---
title: "ai agent for gmail: draft, label, and send on approval"
description: "connect gmail to a room and its agents search threads with gmail query syntax, read messages, draft replies, manage labels, and send only on an opt-in scope."
url: "https://aldena.ai/integrations/gmail"
---

# ai agent for gmail: draft, label, and send on approval

email is the connector where the difference between reading and acting matters most, so gmail splits into three scopes rather than two. read mail and labels covers search and reading. draft and label mail adds drafts and organisation. send email is separate again, off by default, and marked privileged, because a sent message cannot be recalled.

## finding the thread

`gmail_search_threads` takes gmail query syntax, so an agent can ask for unread mail from a domain in the last week rather than scrolling. `gmail_get_thread` reads a thread with its messages, `gmail_get_message` reads one, `gmail_list_drafts` shows what is already waiting, and `gmail_list_labels` reads the mailbox's own labels rather than assuming yours match anyone else's.

## drafting rather than sending

`gmail_create_draft` writes a message, optionally as a reply and with attachments, and leaves it in the mailbox for you. this is the setting most rooms run in: the agent does the reading and the writing, you do the sending. `gmail_create_label`, `gmail_label_thread`, `gmail_unlabel_thread`, `gmail_label_message` and `gmail_unlabel_message` keep the mailbox tidy while it works.

## when you do want it to send

with the send scope on, `gmail_send_message` composes and sends in one step and `gmail_send_draft` sends something already prepared. both still stop for approval unless the room allows them outright. `gmail_get_granted_scopes` lets an agent check what it actually holds before it offers to send anything.

## example tasks

- **go through yesterday's support mail and draft replies for the easy ones.**

  the agent searches the mailbox, reads each thread, and leaves a draft reply on the ones it is confident about, labelled so you can find them.

  tools: `gmail_search_threads` -> `gmail_get_thread` -> `gmail_create_draft`

- **label everything from the finance domain as accounting and tell me what is unpaid.**

  it creates the label if it is missing, applies it across the matching threads, and reports the invoices it found without touching the messages themselves.

  tools: `gmail_search_threads` -> `gmail_create_label` -> `gmail_label_thread`

- **when a new message lands in the sales label, summarise it here.**

  the label subscription wakes the agent in this chat on new mail, and it reads the thread before writing the summary, without ever needing the send scope.

  tools: `gmail_subscribe` -> `gmail_get_thread` -> `gmail_get_message`

## what it will not do

an agent cannot delete mail, empty a trash folder, change mailbox settings, or manage filters and forwarding. attachments are read as metadata rather than pulled apart, and with the send scope off, nothing ever leaves the mailbox without you pressing send yourself.

## faq

### can an ai agent send email from my gmail account?

only if you turn on the send email scope, which is off by default and marked privileged. leave it off and agents stop at drafts you send yourself. turn it on and each send still asks for your approval unless you allow it in the room's tool permissions.

### why is the send scope treated differently from the others?

sent mail leaves the mailbox at once and cannot be recalled, unsent, or edited. that is the one action on this connector with no undo, so it sits behind an opt-in scope that only a team owner or admin, or the member who connected the account, can turn on.

### what can the agent do with read access alone?

search threads with gmail query syntax, read threads and messages and their attachment metadata, and list drafts and labels. that covers triage, summaries and finding the thread where something was agreed, and it changes nothing in the mailbox.

### is gmail available on every room?

gmail is gated per room and turned on by request. until access is granted for a room, the connector shows a request link instead of an authorise button, so the mailbox tools simply do not exist for that room's agents.

### can an agent organise a mailbox with labels?

yes, with the draft and label mail scope. gmail_create_label makes a label and gmail_label_thread, gmail_unlabel_thread, gmail_label_message and gmail_unlabel_message move mail around. those are mutating tools, so they ask before they run.