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Gmail Vacation Responder

Turn on a Gmail out-of-office auto-reply with a custom message and date range.

Source Download skill
Repository
googleworkspace/cli
Stars
32,059
Licence
Apache-2.0
Files
1 file

What it does

This skill teaches an AI agent how to set up an automatic out-of-office reply in a Gmail account using the gws command-line tool. Once installed, the agent can turn the vacation responder on with a message you choose, check that the settings took effect, and turn it off again when you return. It relies on the gws-gmail skill for Gmail access.

Great for

  • Professionals who want an out-of-office reply set up quickly without opening Gmail settings
  • Developers or admins who already use the gws CLI and want to script Gmail vacation settings
  • Anyone who wants an agent to manage a vacation reply on their behalf

Skip it if

  • Users who do not have the gws CLI installed and authenticated to a Gmail account, since the commands will fail
  • Shared or team inboxes where an auto-reply could expose internal contact details to outsiders without review
  • Situations needing a reply limited to specific senders or domains, since the example sets restrictToContacts and restrictToDomain to false and the agent must edit the command to change that

Try asking

  • “Set up an out-of-office reply that runs from March 3 to March 10 saying I will respond when I return”
  • “Turn on my Gmail vacation responder with a message pointing urgent requests to backup@company.com”
  • “Check whether my Gmail vacation responder is currently enabled and show me the message”
  • “Turn off my Gmail out-of-office reply now that I am back”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Gmail Vacation ResponderInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 1 original files, the Apache-2.0 licence and an attribution note.

    recipe-create-vacation-responder.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip recipe-create-vacation-responder.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip recipe-create-vacation-responder.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Replace the example message and backup contact with your own text before running, since the sample says 'until Jan 20' and lists a placeholder address.
  • Ask the agent to confirm the message and whether to restrict replies to contacts before it changes live Gmail settings.
  • The example does not set start or end dates; ask the agent to add them to the JSON if you want the reply to run only for a date range.

What's inside

  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from googleworkspace/cli under the Apache-2.0 licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.