: Email Search & Process

Search for specific emails and process them in bulk.

Scheduled Workflow (Daily at 9 AM)
    ↓
Search Gmail Emails
  Query: "is:unread from:customers@* after:yesterday"
    ↓
For Each: email in emails
    ↓
AI Request (Categorize email)
    ↓
If Condition: category == "support"
    └── Create JIRA Issue

Example 3: Draft Review Workflow

Create drafts, let humans review, then send.

Gmail AI Draft (Trigger)
    ↓
AI Request (Generate response)
    ↓
Create Gmail Draft
    ↓
Send Slack Message
  "New draft ready for review from {{email.from}}"

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Best Practices

1. Use Draft Mode for Critical Emails

For customer-facing or sensitive emails, always use Create Gmail Draft instead of Send Gmail Email. This allows human review before sending.

2. Leverage Thread Context

Use Get Email Thread before responding to ensure your AI has full conversation context.

3. Implement Rate Limiting

Gmail has API quotas. For high-volume workflows:

• Add delays between actions
• Batch operations when possible
• Monitor your quota usage

4. Use Smart Search Queries

Combine Gmail query operators for precise filtering:

from:vip-customer@* is:unread subject:(urgent OR critical) after:2025/01/01

5. Handle Errors Gracefully

Use If Condition nodes to check for errors and implement fallback logic.

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Related Documentation

• Gmail Channel Setup
• Send Email Action (Generic SMTP)
• AI Request Action
• If Condition
• SmartFlow Introduction