mail-backends

name	mail-backends
description	How Mail actions pick between the real Gmail API and synthetic local-emails fallback data per user. Use when mail data looks fake or empty, when a user has no connected Google account, or before claiming a message really was sent or fetched from Gmail.

Mail Backends

Rule

Two mail backends, chosen automatically per user. When the user has a connected Google account (isConnected(ownerEmail)), actions call the real Gmail API. When no account is connected, the same actions fall back transparently to synthetic local-emails data stored via getUserSetting / putUserSetting. Never assume Gmail is connected — actions like search-emails, list-emails, get-thread, get-email, and move-email branch on this internally, so call them the same way either way.

Why it matters

The fallback exists so the app is usable and demoable without OAuth. It is not a queue that later flushes to Gmail. If you are in fallback mode, do not tell the user that mail left their real inbox or that a real Gmail record changed — say the data is local demo state.

Related Skills

• inbox-reads-and-triage — reading mail and reporting coverage honestly.
• email-drafts — what send-email does in each mode, including the synthetic "Sent" item written to local-emails.