Prerequisites
To run this quickstart, you’ll need:
- Python 2.6 or greater.
- The pip package management tool.
- Access to the internet and a web browser.
- A Google account with Gmail enabled.
Step 1: Turn on the Gmail API
- Use this wizard to create or select a project in the Google Developers Console and automatically turn on the API. Click Continue, then Go to credentials.
- On the Add credentials to your project page, click the Cancel button.
- At the top of the page, select the OAuth consent screen tab. Select an Email address, enter a Product name if not already set, and click the Save button.
- Select the Credentials tab, click the Create credentials button and select OAuth client ID.
- Select the application type Other, enter the name “Gmail API Quickstart”, and click the Create button.
- Click OK to dismiss the resulting dialog.
- Click the file_download (Download JSON) button to the right of the client ID.
- Move this file to your working directory and rename it client_secret.json.
Step 2: Install the Google Client Library
Run the following command to install the library using pip:
$ pip install –upgrade google-api-python-client
See the library’s installation page for the alternative installation options.
Step 3: Set up the sample
Create a file named quickstart.py in your working directory and copy in the following code:
from __future__ import print_function
import httplib2
import os
import email
import base64
from apiclient import discovery
from apiclient import errors
from oauth2client import client
from oauth2client import tools
from oauth2client.file import Storage
# If modifying these scopes, delete your previously saved credentials
# at ~/.credentials/gmail-python-quickstart.json
SCOPES = 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly'
CLIENT_SECRET_FILE = 'client_secret.json'
APPLICATION_NAME = 'Gmail API Python'
def get_credentials(flags):
"""Gets valid user credentials from storage.
If nothing has been stored, or if the stored credentials are invalid,
the OAuth2 flow is completed to obtain the new credentials.
Returns:
Credentials, the obtained credential.
"""
home_dir = os.path.expanduser(