Google Workspace Skill for Hermes Agent: Setup and CLI Commands

The Google Workspace skill covers Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Contacts, Sheets, and Docs. Authentication uses Hermes-managed OAuth, and commands are dispatched through a lightweight CLI wrapper called gws. If gws is installed on the system, the skill delegates to it for broader Workspace coverage. Without gws, it falls back to the bundled Python client implementation, which covers the same core services but may lack some edge-case features or performance optimizations that the CLI provides. In practice, install gws if you need full API surface access or plan to script multi-step workflows outside the skill; the fallback is fine for standard read/write operations on the six listed services.

References

references/gmail-search-syntax.md, Documents Gmail search operators such as is:unread, from:, and newer_than:. Use this reference when you need to filter or query Gmail messages programmatically or via the API. It pairs well with any automation that processes email, letting you narrow results to specific senders, timeframes, or read status. A common caveat: operators are case-insensitive but must be used exactly as documented; for example, newer_than:1d works, but newer_than:1 D may not.

Scripts

Two scripts live in the scripts/ directory. setup.py handles OAuth2 authorization; you run it once to grant permissions. google_api.py is a compatibility wrapper CLI. When the gws tool is available, it delegates operations to gws for better performance or feature coverage, but it always preserves the JSON output contract that Hermes already expects. This means you can swap between the two backends without changing downstream consumers.

First-Time Setup

The entire setup is non-interactive. You drive it step by step, so it works on CLI, Telegram, Discord, or any platform.

Define a shorthand first:

GSETUP="python ${HERMES_HOME:-$HOME/.hermes}/skills/productivity/google-workspace/scripts/setup.py"

Step 0: Check if already set up

$GSETUP --check

If it prints AUTHENTICATED, skip to Usage, setup is already done.

Step 1: Triage, ask the user what they need

Before starting OAuth setup, ask the user TWO questions:

Question 1: "What Google services do you need? Just email, or also Calendar/Drive/Sheets/Docs?"

Email only → They don't need this skill at all. Use the himalaya skill instead, it works with a Gmail App Password (Settings → Security → App Passwords) and takes 2 minutes to set up. No Google Cloud project needed. Load the himalaya skill and follow its setup instructions.
Email + Calendar → Continue with this skill, but use --services email,calendar during auth so the consent screen only asks for the scopes they actually need.
Calendar/Drive/Sheets/Docs only → Continue with this skill and use a narrower --services set like calendar,drive,sheets,docs.
Full Workspace access → Continue with this skill and use the default all service set.

Question 2: "Does your Google account use Advanced Protection (hardware security keys required to sign in)? If you're not sure, you probably don't, it's something you would have explicitly enrolled in."

No / Not sure → Normal setup. Continue below.
Yes → Their Workspace admin must add the OAuth client ID to the org's allowed apps list before Step 4 will work. Let them know upfront.

Step 2: Create OAuth credentials (one-time, ~5 minutes)

Tell the user:

You need a Google Cloud OAuth client. This is a one-time setup:

Create or select a project: https://console.cloud.google.com/projectselector2/home/dashboard

Enable the required APIs from the API Library: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/library Enable: Gmail API, Google Calendar API, Google Drive API, Google Sheets API, Google Docs API, People API

Create the OAuth client here: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials Credentials → Create Credentials → OAuth 2.0 Client ID

Application type: "Desktop app" → Create

If the app is still in Testing, add the user's Google account as a test user here: https://console.cloud.google.com/auth/audience Audience → Test users → Add users

Download the JSON file and tell me the file path

Important Hermes CLI note: if the file path starts with /, do NOT send only the bare path as its own message in the CLI, because it can be mistaken for a slash command. Send it in a sentence instead, like: The JSON file path is: /home/user/Downloads/client_secret_....json

Once they provide the path:

$GSETUP --client-secret /path/to/client_secret.json

If they paste the raw client ID / client secret values instead of a file path, write a valid Desktop OAuth JSON file for them yourself, save it somewhere explicit (for example ~/Downloads/hermes-google-client-secret.json), then run --client-secret against that file.

Step 3: Get authorization URL

Use the service set chosen in Step 1. Examples:

$GSETUP --auth-url --services email,calendar --format json
$GSETUP --auth-url --services calendar,drive,sheets,docs --format json
$GSETUP --auth-url --services all --format json

This returns JSON with an auth_url field and also saves the exact URL to ~/.hermes/google_oauth_last_url.txt.

Agent rules for this step:

Extract the auth_url field and send that exact URL to the user as a single line.
Tell the user that the browser will likely fail on http://localhost:1 after approval, and that this is expected.
Tell them to copy the ENTIRE redirected URL from the browser address bar.
If the user gets Error 403: access_denied, send them directly to https://console.cloud.google.com/auth/audience to add themselves as a test user.

Step 4: Exchange the code

The user will paste back either a URL like http://localhost:1/?code=4/0A...&scope=... or just the code string. Either works. The --auth-url step stores a temporary pending OAuth session locally so --auth-code can complete the PKCE exchange later, even on headless systems:

$GSETUP --auth-code "THE_URL_OR_CODE_THE_USER_PASTED" --format json

If --auth-code fails because the code expired, was already used, or came from an older browser tab, it now returns a fresh fresh_auth_url. In that case, immediately send the new URL to the user and have them retry with the newest browser redirect only.

Step 5: Verify

$GSETUP --check

Should print AUTHENTICATED. Setup is complete, token refreshes automatically from now on.

Notes

Token is stored at ~/.hermes/google_token.json and auto-refreshes.
Pending OAuth session state/verifier are stored temporarily at ~/.hermes/google_oauth_pending.json until exchange completes.
If gws is installed, google_api.py points it at the same ~/.hermes/google_token.json credentials file. Users do not need to run a separate gws auth login flow.
To revoke: $GSETUP --revoke

Usage

All commands are run through a single API script. Set GAPI as a shorthand to keep invocations short:

GAPI="python ${HERMES_HOME:-$HOME/.hermes}/skills/productivity/google-workspace/scripts/google_api.py"

Gmail

Search, read, send, reply, and manage labels. The search command returns a JSON array with id, from, subject, date, and snippet.

# Search (returns JSON array with id, from, subject, date, snippet)
$GAPI gmail search "is:unread" --max 10
$GAPI gmail search "from:boss@company.com newer_than:1d"
$GAPI gmail search "has:attachment filename:pdf newer_than:7d"

# Read full message (returns JSON with body text)
$GAPI gmail get MESSAGE_ID

# Send
$GAPI gmail send --to user@example.com --subject "Hello" --body "Message text"
$GAPI gmail send --to user@example.com --subject "Report" --body "<h1>Q4</h1><p>Details...</p>" --html
$GAPI gmail send --to user@example.com --subject "Hello" --from '"Research Agent" <user@example.com>' --body "Message text"

# Reply (automatically threads and sets In-Reply-To)
$GAPI gmail reply MESSAGE_ID --body "Thanks, that works for me."
$GAPI gmail reply MESSAGE_ID --from '"Support Bot" <user@example.com>' --body "Thanks"

# Labels
$GAPI gmail labels
$GAPI gmail modify MESSAGE_ID --add-labels LABEL_ID
$GAPI gmail modify MESSAGE_ID --remove-labels UNREAD

Calendar

List, create, and delete events. The list command defaults to the next 7 days. Create requires ISO 8601 timestamps with timezone.

# List events (defaults to next 7 days)
$GAPI calendar list
$GAPI calendar list --start 2026-03-01T00:00:00Z --end 2026-03-07T23:59:59Z

# Create event (ISO 8601 with timezone required)
$GAPI calendar create --summary "Team Standup" --start 2026-03-01T10:00:00-06:00 --end 2026-03-01T10:30:00-06:00
$GAPI calendar create --summary "Lunch" --start 2026-03-01T12:00:00Z --end 2026-03-01T13:00:00Z --location "Cafe"
$GAPI calendar create --summary "Review" --start 2026-03-01T14:00:00Z --end 2026-03-01T15:00:00Z --attendees "alice@co.com,bob@co.com"

# Delete event
$GAPI calendar delete EVENT_ID

Drive

Search, upload, download, create folders, share, and delete files. Upload auto-detects MIME type. Download exports Google-native files to a sensible default format (Docs to pdf, Sheets to csv, Slides to pdf, Drawings to png) unless you specify otherwise. Delete defaults to trash (reversible); use --permanent to skip the trash.

# Search existing files
$GAPI drive search "quarterly report" --max 10
$GAPI drive search "mimeType='application/pdf'" --raw-query --max 5

# Get metadata for a single file
$GAPI drive get FILE_ID

# Upload a local file (auto-detects MIME type)
$GAPI drive upload /path/to/report.pdf
$GAPI drive upload /path/to/image.png --name "Logo.png" --parent FOLDER_ID

# Download (binary files download as-is; Google-native files export to a
# sensible default — Docs→pdf, Sheets→csv, Slides→pdf, Drawings→png)
$GAPI drive download FILE_ID
$GAPI drive download DOC_ID --output ~/doc.pdf
$GAPI drive download DOC_ID --export-mime text/plain --output ~/doc.txt

# Create a folder
$GAPI drive create-folder "Reports"
$GAPI drive create-folder "Q4" --parent FOLDER_ID

# Share
$GAPI drive share FILE_ID --email alice@example.com --role reader
$GAPI drive share FILE_ID --email alice@example.com --role writer --notify
$GAPI drive share FILE_ID --type anyone --role reader        # anyone with link
$GAPI drive share FILE_ID --type domain --domain example.com --role reader

# Delete — defaults to trash (reversible). Use --permanent to skip the trash.
$GAPI drive delete FILE_ID
$GAPI drive delete FILE_ID --permanent

Contacts

$GAPI contacts list --max 20

Sheets

Create, read, write, and append rows to spreadsheets.

# Create a new spreadsheet
$GAPI sheets create --title "Q4 Budget"
$GAPI sheets create --title "Inventory" --sheet-name "Stock"

# Read
$GAPI sheets get SHEET_ID "Sheet1!A1:D10"

# Write
$GAPI sheets update SHEET_ID "Sheet1!A1:B2" --values '[["Name","Score"],["Alice","95"]]'

# Append rows
$GAPI sheets append SHEET_ID "Sheet1!A:C" --values '[["new","row","data"]]'

Docs

Read, create, and append text to documents.

# Read
$GAPI docs get DOC_ID

# Create a new Doc (optionally seeded with body text)
$GAPI docs create --title "Meeting Notes"
$GAPI docs create --title "Draft" --body "First paragraph..."

# Append text to the end of an existing Doc
$GAPI docs append DOC_ID --text "Additional content to append"

Output Format

Every command returns JSON. You can pipe the output into jq for filtering or read it directly in your automation script. The structure varies by endpoint, so here is what each operation returns:

Gmail search: an array of objects, each containing id, threadId, from, to, subject, date, snippet, and labels.
Gmail get: a single object with id, threadId, from, to, subject, date, labels, and body.
Gmail send/reply: an object with status set to "sent", plus id and threadId.
Calendar list: an array of objects, each with id, summary, start, end, location, description, and htmlLink.
Calendar create: an object with status set to "created", plus id, summary, and htmlLink.
Drive search: an array of objects, each with id, name, mimeType, modifiedTime, and webViewLink.
Drive get: an object with id, name, mimeType, modifiedTime, size, webViewLink, parents, and owners.
Drive upload: an object with status set to "uploaded", plus id, name, mimeType, and webViewLink.
Drive download: an object with status set to "downloaded", plus id, name, path, and mimeType.
Drive create-folder: an object with status set to "created", plus id, name, and webViewLink.
Drive share: an object with status set to "shared", plus permissionId, fileId, role, and type.
Drive delete: an object with status set to either "trashed" or "deleted", plus fileId and permanent.
Contacts list: an array of objects, each with name, emails (an array of strings), and phones (an array of strings).
Sheets get: a 2D array of cell values, i.e., [[cell, cell, ...], ...].
Sheets create: an object with status set to "created", plus spreadsheetId, title, and spreadsheetUrl.
Docs create: an object with status set to "created", plus documentId, title, and url.
Docs append: an object with status set to "appended", plus documentId, inserted_at, and characters.

In practice, you will most often reach for this section when building a pipeline that chains multiple Google Workspace actions together. For example, after a Drive upload you might want to grab the returned id to share the file, or after a Calendar create you might use the htmlLink to notify a user. The status field is useful for error handling: check it before proceeding to the next step.

Rules

Never send email, create/delete calendar events, delete Drive files, share files, or modify Docs/Sheets without confirming with the user first. Show what will be done (recipients, file IDs, content, share role) and ask for approval. For drive delete, prefer the default trash (reversible) over --permanent.
Check auth before first use, run setup.py --check. If it fails, guide the user through setup.
Use the Gmail search syntax reference for complex queries, load it with skill_view("google-workspace", file_path="references/gmail-search-syntax.md").
Calendar times must include timezone, always use ISO 8601 with offset (e.g., 2026-03-01T10:00:00-06:00) or UTC (Z).
Respect rate limits, avoid rapid-fire sequential API calls. Batch reads when possible.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
`NOT_AUTHENTICATED`	Run setup Steps 2-5 above
`REFRESH_FAILED`	Token revoked or expired, redo Steps 3-5
`HttpError 403: Insufficient Permission`	Missing API scope, `$GSETUP --revoke` then redo Steps 3-5
`AUTHENTICATED (partial)` or "Token missing scopes"	New write capabilities (Drive write/delete, Docs create/edit) require re-authorization. `$GSETUP --revoke` then redo Steps 3-5 to grant the upgraded scopes.
`HttpError 403: Access Not Configured`	API not enabled, user needs to enable it in Google Cloud Console
`ModuleNotFoundError`	Run `$GSETUP --install-deps`
Advanced Protection blocks auth	Workspace admin must allowlist the OAuth client ID

This table covers the most common issues you will hit when setting up or running the integration. The first four all point back to the same setup flow: if you see an auth-related error, the fastest path is usually to revoke and re-run the OAuth steps. The --revoke flag clears the stored token so you can start fresh. The partial auth message is especially easy to miss because the integration may appear to work for read-only operations before failing on writes. The Access Not Configured error means the Google Cloud Console project does not have the required API toggled on, which is a one-time project setup step, not something you fix in the integration itself. ModuleNotFoundError is a local dependency issue that the install-deps flag resolves. The Advanced Protection case is rare but important: if your Workspace uses Google's Advanced Protection Program, the OAuth client ID must be explicitly allowlisted by an admin, otherwise the auth request is silently blocked.

Revoking Access

Run the following command to revoke the OAuth tokens that the setup tool has stored for your Google Workspace account:

$GSETUP --revoke

You would reach for this when you want to disconnect Neura Market from your Google Workspace account entirely, for example before switching to a different Google account, after rotating credentials, or as part of a cleanup routine. The command removes the locally cached tokens, so the next time you run a command that needs Google Workspace access, the tool will prompt you to re-authenticate. Note that revoking tokens on the client side does not delete any data in Google Workspace itself; it only invalidates the current session from the tool's perspective.

Google Workspace Skill for Hermes Agent: Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Sheets, Docs via CLI