gws-gmail-send

gmail +send

PREREQUISITE: Read ../gws-shared/SKILL.md for auth, global flags, and security rules. If missing, run gws generate-skills to create it.

Send an email

Usage

gws gmail +send --to <EMAILS> --subject <SUBJECT> --body <TEXT>

Flags

Flag	Required	Default	Description
--to	✓	—	Recipient email address(es), comma-separated
--subject	✓	—	Email subject
--body	✓	—	Email body, used verbatim (plain text, or HTML with --html). \n is NOT a newline — use $'...' or a real line break
--from	—	—	Sender address (for send-as/alias; omit to use account default)
--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 +send --to alice@example.com --subject 'Hello' --body 'Hi Alice!'
gws gmail +send --to alice@example.com --subject 'Hello' --body 'Hi!' --cc bob@example.com
gws gmail +send --to alice@example.com --subject 'Hello' --body '<b>Bold</b> text' --html
gws gmail +send --to alice@example.com --subject 'Hello' --body 'Hi!' --from alias@example.com
gws gmail +send --to alice@example.com --subject 'Report' --body 'See attached' -a report.pdf
gws gmail +send --to alice@example.com --subject 'Files' --body 'Two files' -a a.pdf -a b.csv
gws gmail +send --to alice@example.com --subject 'Hello' --body 'Hi!' --draft
# Multi-line body — $'...' quoting turns \n into a real newline:
gws gmail +send --to alice@example.com --subject 'Update' --body $'Hi Alice,\n\nShipped today.\n\nBlake'
# Long body — read it from a file instead of quoting inline:
gws gmail +send --to alice@example.com --subject 'Update' --body "$(cat body.txt)"

Tips

• IMPORTANT: --body is verbatim. Writing --body "Hi,\n\nThanks" sends a literal backslash-n to the recipient; it does NOT create a line break. Use $'Hi,\n\nThanks' or "$(cat file.txt)". See gws-shared Shell Tips.
• Handles RFC 5322 formatting, MIME encoding, and base64 automatically.
• Use --from to send from a configured send-as alias instead of your primary address.
• Use -a/--attach to add file attachments. Can be specified multiple times. Total size limit: 25MB.
• With --html, use fragment tags (<p>, <b>, <a>, <br>, etc.) — no <html>/<body> wrapper needed.
• Use --draft to save the message as a draft instead of sending it immediately.

[!CAUTION] This is a write command — confirm with the user before executing.

See Also

• gws-shared — Global flags and auth
• gws-gmail — All send, read, and manage email commands