add-gmail

name	add-gmail
description	Add Gmail integration to NanoClaw. Can be configured as a tool (agent reads/sends emails when triggered from WhatsApp) or as a full channel (emails can trigger the agent, schedule tasks, and receive replies). Guides through GCP OAuth setup and implements the integration.

Add Gmail Integration

This skill adds Gmail support to NanoClaw — either as a tool (read, send, search, draft) or as a full channel that polls the inbox.

Phase 1: Pre-flight

Check if already applied

Read .nanoclaw/state.yaml. If gmail is in applied_skills, skip to Phase 3 (Setup). The code changes are already in place.

Ask the user

Use AskUserQuestion:

AskUserQuestion: Should incoming emails be able to trigger the agent?

• Yes — Full channel mode: the agent listens on Gmail and responds to incoming emails automatically
• No — Tool-only: the agent gets full Gmail tools (read, send, search, draft) but won't monitor the inbox. No channel code is added.

Phase 2: Apply Code Changes

Initialize skills system (if needed)

If .nanoclaw/ directory doesn't exist yet:

npx tsx scripts/apply-skill.ts --init

Path A: Tool-only (user chose "No")

Do NOT run the full apply script. Only two source files need changes. This avoids adding dead code (gmail.ts, gmail.test.ts, index.ts channel logic, routing tests, googleapis dependency).

1. Mount Gmail credentials in container

Apply the changes described in modify/src/container-runner.ts.intent.md to src/container-runner.ts: import os, add a conditional read-write mount of ~/.gmail-mcp to /home/node/.gmail-mcp in buildVolumeMounts() after the session mounts.

2. Add Gmail MCP server to agent runner

Apply the changes described in modify/container/agent-runner/src/index.ts.intent.md to container/agent-runner/src/index.ts: add gmail MCP server (npx -y @gongrzhe/server-gmail-autoauth-mcp) and 'mcp__gmail__*' to allowedTools.

3. Record in state

Add gmail to .nanoclaw/state.yaml under applied_skills with mode: tool-only.

4. Validate

npm run build

Build must be clean before proceeding. Skip to Phase 3.

Path B: Channel mode (user chose "Yes")

Run the full skills engine to apply all code changes:

npx tsx scripts/apply-skill.ts .agents/skills/add-gmail

This deterministically:

• Adds src/channels/gmail.ts (GmailChannel class with self-registration via registerChannel)
• Adds src/channels/gmail.test.ts (unit tests)
• Appends import './gmail.js' to the channel barrel file src/channels/index.ts
• Three-way merges Gmail credentials mount into src/container-runner.ts (~/.gmail-mcp -> /home/node/.gmail-mcp)
• Three-way merges Gmail MCP server into container/agent-runner/src/index.ts (@gongrzhe/server-gmail-autoauth-mcp)
• Installs the googleapis npm dependency
• Records the application in .nanoclaw/state.yaml

If the apply reports merge conflicts, read the intent files:

• modify/src/channels/index.ts.intent.md — what changed for the barrel file
• modify/src/container-runner.ts.intent.md — what changed for container-runner.ts
• modify/container/agent-runner/src/index.ts.intent.md — what changed for agent-runner

Add email handling instructions

Append the following to groups/main/SOUL.md (before the formatting section):

## Email Notifications

When you receive an email notification (messages starting with `[Email from ...`), inform the user about it but do NOT reply to the email unless specifically asked. You have Gmail tools available — use them only when the user explicitly asks you to reply, forward, or take action on an email.

Validate

npm test
npm run build

All tests must pass (including the new gmail tests) and build must be clean before proceeding.

Phase 3: Setup

Check existing Gmail credentials

ls -la ~/.gmail-mcp/ 2>/dev/null || echo "No Gmail config found"

If credentials.json already exists, skip to "Build and restart" below.

GCP Project Setup

Tell the user:

I need you to set up Google Cloud OAuth credentials:

1. Open https://console.cloud.google.com — create a new project or select existing
2. Go to APIs & Services > Library, search "Gmail API", click Enable
3. Go to APIs & Services > Credentials, click + CREATE CREDENTIALS > OAuth client ID
   • If prompted for consent screen: choose "External", fill in app name and email, save
   • Application type: Desktop app, name: anything (e.g., "NanoClaw Gmail")
4. Click DOWNLOAD JSON and save as gcp-oauth.keys.json

Where did you save the file? (Give me the full path, or paste the file contents here)

If user provides a path, copy it:

mkdir -p ~/.gmail-mcp
cp "/path/user/provided/gcp-oauth.keys.json" ~/.gmail-mcp/gcp-oauth.keys.json

If user pastes JSON content, write it to ~/.gmail-mcp/gcp-oauth.keys.json.

OAuth Authorization

Tell the user:

I'm going to run Gmail authorization. A browser window will open — sign in and grant access. If you see an "app isn't verified" warning, click "Advanced" then "Go to [app name] (unsafe)" — this is normal for personal OAuth apps.

Run the authorization:

npx -y @gongrzhe/server-gmail-autoauth-mcp auth

If that fails (some versions don't have an auth subcommand), try timeout 60 npx -y @gongrzhe/server-gmail-autoauth-mcp || true. Verify with ls ~/.gmail-mcp/credentials.json.

Build and restart

Clear stale per-group agent-runner copies (they only get re-created if missing, so existing copies won't pick up the new Gmail server):

rm -r data/sessions/*/agent-runner-src 2>/dev/null || true

Rebuild the container (agent-runner changed):

cd container && ./build.sh

Then compile and restart:

npm run build
launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/com.nanoclaw  # macOS
# Linux: systemctl --user restart nanoclaw

Phase 4: Verify

Test tool access (both modes)

Tell the user:

Gmail is connected! Send this in your main channel:

@Andy check my recent emails or @Andy list my Gmail labels

Test channel mode (Channel mode only)

Tell the user to send themselves a test email. The agent should pick it up within a minute. Monitor: tail -f logs/nanoclaw.log | grep -iE "(gmail|email)".

Once verified, offer filter customization via AskUserQuestion — by default, only emails in the Primary inbox trigger the agent (Promotions, Social, Updates, and Forums are excluded). The user can keep this default or narrow further by sender, label, or keywords. No code changes needed for filters.

Check logs if needed

tail -f logs/nanoclaw.log

Troubleshooting

Gmail connection not responding

Test directly:

npx -y @gongrzhe/server-gmail-autoauth-mcp

OAuth token expired

Re-authorize:

rm ~/.gmail-mcp/credentials.json
npx -y @gongrzhe/server-gmail-autoauth-mcp

Container can't access Gmail

• Verify ~/.gmail-mcp is mounted: check src/container-runner.ts for the .gmail-mcp mount
• Check container logs: cat groups/main/logs/container-*.log | tail -50

Emails not being detected (Channel mode only)

• By default, the channel polls unread Primary inbox emails (is:unread category:primary)
• Check logs for Gmail polling errors

Removal

Tool-only mode

1. Remove ~/.gmail-mcp mount from src/container-runner.ts
2. Remove gmail MCP server and mcp__gmail__* from container/agent-runner/src/index.ts
3. Remove gmail from .nanoclaw/state.yaml
4. Clear stale agent-runner copies: rm -r data/sessions/*/agent-runner-src 2>/dev/null || true
5. Rebuild: cd container && ./build.sh && cd .. && npm run build && launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/com.nanoclaw (macOS) or systemctl --user restart nanoclaw (Linux)

Channel mode

1. Delete src/channels/gmail.ts and src/channels/gmail.test.ts
2. Remove import './gmail.js' from src/channels/index.ts
3. Remove ~/.gmail-mcp mount from src/container-runner.ts
4. Remove gmail MCP server and mcp__gmail__* from container/agent-runner/src/index.ts
5. Uninstall: npm uninstall googleapis
6. Remove gmail from .nanoclaw/state.yaml
7. Clear stale agent-runner copies: rm -r data/sessions/*/agent-runner-src 2>/dev/null || true
8. Rebuild: cd container && ./build.sh && cd .. && npm run build && launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/com.nanoclaw (macOS) or systemctl --user restart nanoclaw (Linux)