Openclaw Email: Let
Your AI Handle the Messy Inbox
The True Capabilities of an AI Co-pilot
1. [Urgent] Client Mr. Wang confirmed the contract and is waiting for the invoice.
2. [Warning] Your server credit card payment failed.
I have already drafted a reply template for Mr. Wang. Would you like to review it?
Email is often the gateway of digital work. By unblocking this node, your AI assistant can finally start processing the massive "information flood" for you.
Setup Prerequisites (What You Need)
It sounds complex, but you really only need these 3 things:
- An active Openclaw instance.
- A Google Account (to authorize reading access to the Gmail API).
- Understand the difference between the two keyfiles: During API configurations, it's very easy to mix them up!
đcredentials.json (Dev License)
Think of this as a "business license". It proves to Google that the API request originates from a registered application you created on Google Cloud Console. You must actively download this file from Google Cloud.
đī¸token.json (User Token)
Think of this as the "movie ticket". It grants the AI permission to view your specific inbox. This file does NOT need to be downloaded. It is automatically generated by Openclaw after you click "Allow" in your browser during the first prompt.
Step-by-step Guide: Connecting Gmail
1Unlock the API Gate at Google Cloud
Go to Google Cloud Console and create a new project (e.g., "AI-Mail-Assistant").
Navigate to "APIs & Services" - "Library" on the left side menu. Search for Gmail API and click [Enable].
2Download your "License" (Credentials)
Head to "APIs & Services" - "Credentials", click [Create Credentials], and select OAuth Client ID.
- If this is your first time, you may be asked to configure the "OAuth consent screen". Just fill in an app name and your email.
- In the Application type dropdown, choose Desktop App.
- Click create, then download the resulting JSON file. This is your master key!
Rename the downloaded file to credentials.json, and move it into your Openclaw working directory:
~/clawd/credentials.json3Install the Parser Plugin
By default, AI models don't speak native mail protocols. We have to teach them. Here, ClawHub is the "skill registry + installer" for Openclaw. It is not the inbox itself and not the model either. Its job is to fetch and install the skill pack Openclaw needs.
What is ClawHub?
Think of it like an app store for agent skills. Instead of installing apps, you install skill packs that teach your AI how to work with outside systems like Gmail.
What does this command do?
It runs the latest ClawHub installer and downloads the gog skill. You can treat gog as the short name of the Google capability pack used here.
How do you use it later?
After installation, you usually stop thinking about ClawHub. It is the setup step. Daily usage still happens in Openclaw with plain-English instructions.
Run the following command in your terminal to install the Google Workspace skill pack:
npx clawhub@latest install gognpx clawhub@latest: runs the latest ClawHub without requiring a separate global install first.install: tells it to install a skill package.gog: the skill name that connects Google capabilities into Openclaw.
What do you actually do after installation?
You do not need to keep writing command-line instructions. Just talk to Openclaw like an assistant. For example:
- Summarize the 5 most important unread emails today.
- List all billing emails and sort them by urgency.
- Draft a polite reply to this partnership email and save it as a draft.
Still fuzzy on the terminology? Ask AI directly.
If words like skill, registry, and slug still feel abstract, send the prompt below to your AI and let it re-explain everything in simpler language:
Explain this in beginner-friendly language:
- What is ClawHub?
- What does the command npx clawhub@latest install gog actually do?
- After installation, how do I use it inside Openclaw?4Complete The Initial Browser Authorization
Now, open Openclaw and directly ask your AI:"Read my latest email please."
The system will intercept this action and spit out a URL in your terminal. Copy and paste that link into your browser, log in to your Google Account, and click [Allow]. Once authorized, the system will automatically generate your token.json. From here on out, your AI is fully equipped to clean up your inbox!
Best Scenarios: Tripling Your Efficiency
Morning Briefing âī¸
Enjoy your morning coffee while your AI reads everything from the night before. Instruct it to filter out promotions and summarize exactly which clients are waiting for a reply and which bills are overdue.
Core Insights đ
Facing a 20-page legal revision email chain? Drop it to your assistant: "Tell me in 3 sentences what disadvantageous clauses were added compared to the previous version."
Drafting Replies âī¸
Stop agonizing over the perfect wording. Feed the raw email to your AI: "Politely reject this collaboration since we don't have budget until Q3. Save it as a draft."
Advanced Setup: Funnel Multiple Mailboxes into One
If you operate more than one mailbox, the practical move is usually not wiring every inbox separately. Instead, choose one mailbox that is already connected to Openclaw and use it as your central inbox.
- Pick the mailbox you already configured for Openclaw as the main destination.
- In your other mailboxes, enable auto-forwarding to that destination inbox.
- Now Openclaw only needs to watch one inbox, while still seeing mail coming from multiple accounts.
Why is this useful?
Think of it as routing packages from several warehouses into one central sorting center. Openclaw only monitors one inbox, but you still get unified visibility across several email identities or channels.
Important: forwarded mail often lands in Spam unless you allow it
Auto-forwarded messages are often judged more aggressively by the destination mailbox and may end up in Spam instead of the normal inbox.
The most reliable fix is to create a manual Gmail filter. Below, support@example.com is only a harmless example address, not a real private mailbox.
- Open Gmail, click the gear icon in the top-right corner, then choose "See all settings".
- Switch to "Filters and Blocked Addresses" and click "Create a new filter".
- In the "To" field, enter
support@example.com. - Click "Create filter". Even when the message is auto-forwarded, Gmail can usually still recognize the original recipient, so this rule often covers forwarded mail.
- In the next step, at minimum check "Never send it to Spam".
- If you want cleaner organization, you can also check "Always mark it as important" or apply a label such as "Support".
- Click "Create filter" again to save and activate the rule.
If similar forwarded emails have already landed in Spam, also open the Spam folder and mark them as "Not spam" once. That usually makes future delivery more stable.
A very practical prompt
You can tell Openclaw: "Summarize every email forwarded into this inbox today, group them by original mailbox, and show me only the items that require action today."
Danger Zone: What NOT to Do
Bottom Line: ALWAYS click the 'Submit' button yourself!
When users first experience the thrill of automation, they predictably ask: "Make it auto-reply to all my invoice emails." This is unbelievably dangerous!
LLMs can hallucinate. If it replies to a major client with a hallucinated massive discount or strange phrasing, it's a disaster. When configuring your global project guardrails (AGENTS.md), you MUST define:
- AI is only allowed to summarize and categorize incoming email.
- AI is restricted to writing "Drafts".
- Absolutely FORBID the AI from calling the final SEND endpoint itself!
The First Step into True Automation Context
Hooking up your inbox essentially gives your AI "eyes and ears". It stops being trapped in local, dry codebases, and steps directly into the endless stream of data that governs your daily operations.
This is the ultimate bridge towards complete workflow hosting. Once you understand this authorization logic, you can easily attach your Calendar, Notion workspaces, and other massive organizational suites.
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