Users.messages: send

Sends the specified message to the recipients in the To, Cc, and Bcc headers. Try it now or see an example.

This method supports an /upload URI and accepts uploaded media with the following characteristics:

Maximum file size: 35MB
Accepted Media MIME types: message/rfc822

Request

HTTP request

This method provides media upload functionality through two separate URIs. For more details, see the document on media upload.

Upload URI, for media upload requests:

POST https://www.googleapis.com/upload/gmail/v1/users/userId/messages/send

Metadata URI, for metadata-only requests:

POST https://www.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/userId/messages/send

Parameters

Parameter name	Value	Description
Path parameters
`userId`	`string`	The user's email address. The special value `me` can be used to indicate the authenticated user.
Required query parameters
`uploadType`	`string`	The type of upload request to the /upload URI. Acceptable values are: `media` - Simple upload. Upload the media only, without any metadata. `multipart` - Multipart upload. Upload both the media and its metadata, in a single request. `resumable` - Resumable upload. Upload the file in a resumable fashion, using a series of at least two requests where the first request includes the metadata.

Authorization

This request requires authorization with at least one of the following scopes:

Scope
`https://mail.google.com/`
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify`
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.compose`
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.send`

For more information, see the authentication and authorization page.

Request body

In the request body, supply a Users.messages resource with the following properties as the metadata. For more information, see the document on media upload.

Property name	Value	Description	Notes
Required Properties
`raw`	`bytes`	The entire email message in an RFC 2822 formatted and base64url encoded string. Returned in `messages.get` and `drafts.get` responses when the `format=RAW` parameter is supplied.	writable
Optional Properties
`threadId`	`string`	The ID of the thread the message belongs to. To add a message or draft to a thread, the following criteria must be met: The requested `threadId` must be specified on the `Message` or `Draft.Message` you supply with your request. The `References` and `In-Reply-To` headers must be set in compliance with the RFC 2822 standard. The `Subject` headers must match.	writable

Response

If successful, this method returns a Users.messages resource in the response body.

Examples

Note: The code examples available for this method do not represent all supported programming languages (see the client libraries page for a list of supported languages).

Java

Uses the Java client library.

import com.google.api.client.repackaged.org.apache.commons.codec.binary.Base64;
import com.google.api.services.gmail.Gmail;
import com.google.api.services.gmail.model.Message;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.nio.file.FileSystems;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.util.Enumeration;
import java.util.Properties;

import javax.activation.DataHandler;
import javax.activation.DataSource;
import javax.activation.FileDataSource;
import javax.mail.MessagingException;
import javax.mail.Multipart;
import javax.mail.Session;
import javax.mail.internet.InternetAddress;
import javax.mail.internet.MimeBodyPart;
import javax.mail.internet.MimeMessage;
import javax.mail.internet.MimeMultipart;

// ...

public class MyClass {

  // ...

  /**
   * Send an email from the user's mailbox to its recipient.
   *
   * @param service Authorized Gmail API instance.
   * @param userId User's email address. The special value "me"
   * can be used to indicate the authenticated user.
   * @param email Email to be sent.
   * @throws MessagingException
   * @throws IOException
   */
  public static void sendMessage(Gmail service, String userId, MimeMessage email)
      throws MessagingException, IOException {
    Message message = createMessageWithEmail(email);
    message = service.users().messages().send(userId, message).execute();

    System.out.println("Message id: " + message.getId());
    System.out.println(message.toPrettyString());
  }

  /**
   * Create a Message from an email
   *
   * @param email Email to be set to raw of message
   * @return Message containing base64url encoded email.
   * @throws IOException
   * @throws MessagingException
   */
  public static Message createMessageWithEmail(MimeMessage email)
      throws MessagingException, IOException {
    ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
    email.writeTo(baos);
    String encodedEmail = Base64.encodeBase64URLSafeString(baos.toByteArray());
    Message message = new Message();
    message.setRaw(encodedEmail);
    return message;
  }

  // ...

}

.NET

Uses the .NET client library.

using Google.Apis.Gmail.v1;
using Google.Apis.Gmail.v1.Data;

// ...

public class MyClass {

  // ...

  /// <summary>
  /// Send an email from the user's mailbox to its recipient.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="service">Gmail API service instance.</param>
  /// <param name="userId">User's email address. The special value "me"
  /// can be used to indicate the authenticated user.</param>
  /// <param name="email">Email to be sent.</param>
  public static Message SendMessage(GmailService service, String userId, Message email)
  {
      try
      {
          return service.Users.Messages.Send(email, userId).Execute();
      }
      catch (Exception e)
      {
          Console.WriteLine("An error occurred: " + e.Message);
      }

      return null;
  }

  // ...

}

PHP

Does not use a client library.

/**
 * Send Message.
 *
 * @param  Google_Service_Gmail $service Authorized Gmail API instance.
 * @param  string $userId User's email address. The special value 'me'
 * can be used to indicate the authenticated user.
 * @param  Google_Service_Gmail_Message $message Message to send.
 * @return Google_Service_Gmail_Message sent Message.
 */
function sendMessage($service, $userId, $message) {
  try {
    $message = $service->users_messages->send($userId, $message);
    print 'Message with ID: ' . $message->getId() . ' sent.';
    return $message;
  } catch (Exception $e) {
    print 'An error occurred: ' . $e->getMessage();
  }
}

Python

Uses the Python client library.

"""Send an email message from the user's account.
"""

import base64
from email.mime.audio import MIMEAudio
from email.mime.base import MIMEBase
from email.mime.image import MIMEImage
from email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipart
from email.mime.text import MIMEText
import mimetypes
import os

from apiclient import errors


def SendMessage(service, user_id, message):
  """Send an email message.

  Args:
    service: Authorized Gmail API service instance.
    user_id: User's email address. The special value "me"
    can be used to indicate the authenticated user.
    message: Message to be sent.

  Returns:
    Sent Message.
  """
  try:
    message = (service.users().messages().send(userId=user_id, body=message)
               .execute())
    print 'Message Id: %s' % message['id']
    return message
  except errors.HttpError, error:
    print 'An error occurred: %s' % error


def CreateMessage(sender, to, subject, message_text):
  """Create a message for an email.

  Args:
    sender: Email address of the sender.
    to: Email address of the receiver.
    subject: The subject of the email message.
    message_text: The text of the email message.

  Returns:
    An object containing a base64url encoded email object.
  """
  message = MIMEText(message_text)
  message['to'] = to
  message['from'] = sender
  message['subject'] = subject
  return {'raw': base64.urlsafe_b64encode(message.as_string())}


def CreateMessageWithAttachment(sender, to, subject, message_text, file_dir,
                                filename):
  """Create a message for an email.

  Args:
    sender: Email address of the sender.
    to: Email address of the receiver.
    subject: The subject of the email message.
    message_text: The text of the email message.
    file_dir: The directory containing the file to be attached.
    filename: The name of the file to be attached.

  Returns:
    An object containing a base64url encoded email object.
  """
  message = MIMEMultipart()
  message['to'] = to
  message['from'] = sender
  message['subject'] = subject

  msg = MIMEText(message_text)
  message.attach(msg)

  path = os.path.join(file_dir, filename)
  content_type, encoding = mimetypes.guess_type(path)

  if content_type is None or encoding is not None:
    content_type = 'application/octet-stream'
  main_type, sub_type = content_type.split('/', 1)
  if main_type == 'text':
    fp = open(path, 'rb')
    msg = MIMEText(fp.read(), _subtype=sub_type)
    fp.close()
  elif main_type == 'image':
    fp = open(path, 'rb')
    msg = MIMEImage(fp.read(), _subtype=sub_type)
    fp.close()
  elif main_type == 'audio':
    fp = open(path, 'rb')
    msg = MIMEAudio(fp.read(), _subtype=sub_type)
    fp.close()
  else:
    fp = open(path, 'rb')
    msg = MIMEBase(main_type, sub_type)
    msg.set_payload(fp.read())
    fp.close()

  msg.add_header('Content-Disposition', 'attachment', filename=filename)
  message.attach(msg)

  return {'raw': base64.urlsafe_b64encode(message.as_string())}

JavaScript