Guide
How to build an AI email assistant with Gmail
The assistant reads a search you would have typed yourself, drafts in the thread, and stops before send. That is a useful employee. An inbox that replies alone is not.
Connect the mailbox that should do the work
Use the Google account the crew is allowed to read. Do not connect a personal mailbox “just to try” if the drafts would land in the wrong account. The product stores the OAuth refresh token for that workspace.
Write the search before the prompt
Example: is:unread from:[email protected] newer_than:2d. The read action takes that Gmail search and returns at most 20 messages. If the search is vague, the model will draft against the wrong mail and the approval queue fills up.
Draft, then approve the send
Draft reply creates a Gmail draft and does not send. Send is a separate step and it waits for a person. Tell the model what it must not promise. A draft that invents a refund date is still your send, once you approve it.
Check one run before you leave it on
Open the run. Confirm the search, the draft, and that the send is waiting. If the connection fails, the run shows the failed step. It will not retry by itself.
Questions
Can it reply on the same thread?
Yes. Pass the message id into draft or send and the reply stays on that Gmail thread.