gws-gmail-triage Skill for Claude: Summarize Your Unread Gmail

Lets Claude list your unread Gmail with sender, subject and date, so you can triage the inbox, using the gws command-line tool.

Installs: 47.5K; on skills.sh
Stars: 32K; on GitHub
Updated: Oct 2026; last repo commit

The skill teaches the agent one command, gws gmail +triage. By default it shows up to 20 unread messages as a table. You can raise or lower the limit, change the Gmail search query, and include label names. SKILL.md says it is read-only and never modifies your mailbox.

It needs the gws CLI signed in to your Google account, and SKILL.md tells the agent to read gws-shared first.

Good for

Anyone who wants a quick read on what is waiting in their inbox
Developers piping Gmail results into scripts with the gws CLI

Install gws-gmail-triage

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the gws-gmail-triage skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli
gws auth setup
npx skills add https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli/tree/main/skills/gws-shared
npx skills add https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli/tree/main/skills/gws-gmail-triage

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Requires Node.js 18+, Google Cloud project, Google account.

This skill only works with the gws command-line tool on your PATH, and its SKILL.md tells the agent to read the gws-shared skill first, so install both. gws auth setup needs the gcloud CLI; without it, use the manual OAuth steps in the README. If Google limits the sign-in screen, pick only the service you need, for example gws auth login -s drive,gmail,sheets.

From the project README. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Gmail: Show unread inbox summary (sender, subject, date).

Sections in SKILL.md

Usage
Flags
Examples
Tips
See Also

Key facts

Author: googleworkspace
Repository: googleworkspace/cli
License: Apache-2.0
Installs on skills.sh: 47,463 (Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars: 32,038 (Nov 2, 2026)
Last repo commit: Oct 30, 2026
What installs: 1 file including SKILL.md (the folder holds SKILL.md only)
Needs: The gws CLI on your PATH, a Google sign-in, and the gws-shared skill (read first, per SKILL.md)
Official status: The README says gws is not an officially supported Google product

What it includes

Shows an unread inbox summary: sender, subject, date
Defaults to table output. SKILL.md says it is read-only and never modifies your mailbox.
Try: “What unread email do I have?”
Runs code · gws gmail +triage
Sets how many messages to show; the default is 20
Try: “Show my 5 newest unread emails”
Read · --max
Uses a Gmail search query instead of the default is:unread
For example from:boss.
Try: “Triage only mail from my boss”
Read · --query
Includes label names in the output
Read · --labels
The SKILL.md tells the agent to read gws-shared for sign-in, flags and security rules
Files · Read gws-shared first

From the official docs

Permissions

Low risk

It only reads your inbox, but the senders and subjects it returns become part of your conversation. Use it only in a session where you are comfortable with that mail being read by the model.

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only modeHow to turn it on

Watch out for

Your mail headers go to the model
The sender, subject and date of each message are printed and read by the model. Keep the limit small, or add a query, if the inbox holds sensitive mail.
Needs a Google sign-in on this machine
Choose only the Gmail service when Google asks for access.

Technical details

Turning on read-only	The SKILL.md describes this command as read-only.
Talks to	Google Workspace APIs, called by the gws CLI
Sign-in and keys	The gws CLI encrypts saved Google credentials (AES-256-GCM) with a key in your OS keyring, or in ~/.config/gws/.encryption_key when the file backend is set.
Scopes	Only the Google service this command touches, chosen when you run gws auth login

Questions

What does gws-gmail-triage do?

It lists your unread Gmail with sender, subject and date, up to 20 messages by default. You can change the limit, use a Gmail search query, and include labels.

How do I install gws-gmail-triage?

Use the install box above, which has tabs for Claude Code, Codex and the skills CLI. Each sets up the gws CLI, signs you in to Google, and installs this skill together with gws-shared, because SKILL.md tells the agent to read gws-shared first for sign-in, global flags and security rules. There is no Claude app upload tab: the skill runs a gws command, and the README documents installing gws as a binary, npm, cargo, Nix or Homebrew install on your own machine.

Does gws-gmail-triage need an API key?

SKILL.md names no API key. The gws CLI signs in with your Google account through OAuth, and the README says it needs a Google Cloud project for the OAuth credentials. A service account is the documented alternative for servers.

Is gws-gmail-triage safe to use?

SKILL.md describes the command as read-only and says it never modifies your mailbox. It does print senders, subjects and dates, and the model reads them, so avoid it in a session where that mail should stay private.

Is this an official Google skill?

It lives in the googleworkspace GitHub organization, but the README says gws is not an officially supported Google product and that the project is under active development with breaking changes expected before v1.0.

gws-gmail-triage vs gws-gmail?

gws-gmail-triage only summarizes unread mail. The gws-gmail skill is the full command set: its SKILL.md lists +triage alongside +send, +reply, +reply-all, +forward, +read and +watch, plus the Gmail API resources.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: googleworkspace/cli
Folder: skills/gws-gmail-triage

googleworkspace/cli skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 7

googleworkspace/cli README · github.com
gws-shared SKILL.md · github.com
Codex skills docs · learn.chatgpt.com
skills CLI commands · github.com
gws-gmail-triage SKILL.md · github.com
gws-gmail-triage on skills.sh · skills.sh
gws-gmail SKILL.md · github.com