Actions enable users to interact with your product or service right inside Gmail and Inbox.
For instance, when a user receives an invitation to an event, she may be presented the option to RSVP interactively to the event from right inside the invitation. When she receives a notification that a magazine subscription is about to expire, she may be presented the option to renew it right from the notification.
Actions can be declared in two ways: as In-App Actions or as Go-To Actions. Multiple types of actions are currently supported.
In-App Actions
In-App Actions are handled in-place, inside Gmail and Inbox, without sending the user to any other website. Such actions include One-Click Actions, Reviews and RSVP Actions.
One-Click Action
There are many scenarios where the expected behavior from the user is to confirm a pre-defined request. For instance, when a user registers to a site, she receives an email asking her to confirm her registration. Similarly, a movie or music recommendations site could prompt a user to add items to a queue to enjoy later.
One-click actions in Gmail and in Inbox
To learn more, see the One-Click Action Reference.
RSVP Action
A RsvpAction can be used for responding to an event invitation from inside the inbox. The inbox renders this action by showing the details of the event and a combination of Yes/No/Maybe responses defined by the sender.
RSVP actions in Gmail and in Inbox
To learn more, see the RSVP Action Reference.
Review Action
Reviewing goods, movies, restaurants and any other kind of product or service is a common action that can be performed directly from the inbox. Gmail supports In-App Actions of type ReviewAction that can collect a numeric rating and/or a textual review from the user and send it to a third-party. You can customize the rating scale (e.g. 1 to 5 stars) and whether a comment is required and Gmail will render this action as a dropdown with the corresponding UI elements:
A review action in Gmail
Go-To Actions
For more complex interactions, Go-To Actions can be used to provide a direct link to the page where the action can be performed. Clicking the button redirects the user to the page specified by in the action definition.
Go-To Actions should be used for actions that require multiple steps, or significant data capture that cannot be performed from the inbox. For instance, an airline sending a check-in reminder can add a Go-To Action to quickly take the user to the airline website to select a seat or request an upgrade.
Go-to actions in Gmail and in Inbox
To learn more, see the Go-To Action Reference.