gmail +watch
SkillCommunicationLets your agent watch a Gmail inbox and stream new emails as they arrive.
Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.
No other account needed.
Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.
Then ask your AI: use the gmail +watch skill
About this capability
Gmail: Watch for new emails and stream them as NDJSON.
What this skill tells your AI
The instructions your AI receives, as published by googleworkspace/cli in skills/gws-gmail-watch/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.
PREREQUISITE: Read
../gws-shared/SKILL.mdfor auth, global flags, and security rules. If missing, rungws generate-skillsto create it.
Watch for new emails and stream them as NDJSON
Usage
gws gmail +watch
Flags
| Flag | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
--project | — | — | GCP project ID for Pub/Sub resources |
--subscription | — | — | Existing Pub/Sub subscription name (skip setup) |
--topic | — | — | Existing Pub/Sub topic with Gmail push permission already granted |
--label-ids | — | — | Comma-separated Gmail label IDs to filter (e.g., INBOX,UNREAD) |
--max-messages | — | 10 | Max messages per pull batch |
--poll-interval | — | 5 | Seconds between pulls |
--msg-format | — | full | Gmail message format: full, metadata, minimal, raw |
--once | — | — | Pull once and exit |
--cleanup | — | — | Delete created Pub/Sub resources on exit |
--output-dir | — | — | Write each message to a separate JSON file in this directory |
Examples
gws gmail +watch --project my-gcp-project
gws gmail +watch --project my-project --label-ids INBOX --once
gws gmail +watch --subscription projects/p/subscriptions/my-sub
gws gmail +watch --project my-project --cleanup --output-dir ./emails
Tips
- Gmail watch expires after 7 days — re-run to renew.
- Without --cleanup, Pub/Sub resources persist for reconnection.
- Press Ctrl-C to stop gracefully.
See Also
- gws-shared — Global flags and auth
- gws-gmail — All send, read, and manage email commands
Signals
- GitHub stars
- 31k
- Forks
- 2k
- Last commit
- Sep 2026
ahel review
S4info
community integration — published by googleworkspace, not gmail
Automated review, not a security audit. Ruleset v1.
Advanced
- Catalog kind
- skill
- Gateway key
gws-gmail-watch- Source
- github.com/googleworkspace/cli