Send Email

Sends an email using Gmail on behalf of the authenticated user. This action allows you to programmatically send emails with custom headers, subject, and body content.

Overview

• Purpose: Send emails programmatically through Gmail API.
• Use Cases: Automated email notifications, transactional emails, workflow-triggered communications, customer outreach, internal notifications.
• API Method: POST /emails
• Gmail API: Uses Gmail API v3 /gmail/v1/users/me/messages/send endpoint.
• Required Scope: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.send

Required Input Fields

From: Sender’s email address. Must be the authenticated user’s email or an alias/send-as address configured in Gmail.

To: Recipient’s email address. Can be a single email address.

Subject: Email subject line.

Body: Email body content in plain text format.

Optional Input Fields

Headers: Object containing custom email headers as key-value pairs. Common headers include ‘Cc’, ‘Bcc’, ‘Reply-To’, ‘Content-Type’, etc.

Email Headers

• Cc: Carbon copy recipients (e.g., {‘Cc’: ‘user@example.com’}).
• Bcc: Blind carbon copy recipients (e.g., {‘Bcc’: ‘hidden@example.com’}).
• Reply-To: Email address for replies (e.g., {‘Reply-To’: ‘support@example.com’}).
• Content-Type: Specify email format (e.g., {‘Content-Type’: ‘text/html; charset=UTF-8’} for HTML emails).
• Custom Headers: Any valid email header can be included (e.g., {‘X-Priority’: ‘1’} for high priority).

Output

• Message ID: Unique identifier for the sent email message in Gmail.
• Thread ID: Unique identifier for the email thread. If this is a new conversation, a new thread ID is created. If replying, it would match the original thread.

Email Format

• Plain Text: By default, emails are sent as plain text.
• HTML Emails: To send HTML emails, include ‘Content-Type’: ‘text/html; charset=UTF-8’ in the headers object.
• Encoding: The action automatically base64-encodes the email content as required by Gmail API.
• RFC 2822: Email is formatted according to RFC 2822 standard before sending.

Sender Requirements

[!IMPORTANT] Authenticated User: The ‘from’ address must be the authenticated user’s email or an authorized alias.

• Send-As Addresses: If using an alias, it must be configured in Gmail settings as a ‘send-as’ address.
• Verification: Gmail may reject emails if the ‘from’ address is not verified.
• Domain Restrictions: Some organizations may restrict sending from certain domains.

Required Permissions

[!IMPORTANT] OAuth Scope: Requires https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.send scope.

• User Consent: Users must grant permission to send emails during OAuth flow.
• Send-Only: This scope only allows sending emails, not reading or modifying existing emails.

Rate Limits

[!WARNING] Gmail Limits: Gmail has sending limits (typically 500 emails/day for free accounts, 2000/day for Google Workspace).

• Retry Logic: The action automatically retries failed requests up to 3 times.
• Throttling: Consider implementing delays between bulk sends to avoid hitting rate limits.

Tips

[!TIP] Ensure the ‘from’ address matches the authenticated user’s email or a verified alias

[!TIP] Use headers object to add Cc and Bcc recipients instead of including them in ‘to’ field

[!TIP] For HTML emails, set Content-Type header to ‘text/html; charset=UTF-8’

[!TIP] Store the returned message ID for tracking and reference purposes

[!TIP] Thread ID can be used to track conversation threads and replies

[!TIP] Test with your own email first before sending to external recipients

[!WARNING] Be aware of Gmail’s daily sending limits to avoid quota errors

[!TIP] Use Reply-To header if you want replies to go to a different address

[!TIP] Consider implementing error handling for quota exceeded errors

[!TIP] For bulk sending, implement delays and batch processing to respect rate limits

[!TIP] Validate email addresses before sending to avoid delivery failures

[!TIP] The action uses plain text by default - explicitly set Content-Type for HTML