Label and Archive Gmail
Label matching Gmail messages and archive them out of your inbox using the gws CLI.
- Repository
- googleworkspace/cli
- Stars
- 32,059
- Licence
- Apache-2.0
- Files
- 1 file
What it does
This skill teaches an AI agent a short recipe for tidying Gmail. It searches your mailbox for messages matching a query (for example, mail from one sender), adds a chosen label to them, and removes the INBOX label so they leave your inbox while staying in your account. It works by issuing commands through the Google Workspace command-line tool 'gws', and it depends on the companion gws-gmail skill for the underlying Gmail details.
Great for
- People whose inbox fills up with automated notifications or newsletters they want sorted automatically
- Users who already have the gws CLI installed and authenticated with their Google account
- Anyone comfortable reviewing search queries before bulk changes are made to their mail
Skip it if
- Permanently deleting or trashing email: the recipe only relabels and archives, but a broad query could move many messages out of view, so check matches first
- Non-Gmail accounts or people without the gws tool set up, since the recipe cannot run without it
Try asking
- “Label all emails from notifications@service.com as 'Alerts' and archive them”
- “Archive every message from my bank's statement sender so they skip my inbox”
- “Find emails matching a search query and move them under a new label”
Install in 3 steps
- 1
Download the skill
The ZIP contains the 1 original files, the Apache-2.0 licence and an attribution note.
recipe-label-and-archive-emails.zip - 2
Add it to your agent
Claude Code (all projects)
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip recipe-label-and-archive-emails.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)
mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip recipe-label-and-archive-emails.zip -d .claude/skills/Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.
- 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
- Run the search step first and review the results table before applying labels or archiving in bulk
- Make your search query narrow (sender plus subject, for example) so only the intended messages are changed
- Create the target label in Gmail beforehand and note its label ID so the modify command uses the correct value
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.