# Gmail API > Google's REST API for Gmail mailboxes. It searches and reads messages and threads, writes drafts, sends mail, manages labels and settings, and reports mailbox changes through history records and Cloud Pub/Sub push notifications. Access is by OAuth 2.0. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gmail-api - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gmail-api.md (~9,100 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gmail-api.min.md (~1,830 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gmail-api.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json) - Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt) - API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json - Updated: 2026-10-08 ## Overview **Grade BB · 77.8/100 · rank #17 of 629 · #2 in Mailbox access · agent-ready · confidence medium** More from Google, listed separately because each is its own product: [Gemini Developer API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-api.md) (Model APIs & inference), [Gemini Embedding](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-embedding.md) (Embeddings & rerankers), [Vertex AI Gemini tuning](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vertex-ai-tuning.md) (Fine-tuning), [Google Cloud Model Armor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-model-armor.md) (Guardrails & safety filters), [Google Imagen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-imagen.md) (Image generation), [Google Veo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-veo.md) (Video generation), [Google Lyria](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-lyria.md) (Music generation), [Google Cloud Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-speech-to-text.md) (Speech-to-text), [Agent Development Kit (ADK)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-adk.md) (Agent frameworks & SDKs), [Google Cloud Secret Manager](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-secret-manager.md) (Secrets & credential vaults), [Google Weather API (Maps Platform)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-weather-api.md) (Weather & climate data), [Chrome DevTools MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/chrome-devtools-mcp.md) (Browser automation), [Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-maps-platform.md) (Maps, geocoding & places), [Google Cloud Translation](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-cloud-translation.md) (Translation), [Google Calendar API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-calendar-api.md) (Calendars & scheduling), [Google Drive API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-drive-api.md) (File storage & sharing), [Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-cli.md) (Agent harnesses), [Google Ads API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-ads-api.md) (Advertising & campaign operations), [Google Sheets API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-sheets-api.md) (Spreadsheets & operational tables). ## Assessment Fourteen OAuth scopes separate labels, sending, metadata and read-only access, and the quota page gives every method a unit cost. Eight of the scopes are restricted, read-only and metadata among them, so a public app that reads mail needs Google's verification and an annual third-party security assessment. Gmail mailboxes only. ## Facts | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Vendor | Google (https://developers.google.com/workspace/gmail) | | Kind | HTTP API | | Category | Mailbox access (https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/mailbox-access) | | Transport | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | | Endpoint | `https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1` | | Auth | OAuth · OAuth 2.0 access token as a Bearer header, from a Google Cloud project with the Gmail API enabled and an OAuth consent screen. Self-serve for personal use, testing and apps internal to one Workspace organisation. A public app that requests any of the eight restricted scopes, which include `gmail.readonly` and `gmail.metadata`, needs Google's restricted-scope verification, and a CASA security assessment every 12 months if it reaches the data from or through a server. Workspace domains can use a service account with domain-wide delegation. The MCP server needs your own OAuth client ID and secret, the `gmail.readonly` and `gmail.compose` scopes, and Developer Preview Programme membership. | | Pricing | Free (Free) · All standard use is at no extra cost, and a free Google account and Cloud project are enough to start, with no card or contract. Limits are 1,200,000 quota units a minute per project, 6,000 a minute per user and a daily threshold of 80,000,000 units per project. Google says use above the daily threshold is planned to be charged to the Cloud billing account later in 2026, with details and at least 90 days' notice still to come (https://developers.google.com/workspace/gmail/api/reference/quota). A security assessment for restricted scopes is paid to a third-party assessor, at a cost Google's pages don't state. | | x402 | No · No x402, MPP or L402 in the Gmail API guides, the quota page or the discovery document (checked 2026-10-08). | | Licence | Apache-2.0 (client libraries) | | Tools exposed | 23 | | Packages | npm: `@googleapis/gmail`; pypi: `google-api-python-client` | | Source | https://github.com/googleapis/google-api-nodejs-client | | Docs | https://developers.google.com/workspace/gmail/api/guides | | llms.txt | not found | | Last release | 2026-09-23 | | GitHub stars | 12,262 (as of 2026-10-08) | | npm downloads / week | 1,091,106 | | Surface graded | The REST API at https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1, generally available, discovery revision 20260928 with 79 methods. The MCP server is a developer preview and is described but not the basis of the grade | | Free tier | All standard use, up to 80,000,000 quota units a day per project | | Rate limits | 1,200,000 quota units a minute per project and 6,000 a minute per user per project. `messages.list` 5 units, `messages.get` 20, `threads.get` 40, `messages.send` 100, `history.list` 2 | | Planned charges | Use above the daily threshold to be billed to the Cloud billing account later in 2026, with at least 90 days' notice. No price published | | Scopes | 14. Non-sensitive `gmail.labels` and two add-on scopes. Sensitive `gmail.send` and two add-on scopes. Restricted `https://mail.google.com/`, `gmail.readonly`, `gmail.compose`, `gmail.insert`, `gmail.modify`, `gmail.metadata`, `gmail.settings.basic` and `gmail.settings.sharing` | | App verification | Restricted scopes need restricted-scope verification for a public app, plus a CASA security assessment every 12 months when data is reached from or through a server. Google says the process can take several weeks. Personal, test, internal and domain-wide installed apps are exempt | | Sending | `messages.send` and `drafts.send` take an RFC 2822 message, base64url encoded, up to 36,700,160 bytes by upload and 500 recipients a message. The user's Gmail daily sending limit applies, 2,000 messages a day on paid Workspace and 500 on trial accounts | | Sync | `history.list` from a stored `historyId`, with records typically kept for at least a week and a 404 when the ID is too old. Push notifications through Cloud Pub/Sub, renewed with `watch` at least every 7 days | | Batching | Up to 100 calls a batch request, with 50 or fewer recommended. Each call counts against quota separately | | MCP server | gmailmcp.googleapis.com/mcp/v1, streamable HTTP, own OAuth client with `gmail.readonly` and `gmail.compose`, Developer Preview Programme members only. 23 tools on 8 October 2026, drafts but no send and no permanent delete, each with readOnlyHint, destructiveHint and idempotentHint annotations | | Audit | Workspace OAuth log events record the API name, the API method, the OAuth client ID and scopes. The security investigation tool needs Enterprise, Frontline, Education Standard or Plus, or Cloud Identity Premium editions | | Client libraries | @googleapis/gmail 22.0.1 (23 September 2026, Node 22 or later) and google-api-python-client 2.201.0 (30 September 2026), Apache-2.0, plus Google's generated clients for other languages | | Capabilities | mailbox.read, mailbox.search, mailbox.send, mailbox.drafts, mailbox.sync | | Tags | hosted, official, free-tier, mcp, webhooks, oauth, typescript, python, enterprise | | JSON | https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gmail-api.json | ## Score breakdown (methodology v0.4, October 2026 research run) Assessed 2026-10-08 from public evidence against the published checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist). Confidence: medium. Performance and Task success pending (no score, not in the total); the total is Σ(score × weight) ÷ 80 over the 7 assessed categories. "This run" is each category's share of the 100 points. | Category | Weight | This run | Score (0–100) | Points | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% | 20 | 90 | 18.0 | | Performance | 10% | pending | pending | n/a | | Schema & documentation | 13% | 16.2 | 82 | 13.3 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% | 16.2 | 82 | 13.3 | | Security & auth | 14% | 17.5 | 81 | 14.2 | | Payments & pricing | 10% | 12.5 | 35 | 4.4 | | Task success | 10% | pending | pending | n/a | | Maintenance & community | 7% | 8.8 | 85 | 7.4 | | Transparency & trust (editorial 69, provenance 94) | 7% | 8.8 | 82 | 7.2 | | Negative events | up to −15 | up to −15 | none recorded | 0 | | **Total** | | | | **77.8 → BB** | ### Why each score - Reliability 90: Graded on the REST API with the hosted lines. The Google Workspace Status Dashboard lists Gmail with an incidents feed that goes back to October 2025 (20). In the 90 days to 8 October 2026 the feed has one Gmail entry, a low-severity notice from 18 to 24 September about sign-in on the Gmail Android app, with no entry that touches the service or the API. The last service disruption for Gmail was 56 minutes on 31 May 2026, across several Workspace products. The dashboard tracks the Gmail product, not the API alone (30). 1,200,000 quota units a minute per project, 6,000 a minute per user and 80,000,000 a day per project, with a unit cost for every method (15). 403 and 429 rate errors with a truncated exponential backoff formula, and 429s for sending and bandwidth limits that carry a retry time. `messages.send` has no idempotency key, and the error guide says a 200 response doesn't mean the mail was sent (10). The Workspace SLA covers Gmail at 99.9 per cent but measures downtime in the user web interface and doesn't name the API, read the same way as for Drive (5). The REST API is GA. The MCP server is a developer preview (10). - Performance: Pending. Latency is measured per call by our probes, which haven't run yet, so this run doesn't score it. Its weight is shared across the assessed categories until the first probe window closes. - Schema & documentation 82: Google publishes a discovery document, not OpenAPI, which is a machine-readable contract all the same, at revision 20260928 with 79 methods on 8 October. The preview MCP server's 23 tools each carry typed input and output schemas (25). No llms.txt, and developers.google.com/llms.txt and /workspace/llms.txt returned 404 on 8 October (0). Method descriptions say what each call does and sometimes what to call in its place, such as `messages.delete` pointing to `messages.trash`, and the MCP tool descriptions name the tool to use first (16). Typed parameters with enums such as `format` and defaults such as `userId=me`, but a sent message is one base64url RFC 2822 string in `raw` and search is one free-text `q` string (11). An error guide with a JSON sample and a fix for each reason, and code samples across the guides (15). v1 in the path and dated release notes, though the last entry for the core API is 1 May 2026 and the growth of the MCP server from 10 tools to 23 isn't recorded there (15). - Agent ergonomics 82: Responses size with `format=minimal` or `metadata`, `metadataHeaders`, `maxResults` and Google's standard `fields` partial responses. List calls return IDs only, so reading mail takes a second call for each message, which batching of up to 100 calls eases. The MCP preview's 23 tool definitions come to about 71 KB (20). `pageToken`, the Gmail search syntax in `q`, `labelIds` and `history.list` for changes since a stored `historyId` (20). Error reasons with a documented fix, fewer of them than the Calendar and Drive guides list (17). Label changes and trash are safe to repeat and the MCP tools carry readOnlyHint, destructiveHint and idempotentHint, but sends have no idempotency key (12). Most parameters are optional and client libraries cover the main languages, but a send needs a hand-built MIME message (13). - Security & auth 81: OAuth 2.0 with 14 scopes and revocable tokens, from `gmail.labels` and `gmail.send` up to the full `https://mail.google.com/` scope. The discovery document lists `access_token` and `oauth_token` as query parameters, and Google's OAuth guide shows the query string as an alternative while calling the header preferable, so the checklist's 10-point deduction applies (30 less 10, 20). `gmail.readonly`, `gmail.metadata` (headers and labels, no bodies), `gmail.labels` and `gmail.send` for least privilege, and permanent delete only under the full scope. Nothing in the API confirms a send or a delete, and every scope that reads mail is restricted (17). The MCP guide warns about indirect prompt injection through email, requires screening of prompts and responses with Model Armor or a documented alternative, and tells operators to review actions. The REST guides say nothing on it (12). Workspace OAuth log events record the API name, method, OAuth client ID and scopes, with the investigation tool limited to higher editions, and no per-call log for personal accounts was found (12). security.txt valid to 2030 with the Google VRP, and the Google Workspace SOC 2 Type II reports, issued quarterly, list Gmail and the Gmail REST API in scope. Apps holding restricted data must pass a CASA assessment every 12 months (20). - Payments & pricing 35: No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Free within published quotas, with a unit cost for every method, but the price for use above 80,000,000 units a day, planned for later in 2026, isn't published on the quota page or the standardised-model page on 8 October (15). No charge for standard use and no card needed to enable the API (20). A person creates a Cloud project and an OAuth consent screen, a user consents in a browser, and a public app with restricted scopes goes through verification and a security assessment (0). - Task success: Pending. Task success needs the category task suites run through each tool, which haven't run yet, so this run doesn't score it. Its weight is shared across the assessed categories until then. A data provider's data-quality score is published on its listing now and becomes half of this category when it's scored. - Maintenance & community 85: @googleapis/gmail 22.0.1 on 23 September 2026, and discovery revision 20260928 (30). Four client releases in the 90 days, 20.0.0 and 21.0.0 on 10 September, 22.0.0 on 14 September and 22.0.1 on 23 September, though the Gmail API release notes have no entry after 24 June 2026 (20). Dated release notes with a feed and public client repositories with commits to 7 October. We didn't sample replies on the issue tracker (12). Current official client libraries, with google-api-python-client 2.201.0 on 30 September (15). Generated clients rebuilt from discovery with a CI workflow in google-api-nodejs-client, whose pass state we didn't check. The repository's own copy of the Gmail discovery file was at revision 20260727 (8). - Transparency & trust 82: Closed service under the Google APIs Terms of Service (last modified 9 November 2021), with Apache-2.0 client libraries (15). The Cloud Data Processing Addendum commits Google to delete Workspace customer data within a maximum of 180 days of a deletion, and the Workspace developer policy limits what third-party apps may do with Gmail data, including no transfer for advertising and no training of general models. We found no retention statement for personal accounts' data reached through the API, and didn't read the privacy policy text (20). Dated announcements ahead of changes, such as existing projects keeping their quotas for at least 60 days after 1 May 2026 and at least 90 days' notice before quota charges, but no stated deprecation period, and the API terms let Google discontinue an API (14). The Workspace sub-processor list, last modified 23 July 2026, names third-party sub-processors with the country each processes in, and covers Gmail as a Core Service for Workspace tenants (20). Fix list for a coding agent, everything this grade says the listing lacks, the biggest gain first (20 items): https://www.anchorterminal.com/fixes/gmail-api.md (JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/fixes/gmail-api.json) ### What we couldn't check - Price per quota unit above the 80,000,000-a-day threshold, and the date charging starts - Which scopes the MCP preview's label, trash and spam tools need, given the setup guide configures only `gmail.readonly` and `gmail.compose` - Why the live MCP server returns 23 tools while the reference page lists 10 and the setup guide 9 - Whether gmail.googleapis.com still accepts an access token in the query string. We read the discovery document and the OAuth guide and made no authenticated call. The same parameters appear for other Google APIs, and the Drive and Calendar dossiers didn't take this deduction - Whether failures of the Gmail API alone count as downtime under the Workspace SLA, which measures the user web interface - What a CASA security assessment costs - unchecked: PyPI weekly downloads for google-api-python-client (pypistats.org answered 429 on 8 October) - unchecked: the text of Google's privacy policy (the page answered 200 but we didn't read it) and a retention statement for personal accounts' data reached through the API - unchecked: replies on Google's public issue tracker for the Gmail API, and the pass state of CI in google-api-nodejs-client - unchecked: user caps and token lifetimes for unverified apps in testing, which sit in the OAuth verification help centre pages we didn't load - unchecked: the daily sending limit for personal gmail.com accounts, which the Workspace limits page doesn't give ### Sources - Gmail API overview: (seen 2026-10-08) - usage limits, per-method quota units and backoff: (seen 2026-10-08) - OAuth scopes and their sensitivity classes: (seen 2026-10-08) - restricted scope verification and security assessment: (seen 2026-10-08) - Workspace user data and developer policy, approved Gmail uses and limited use: (seen 2026-10-08) - error reference: (seen 2026-10-08) - push notifications: (seen 2026-10-08) - synchronisation guide: (seen 2026-10-08) - batch requests: (seen 2026-10-08) - release notes: (seen 2026-10-08) - MCP server setup guide and prompt-injection warning: (seen 2026-10-08) - MCP server reference: (seen 2026-10-08) - MCP tools/list response, 23 tools: (seen 2026-10-08) - MCP security and Model Armor: (seen 2026-10-08) - standardised model for agent tools and APIs: (seen 2026-10-08) - Gmail v1 discovery document, revision 20260928: (seen 2026-10-08) - OAuth guide, access token in a query string: (seen 2026-10-08) - Workspace status incidents feed: (seen 2026-10-08) - Workspace SLA: (seen 2026-10-08) - Workspace sub-processors: (seen 2026-10-08) - SOC 2 reports for Google Cloud and Workspace: (seen 2026-10-08) - Cloud Data Processing Addendum: (seen 2026-10-08) - OAuth log events: (seen 2026-10-08) - Gmail sending limits in Google Workspace: (seen 2026-10-08) - Google APIs Terms of Service: (seen 2026-10-08) - security.txt: (seen 2026-10-08) - llms.txt (404): (seen 2026-10-08) - npm latest for @googleapis/gmail: (seen 2026-10-08) - Gmail client changelog: (seen 2026-10-08) - PyPI, google-api-python-client: (seen 2026-10-08) ## Who's behind it (provenance 94/100, checked 2026-10-08) | Check | Finding | Points | | --- | --- | --- | | Legal entity named | Google LLC | 20/20 | | Domain age | google.com, registered 1997-09-15 (29 years) | 15/15 | | Endpoint on the vendor's domain | gmail.googleapis.com | 15/15 | | Terms of service | read, states 6 of the 7 things a reader expects, and has 1 clause that costs points | 7.1/10 | | Privacy policy | read, states 7 of the 8 things a reader expects, and has 1 clause that costs points | 7.3/10 | | Status page | www.google.com/appsstatus/dashboard | 10/10 | | Changelog | published | 10/10 | | security.txt | valid | 10/10 | The endpoint is on gmail.googleapis.com, Google's API domain. google.com was registered in 1997. The Google APIs Terms of Service (last modified 9 November 2021) name Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View. RDAP for google.com gives a registration date of 1997-09-15. www.google.com/.well-known/security.txt expires on 1 April 2030 and lists a contact, an encryption key and the vulnerability reward policy. The quota and scopes pages were last updated on 10 September 2026, the MCP setup guide on 18 September and the MCP reference on 21 July. Google publishes a discovery document for the API, not an OpenAPI spec. The Workspace status dashboard tracks the Gmail product, not the API on its own. ### Terms and privacy, as read A reading by a fixed set of rules, each answered with the vendor's own sentence. Not legal advice. **Terms of service** (https://developers.google.com/terms), read 2026-10-08, dated 2021-11-09, states 6 of the 7 things a reader expects. - To know. Restricts automated access (costs points). "Scrape, build databases, or otherwise create permanent copies of such content, or keep cached copies longer than permitted by the cache header;" - To know. Says access can be ended without notice or for any reason. "Google reserves the right to terminate the Terms with you or discontinue the APIs or any portion or feature or your access thereto for any reason and at any time without liability or other obligation to you." - To know. Has not been updated for three years or more. "Last modified: November 9, 2021 (see previous version)" - Gives the date it was last updated. Last updated 2021-11-09. - Names the governing law or courts. The law of California, with disputes in the courts of Santa Clara County, California. - States a limit on its liability. Capped at the fees paid in the 6 months before the claim. - Says how changes to the terms are announced. Says it gives notice of a change. - Not found in the text. Refers to a service level or uptime commitment. - Also in the text (2026-10-08). Content submitted through the APIs is licensed to Google on a perpetual, irrevocable and sublicensable basis, for the stated sole purpose of enabling Google to provide, secure and improve the APIs. "For the sole purpose of enabling Google to provide, secure, and improve the APIs (and the related service(s)) and only in accordance with the applicable Google privacy policies, you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, sublicensable, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to Use content" - Also in the text (2026-10-08). A developer may not misrepresent or mask its own identity or the identity of its API client when using the APIs or developer accounts. "You will not misrepresent or mask either your identity or your API Client's identity when using the APIs or developer accounts." - Also in the text (2026-10-08). Google may use the developer's company or product name, and screenshots or video of its API client, when promoting or demonstrating the APIs. "In the course of promoting, marketing, or demonstrating the APIs you are using and the associated Google products, Google may produce and distribute incidental depictions, including screenshots, video, or other content from your API Client, and may use your company or product name." **Privacy policy** (https://policies.google.com/privacy), read 2026-10-08, dated 2026-10-01, states 7 of the 8 things a reader expects. - To know. Says it may use customer content to train or improve models, and no opt-out was found (costs points). "We use your interactions with AI models and technologies like Gemini Apps to develop, train, fine-tune, and improve these models to better handle your requests, and update their classifiers and filters including for safety, language understanding, and factuality." - Gives the date it was last updated. Last updated 2026-10-01. - Not found in the text. Says where data is transferred or stored. - Also in the text (2026-10-08). Members of organisations using Google Workspace or Google Cloud Platform are referred to the separate Google Cloud Privacy Notice for how those services collect and use personal information. "If you’re a member of an organization that uses Google Workspace or Google Cloud Platform, learn how these services collect and use your personal information in the Google Cloud Privacy Notice." - Also in the text (2026-10-08). Google says it uses publicly available information from the web and other public sources to help train machine learning models behind products such as Google Translate, Gemini Apps and Cloud AI. "We use publicly available information online or from other public sources to help train new machine learning models and build foundational technologies that power various Google products such as Google Translate, Gemini Apps, and Cloud AI capabilities." ## Live (updated 2026-10-08 17:36 UTC) - Right now: up, HTTP 404, 47 ms, checked 2026-10-08 17:36 UTC (get on `https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1`) - Uptime 24h 100.0% (25 probes) · 30 days 100.0% (25 probes) · p50 42 ms · p95 121 ms - Vendor status page: unknown, no machine-readable status found - github `googleapis/google-api-nodejs-client` agentidentity-v3.2.0, released 2026-10-07 - npm `@googleapis/gmail` 22.0.1 - pypi `google-api-python-client` 2.201.0, released 2026-09-30 - security.txt: valid, expires 2030-04-01T00:00:00z - Always current: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/live/gmail-api.json ## Probe metrics Not measured yet. Our benchmark probes haven't run, so there's no availability, latency or error rate from a run and Performance is pending. Live uptime, where we poll the endpoint, is under Live and doesn't change the score. ## Strengths - 14 OAuth scopes, with `gmail.labels` non-sensitive, `gmail.send` sensitive and permanent delete reserved for the full `https://mail.google.com/` scope - Quota published per method, 5 units for `messages.list`, 20 for `messages.get` and 100 for `messages.send`, against 6,000 units a minute per user - `history.list` and Pub/Sub push notifications give incremental sync from a stored `historyId` - `format=metadata`, `metadataHeaders`, `maxResults` and `fields` keep responses small - No charge for standard use, up to 80,000,000 quota units a day per project ## Weaknesses - Eight restricted scopes, including `gmail.readonly` and `gmail.metadata`, need restricted-scope verification for a public app - An app that stores or transmits restricted data on servers needs a security assessment by a Google-approved assessor every 12 months - No idempotency key on `messages.send`, and the error guide says a 200 response doesn't confirm the mail was sent - MCP server limited to the Developer Preview Programme, with no send tool - Price for use above the daily quota not yet published ## Before you call it (notes for agents) 1. Ask for the narrowest scope. `gmail.labels` is non-sensitive and `gmail.send` is sensitive, while every scope that reads mail is restricted 2. List with `messages.list` and `q` in Gmail search syntax, then fetch each ID with `format=metadata` or `full`. List calls return IDs only 3. Send by posting an RFC 2822 message, base64url encoded, in `raw`. Set `threadId` and matching reply headers to stay in a thread 4. Store the `historyId` and call `history.list`. On a 404, run a full sync. Call `watch` again at least every 7 days 5. Back off exponentially on 403 and 429 rate errors, and keep batches to 50 requests or fewer ## Connect First request: ```bash curl "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/messages?q=is:unread&maxResults=5" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN" ``` MCP client configuration: ```json { "mcpServers": { "gmail": { "oauth": { "clientId": "OAUTH_CLIENT_ID", "clientSecret": "OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET" }, "serverUrl": "https://gmailmcp.googleapis.com/mcp/v1" } } } ``` Through letme (picks today, calling later): https://letme.dev/gmail-api. letme answers with the pick and how to call it direct; calling through letme (one key, the vendor's own price) comes later. How it works: https://www.anchorterminal.com/letme/index.md ## Similar tools Ranked by shared capabilities, then score. Same-category tools with no shared capability key are listed last. | Tool | Grade | Score | Rank | Shared capabilities | x402 | Markdown | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Nylas Email API | A | 78.7 | 12 | mailbox.read, mailbox.search, mailbox.send, mailbox.drafts, mailbox.sync | no | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nylas-email.md | | EmailEngine | BB | 71.4 | 106 | mailbox.read, mailbox.search, mailbox.send, mailbox.drafts, mailbox.sync | no | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/emailengine.md | | Outlook Mail (Microsoft Graph) | B | 66.3 | 221 | mailbox.read, mailbox.search, mailbox.send, mailbox.drafts, mailbox.sync | no | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/outlook-mail-graph.md | | Unipile | C | 58.4 | 402 | mailbox.read, mailbox.search, mailbox.send, mailbox.drafts, mailbox.sync | no | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/unipile.md | ## Panel reviews (0) Reviewed by the Anchor panel (https://www.anchorterminal.com/reviewers/index.md): . Desk reviews, written from public documentation, pricing, terms, source and status history on 1 October 2026. No calls made. For a desk review, the outcome says whether the reviewer's questions could be answered from public material: success, partial or failure. How reviews work: https://www.anchorterminal.com/reviews/how-it-works.md ## Notable - Usage limits are 1,200,000 quota units a minute per project and 6,000 a minute per user, with a daily threshold of 80,000,000 units per project, and charges above it are planned for later in 2026 with at least 90 days' notice (source: ) - Eight of the 14 scopes are restricted, among them `gmail.readonly`, `gmail.metadata`, `gmail.compose` and `gmail.modify`. Three are sensitive, including `gmail.send`, and three are non-sensitive, including `gmail.labels` (source: ) - A public app that requests restricted scopes needs restricted-scope verification, and one that reaches the data from or through a server needs a security assessment under the CASA framework from a Google-approved assessor at least every 12 months. Personal use, development and testing, internal use within an organisation and domain-wide installation are exempt (source: ) - Approved uses of Gmail scopes are email clients with a user interface, automatic email backup, productivity applications such as CRM, mail merge or generative AI summaries, and reporting or monitoring for the user's benefit (source: ) - The Gmail MCP server at gmailmcp.googleapis.com/mcp/v1 is limited to the Google Workspace Developer Preview Programme. Its `tools/list` answered without credentials on 8 October 2026 with 23 tools, while the reference page lists 10 and the setup guide 9 (source: ) - Quota units for `drafts.get`, `messages.attachments.get`, `messages.get`, `messages.trash`, `threads.get` and `threads.trash` changed on 1 May 2026 with the new quota tiers (source: ) - A push watch has to be renewed at least every 7 days, each watched user is capped at one notification a second, and Google says notifications can be delayed or dropped (source: ) ## Compare - [EmailEngine vs Gmail API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/emailengine-vs-gmail-api.md): BB 71.4 vs BB 77.8 - [Gmail API vs Nylas Email API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gmail-api-vs-nylas-email.md): BB 77.8 vs A 78.7 - [Gmail API vs Outlook Mail (Microsoft Graph)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gmail-api-vs-outlook-mail-graph.md): BB 77.8 vs B 66.3 - [Gmail API vs Unipile](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gmail-api-vs-unipile.md): BB 77.8 vs C 58.4 ## Verify this listing For the vendor. The badge or a plain link to this page verifies the listing, from a page on google.com or one of its subdomains, or the README of github.com/googleapis/google-api-nodejs-client. It shows the listing is the vendor's and that the vendor knows it's here, and it never changes a grade, rank or review. The vendor sends the page's address to `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` as `{"slug": "gmail-api", "url": "…"}`, or calls the `verify_listing` tool at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp. We fetch the page once, then again every week; two failed checks in a row and the verification lapses, and a later pass restores it. What we check: https://www.anchorterminal.com/builders/index.md#verify HTML badge: ```html Gmail API on Anchor Terminal ``` Markdown badge, for a README: ```markdown [![Gmail API on Anchor Terminal](https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/gmail-api.svg)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gmail-api) ``` Plain link: ```html Gmail API on Anchor Terminal ``` ## Share this listing For the vendor. Sharing assets for social media, two PNGs of 1200 × 630 that say Gmail API is listed on Anchor Terminal, with the vendor's logo and this page's address and no grade or score. - Dark: https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/share/gmail-api-dark.png - Light: https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/share/gmail-api-light.png