Gws Gmail Reply
googleworkspace/cliOfficial
Replies to Gmail messages while automatically handling all the threading complexity that makes email integration a pain. It sets proper In-Reply-To and References headers, quotes the original message, and preserves the conversation thread without you having to think about it. You can add attachments, CC additional people, or save as a draft instead of sending immediately. The HTML mode preserves inline images and formatting from the original message. If you're building any kind of email automation or assistant that needs to participate in real conversations rather than just blast out notifications, this handles the tedious parts correctly.
- installs
- 35.2K
- GitHub stars
- 31.9K
- last updated
- Aug 21, 2026
Install
$ npx -y skills add googleworkspace/cli --skill gws-gmail-reply --agent claude-codeInstalls into .claude/skills of the current project.
Files
gmail +reply
PREREQUISITE: Read
../gws-shared/SKILL.mdfor auth, global flags, and security rules. If missing, rungws generate-skillsto create it.
Reply to a message (handles threading automatically)
Usage
gws gmail +reply --message-id <ID> --body <TEXT>
Flags
| Flag | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
--message-id | ✓ | — | Gmail message ID to reply to |
--body | ✓ | — | Reply body (plain text, or HTML with --html) |
--from | — | — | Sender address (for send-as/alias; omit to use account default) |
--to | — | — | Additional To email address(es), comma-separated |
--attach | — | — | Attach a file (can be specified multiple times) |
--cc | — | — | CC email address(es), comma-separated |
--bcc | — | — | BCC email address(es), comma-separated |
--html | — | — | Treat --body as HTML content (default is plain text) |
--dry-run | — | — | Show the request that would be sent without executing it |
--draft | — | — | Save as draft instead of sending |
Examples
gws gmail +reply --message-id 18f1a2b3c4d --body 'Thanks, got it!'
gws gmail +reply --message-id 18f1a2b3c4d --body 'Looping in Carol' --cc carol@example.com
gws gmail +reply --message-id 18f1a2b3c4d --body 'Adding Dave' --to dave@example.com
gws gmail +reply --message-id 18f1a2b3c4d --body '<b>Bold reply</b>' --html
gws gmail +reply --message-id 18f1a2b3c4d --body 'Updated version' -a updated.docx
gws gmail +reply --message-id 18f1a2b3c4d --body 'Draft reply' --draft
Tips
- Automatically sets In-Reply-To, References, and threadId headers.
- Quotes the original message in the reply body.
- --to adds extra recipients to the To field.
- Use -a/--attach to add file attachments. Can be specified multiple times.
- With --html, the quoted block uses Gmail's gmail_quote CSS classes and preserves HTML formatting. Use fragment tags (
- With --html, inline images in the quoted message are preserved via cid: references.
- Use --draft to save the reply as a draft instead of sending it immediately.
- For reply-all, use +reply-all instead.
See Also
- gws-shared — Global flags and auth
- gws-gmail — All send, read, and manage email commands
Sponsors
Details
- Repository
- github.com/googleworkspace/cli
- Categories
- CLI & Terminal, Office & Documents
