feat(gmail): add +read helper for extracting message body as plain text by anshul-garg27 · Pull Request #465 · googleworkspace/cli

anshul-garg27 · 2026-03-13T11:09:09Z

Closes #438.

Summary

Add gws gmail +read helper that fetches a Gmail message and outputs its headers and body as structured data or plain text.

Usage

# Full message with headers
gws gmail +read --message-id 18f1a2b3c4d

# Just the body text (pipe-friendly)
gws gmail +read --message-id 18f1a2b3c4d --body-only

# HTML body
gws gmail +read --message-id 18f1a2b3c4d --html

# JSON for scripting
gws gmail +read --message-id 18f1a2b3c4d --format json | jq '.body'

Changes

New file: src/helpers/gmail/read.rs — handle_read() fetches message via Gmail API, reuses parse_original_message() for header/body extraction
src/helpers/gmail/mod.rs — register +read subcommand and handler
Tests for argument parsing (basic, --html, --body-only, empty message-id validation)

Test plan

cargo test — 588 passed, 0 failed
cargo clippy -- -D warnings — clean
Manual: gws gmail +read --message-id <id> → verify output

Generated with Claude Code

changeset-bot · 2026-03-13T11:09:13Z

🦋 Changeset detected

Latest commit: 93d39dd

The changes in this PR will be included in the next version bump.

This PR includes changesets to release 1 package

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@googleworkspace/cli	Minor

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gemini-code-assist · 2026-03-13T11:09:27Z

Summary of Changes

Hello, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request significantly enhances the gws tool by introducing a new +read helper within the gmail subcommand. This feature provides users with a powerful and flexible way to programmatically access and inspect Gmail message content directly from the command line, offering granular control over the output format and specific message parts to be extracted.

Highlights

New +read subcommand for Gmail: Introduced a new +read subcommand under gws gmail to fetch and display the content of Gmail messages.
Flexible Output Options: Implemented options to retrieve messages as plain text or HTML, output only the message body, and support various output formats including JSON, table, YAML, and CSV.
Dedicated Module for Read Logic: Added a new module src/helpers/gmail/read.rs to encapsulate the logic for fetching, parsing, and formatting Gmail messages, along with argument parsing and unit tests.

Changelog

src/helpers/gmail/mod.rs
- Imported the new read module and its handle_read function.
- Registered the +read subcommand with clap, defining its arguments (--message-id, --html, --body-only, --format) and comprehensive help text.
- Integrated handle_read into the main command dispatch logic to process the new subcommand.
src/helpers/gmail/read.rs
- Added a new file containing the core logic for the +read subcommand.
- Implemented handle_read to fetch Gmail messages using the Gmail API, parse their content, and format the output based on user-specified options.
- Defined the ReadConfig struct to encapsulate parsed command-line arguments for the +read subcommand.
- Included the parse_read_args function for robust argument validation and configuration.
- Provided unit tests for argument parsing, covering basic usage, HTML/body-only flags, and validation for empty message IDs.

Activity

cargo test was executed, with all 588 tests passing successfully.
cargo clippy -- -D warnings was run, indicating a clean code base with no warnings.
Manual testing for the gws gmail +read --message-id <id> command is pending.

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gemini-code-assist

Code Review

This pull request introduces a new gws gmail +read helper to fetch and display Gmail messages, which is a useful addition. The implementation is mostly solid, with good argument parsing and tests. However, there is significant code duplication for fetching the message data, which has already been implemented in the fetch_message_metadata helper function. Reusing this existing function will not only simplify the code but also add resilience by incorporating the existing retry logic that is currently missing in the new implementation.

src/helpers/gmail/read.rs

googleworkspace-bot · 2026-03-13T11:36:44Z

/gemini review

gemini-code-assist

Code Review

This pull request introduces a useful gws gmail +read helper for fetching and displaying Gmail messages. The implementation is solid, but I've identified an opportunity to improve performance by reducing string allocations when constructing the output. My suggestion refactors the logic to move data instead of cloning it, which is more idiomatic and efficient in Rust.

src/helpers/gmail/read.rs

anshul-garg27 · 2026-03-13T16:11:15Z

Ready for review — all tests passing, Gemini feedback addressed. @jpoehnelt

googleworkspace-bot · 2026-03-13T20:32:55Z

/gemini review

Closes googleworkspace#438. Add `gws gmail +read` helper that fetches a Gmail message and extracts its body as plain text (or HTML with --html). Supports: - --message-id: Gmail message ID to read (required) - --html: return HTML body instead of plain text - --body-only: print just the body without headers/metadata - --format: output format (json, table, yaml, csv) Reuses the existing parse_original_message() infrastructure from reply/forward to extract headers and body content, including base64-decoded MIME parts.

…ogic Address Gemini review: replace manual HTTP fetch + parse with the existing fetch_message_metadata() helper which also uses send_with_retry for transient error resilience.

googleworkspace-bot · 2026-03-13T20:34:43Z

/gemini review

gemini-code-assist

Code Review

This pull request introduces a new gws gmail +read helper, which is a great addition for fetching and inspecting Gmail messages. The implementation is clean and reuses existing helpers effectively. I've found one high-severity issue related to input handling that could lead to unexpected API failures. My feedback includes a code suggestion to address this.

gemini-code-assist · 2026-03-13T20:36:12Z

src/helpers/gmail/read.rs

+    let message_id = matches.get_one::<String>("message-id").unwrap().to_string();
+
+    if message_id.trim().is_empty() {
+        return Err(GwsError::Validation(
+            "--message-id must not be empty".to_string(),
+        ));
+    }


The message-id is not trimmed before being used. If a user provides a message ID with leading or trailing whitespace (e.g., from a copy-paste), the validation will pass, but the API call will likely fail because the whitespace will be URL-encoded as part of the ID. The message-id should be trimmed before validation and use to prevent these unnecessary failures and improve usability.

Suggested change

let message_id = matches.get_one::<String>("message-id").unwrap().to_string();

if message_id.trim().is_empty() {

return Err(GwsError::Validation(

"--message-id must not be empty".to_string(),

));

}

let message_id = matches.get_one::<String>("message-id").unwrap().trim().to_string();

if message_id.is_empty() {

return Err(GwsError::Validation(

"--message-id must not be empty".to_string(),

));

}

good catch, added a .trim() on the message-id before validation

gemini-code-assist

Code Review

This pull request introduces a +read helper for Gmail, which is a great addition. The implementation is mostly solid, but I've identified a couple of areas for improvement. One is to make argument parsing for the output format more robust using clap's value_parser. The other is a refactoring opportunity in handle_read to improve efficiency by avoiding several unnecessary string allocations. These changes will make the new helper more robust and performant.

gemini-code-assist · 2026-03-13T20:36:59Z

src/helpers/gmail/mod.rs

+                    Arg::new("format")
+                        .long("format")
+                        .help("Output format: json (default), table, yaml, csv")
+                        .value_name("FORMAT"),


For better robustness, it's a good practice to use value_parser to validate the format argument against the allowed values. This ensures that clap will reject any invalid format string before it reaches your handler code, preventing potential panics or unexpected behavior from the OutputFormat::from_str call.

Suggested change

Arg::new("format")

.long("format")

.help("Output format: json (default), table, yaml, csv")

.value_name("FORMAT"),

Arg::new("format")

.long("format")

.help("Output format: json (default), table, yaml, csv")

.value_name("FORMAT")

.value_parser(["json", "table", "yaml", "csv"]),

makes sense, added value_parser for the format arg so clap rejects bad values upfront

gemini-code-assist · 2026-03-13T20:36:59Z

src/helpers/gmail/read.rs

+    let body = if config.html {
+        parsed
+            .body_html
+            .clone()
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| parsed.body_text.clone())
+    } else {
+        parsed.body_text.clone()
+    };
+
+    if config.body_only {
+        println!("{body}");
+    } else {
+        let output = json!({
+            "id": config.message_id,
+            "from": parsed.from,
+            "to": parsed.to,
+            "cc": parsed.cc,
+            "subject": parsed.subject,
+            "date": parsed.date,
+            "body": body,
+        });
+        println!("{}", crate::formatter::format_value(&output, &fmt));
+    }


This block can be refactored to be more efficient by avoiding several string clones. By using references (&str) for the body content and for the fields passed to the json! macro, you can prevent unnecessary memory allocations. This also makes the code more idiomatic.

let body_ref = if config.html { parsed.body_html.as_deref().unwrap_or(&parsed.body_text) } else { &parsed.body_text }; if config.body_only { println!("{body_ref}"); } else { let output = json!({ "id": &config.message_id, "from": &parsed.from, "to": &parsed.to, "cc": &parsed.cc, "subject": &parsed.subject, "date": &parsed.date, "body": body_ref, }); println!("{}", crate::formatter::format_value(&output, &fmt)); }

fair point on the clones, cleaned it up to use references where possible

Encapsulates the new `gws gmail +read` subcommand (introduced in googleworkspace#465) as an agent skill. The skill documents how to extract decoded plain-text message bodies from Gmail without dealing with raw MIME payloads, and updates the gws-gmail skill to list +read in its helper commands table. Closes googleworkspace#438 https://claude.ai/code/session_01PkDwmaayDdUhCDgurYesXC

googleworkspace-bot added the area: core Core CLI parsing, commands, error handling, utilities label Mar 13, 2026

gemini-code-assist bot reviewed Mar 13, 2026

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anshul-garg27 added 3 commits March 14, 2026 02:03

refactor: reuse fetch_message_metadata instead of duplicating fetch l…

54d6bd9

…ogic Address Gemini review: replace manual HTTP fetch + parse with the existing fetch_message_metadata() helper which also uses send_with_retry for transient error resilience.

chore: add changeset

93d39dd

anshul-garg27 force-pushed the feat/gmail-read-helper branch from c0e85e1 to 93d39dd Compare March 13, 2026 20:33

gemini-code-assist bot reviewed Mar 13, 2026

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anshul-garg27 commented Mar 13, 2026

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