Gmail

Access the Gmail API with managed OAuth authentication. Read, send, and manage emails, threads, labels, and drafts.

Quick Start

CLI:

maton google-mail message list -L 10

maton api '/google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/messages?maxResults=10'

Python:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/messages?maxResults=10')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Base URL

https://api.maton.ai/google-mail/{native-api-path}

Maton proxies requests to gmail.googleapis.com and automatically injects your OAuth token.

Installation

NPM:

npm install -g @maton-ai/cli

Homebrew:

brew install maton-ai/cli/maton

Authentication

CLI:

maton login                          # Opens browser for API key
maton login --interactive            # Skip browser, paste API key directly
maton whoami                         # Show current auth state

Manual:

1. Sign in or create an account at maton.ai
2. Go to maton.ai/settings
3. Copy your API key
4. Set your API key as MATON_API_KEY:

export MATON_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

Connection Management

Manage your Google OAuth connections at https://api.maton.ai.

List Connections

CLI:

maton connection list google-mail --status ACTIVE

maton api -X GET /connections -f app=google-mail -f status=ACTIVE

Python:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/connections?app=google-mail&status=ACTIVE')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Create Connection

CLI:

maton connection create google-mail

maton api /connections -f app=google-mail

Python:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
data = json.dumps({'app': 'google-mail'}).encode()
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/connections', data=data, method='POST')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/json')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Get Connection

CLI:

maton connection view {connection_id}

maton api /connections/{connection_id}

Python:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/connections/{connection_id}')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

{
  "connection": {
    "connection_id": "{connection_id}",
    "status": "ACTIVE",
    "creation_time": "2025-12-08T07:20:53.488460Z",
    "last_updated_time": "2026-01-31T20:03:32.593153Z",
    "url": "https://connect.maton.ai/?session_token=...",
    "app": "google-mail",
    "metadata": {}
  }
}

Open the returned url in a browser to complete OAuth authorization.

Delete Connection

CLI:

maton connection delete {connection_id}

maton api -X DELETE /connections/{connection_id}

Python:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/connections/{connection_id}', method='DELETE')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Specifying Connection

If you have multiple Gmail connections, specify which one to use:

CLI:

maton google-mail message list -L 10 --connection {connection_id}

maton api /google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/messages --connection {connection_id}

Python:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/messages')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Maton-Connection', '{connection_id}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

If you have multiple connections, always specify the connection to ensure requests go to the intended account.

Security & Permissions

• Access is scoped to messages, threads, labels, drafts, and email sending within the connected Gmail account.
• All write operations require explicit user approval. Before executing any create, update, or delete call, confirm the target resource and intended effect with the user.

API Reference

List Messages

GET /google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/messages?maxResults=10

Example:

maton google-mail message list -L 10

With query filter:

GET /google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/messages?q=is:unread&maxResults=10

Example:

maton google-mail message list --query 'is:unread' -L 10

Get Message

GET /google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/{messageId}

Example:

maton google-mail message view {messageId} --headers

With metadata only:

GET /google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/{messageId}?format=metadata&metadataHeaders=From&metadataHeaders=Subject&metadataHeaders=Date

Example:

maton google-mail message view {messageId} --fetch-format metadata --metadata-header From,Subject,Date

Send Message

POST /google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/send
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "raw": "BASE64_ENCODED_EMAIL"
}

Example:

maton google-mail message send --to alice@example.com --subject 'Hello' --body 'Hi there!'

Reply to Message

maton google-mail message reply {messageId} --body 'Thanks!'

Forward Message

maton google-mail message forward {messageId} --to dave@example.com --body 'FYI'

List Labels

GET /google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/labels

Example:

maton google-mail label list

List Threads

GET /google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/threads?maxResults=10

Example:

maton google-mail thread list -L 10

Get Thread

GET /google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/threads/{threadId}

Example:

maton google-mail thread view {threadId}

Modify Message Labels

POST /google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/{messageId}/modify
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "addLabelIds": ["STARRED"],
  "removeLabelIds": ["UNREAD"]
}

Example:

maton google-mail message modify {messageId} --add-label STARRED --remove-label UNREAD

Trash Message

POST /google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/{messageId}/trash

Example:

maton google-mail message trash {messageId}

Create Draft

POST /google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/drafts
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "message": {
    "raw": "BASE64URL_ENCODED_EMAIL"
  }
}

Example:

maton google-mail draft create --to alice@example.com --subject 'Hello' --body 'Draft content here'

Send Draft

POST /google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/drafts/send
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "id": "{draftId}"
}

Example:

maton google-mail draft send {draftId}

Get Profile

GET /google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/profile

Query Operators

Use in the q parameter:

• is:unread - Unread messages
• is:starred - Starred messages
• from:email@example.com - From specific sender
• to:email@example.com - To specific recipient
• subject:keyword - Subject contains keyword
• after:2024/01/01 - After date
• before:2024/12/31 - Before date
• has:attachment - Has attachments

Code Examples

CLI

# List unread messages with headers
maton google-mail message list --hydrate

# Filter with jq — e.g., only messages from a specific sender
maton google-mail message list -L 20 --query 'from:boss@example.com' --json --jq '.messages[].id'

# List all threads with pagination
maton google-mail thread list --paginate --query 'newer_than:7d'

JavaScript

const response = await fetch(
  'https://api.maton.ai/google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/messages?maxResults=10',
  {
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.MATON_API_KEY}`
    }
  }
);

Python

import os
import requests

response = requests.get(
    'https://api.maton.ai/google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/messages',
    headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}'},
    params={'maxResults': 10, 'q': 'is:unread'}
)

Notes

• Use me as userId for the authenticated user
• Message body is base64url encoded in the raw field
• Common labels: INBOX, SENT, DRAFT, STARRED, UNREAD, TRASH
• IMPORTANT: When using curl commands, use curl -g when URLs contain brackets (fields[], sort[], records[]) to disable glob parsing
• IMPORTANT: When piping curl output to jq or other commands, environment variables like $MATON_API_KEY may not expand correctly in some shell environments. You may get "Invalid API key" errors when piping.

Error Handling

Troubleshooting: API Key Issues

CLI:

1. Check your auth state:

maton whoami

1. Verify the API key is valid by listing connections:

maton connection list

Manual:

1. Check that the MATON_API_KEY environment variable is set:

echo $MATON_API_KEY

1. Verify the API key is valid by listing connections:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/connections')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Troubleshooting: Invalid App Name

1. Ensure your URL path starts with google-mail. For example:

• Correct: https://api.maton.ai/google-mail/gmail/v1/users/me/messages
• Incorrect: https://api.maton.ai/gmail/v1/users/me/messages

Resources

• Gmail API Overview
• List Messages
• Get Message
• Send Message
• List Threads
• List Labels
• Create Draft
• Maton CLI Manual
• Maton Community
• Maton Support