OpenClaw Email & Gmail Setup: AI-Powered Email Automation (2026)
Quick Answer: Connect OpenClaw to Gmail or any email provider in 10 minutes. Install the email skill with openclaw skills add @openclaw/skill-email, then configure with your Gmail app password or SMTP credentials. Your AI agent can read, compose, sort, and auto-reply to emails — all running on your server.
No third-party email service required. OpenClaw connects directly to your email provider using standard IMAP/SMTP protocols. Your credentials are stored encrypted on your own server and never leave your infrastructure.
What Can OpenClaw Email Automation Do?
Your AI agent becomes a full-featured email assistant. From reading and summarizing to composing and scheduling — here is what it handles.
Read & Summarize
Read your inbox, summarize unread messages, highlight urgent items, and provide daily email digests. Ask your agent 'What is in my inbox?' and get an AI-powered summary in seconds.
Compose & Reply
Draft and send emails from natural language instructions. Tell your agent 'Reply to John's email about the proposal — confirm the meeting time and attach the updated doc.' Context-aware responses.
Sort & Triage
Automatically categorize incoming emails: urgent, follow-up, newsletter, spam. Move emails to appropriate folders or labels. Prioritize what matters and archive what does not.
Schedule & Follow-Up
Schedule emails to send at optimal times. Set follow-up reminders: 'If they do not reply in 3 days, send a polite follow-up.' Automate entire drip sequences for leads.
Lead Follow-Up
Pair with the browser skill for lead research, then auto-compose personalized outreach emails. Track open rates and schedule follow-up sequences based on engagement.
Newsletter Drafting
Compile weekly or monthly newsletters from your notes, blog posts, or data sources. The agent formats, personalizes, and schedules distribution to your subscriber list.
Method 1: How Do You Set Up Gmail with OpenClaw?
Gmail is the most popular email provider for OpenClaw users. This method uses Gmail App Passwords for secure, revocable access. Takes about 10 minutes.
Step 1: Create a Gmail App Password
Gmail app passwords let OpenClaw access your email without using your main password. You can revoke them anytime without changing your account password.
- 1Go to myaccount.google.com and sign in
- 2Navigate to Security > 2-Step Verification (enable if not already active)
- 3Scroll down to App Passwords (or search for it)
- 4Select 'Other (Custom name)' and type 'OpenClaw'
- 5Click Generate and copy the 16-character password
- 6Store this password securely — you will need it in Step 3
Step 2: Install the Email Skill
The email skill adds IMAP/SMTP capabilities to your OpenClaw agent. One command from ClawHub.
- 1Open your terminal (or SSH into your OpenClaw server)
- 2Run: openclaw skills add @openclaw/skill-email
- 3Wait for installation to complete (about 30 seconds)
- 4Verify with: openclaw skills list
Step 3: Configure Gmail Credentials
The interactive configuration wizard stores your credentials encrypted on your server. They are never transmitted to external servers.
- 1Run: openclaw configure email
- 2Select 'Gmail' when prompted for provider
- 3Enter your full Gmail address (you@gmail.com)
- 4Paste the 16-character app password from Step 1
- 5Choose default send behavior: require confirmation (recommended) or auto-send
- 6Configuration saved — credentials are encrypted at rest
Step 4: Test the Connection
Verify everything works by sending a test message and reading your inbox through the agent.
- 1Tell your agent: 'Send a test email to myself'
- 2Check your inbox for the test message
- 3Then try: 'Summarize my last 5 unread emails'
- 4If both work, your email automation is fully operational
Method 2: How Do You Set Up SMTP/IMAP for Other Providers?
Not using Gmail? OpenClaw supports any email provider with standard SMTP/IMAP access. Run openclaw configure email and select "Custom SMTP/IMAP" to enter your provider settings.
Generic SMTP/IMAP Configuration
openclaw configure email
# Select: Custom SMTP/IMAP
# SMTP Host: smtp.yourprovider.com
# SMTP Port: 587 (STARTTLS) or 465 (SSL)
# IMAP Host: imap.yourprovider.com
# IMAP Port: 993 (SSL)
# Username: your@email.com
# Password: your-app-password-or-password
# Auth: STARTTLS or SSL
Popular Provider Settings
Outlook / Office 365
SMTP: smtp.office365.com
Port: 587 (STARTTLS)
IMAP: outlook.office365.com
Use your full email address as username. May require an app password if MFA is enabled.
Yahoo Mail
SMTP: smtp.mail.yahoo.com
Port: 465 (SSL) or 587 (STARTTLS)
IMAP: imap.mail.yahoo.com
Generate an app password from Yahoo Account Security settings. Standard password will not work.
Custom Domain (cPanel)
SMTP: mail.yourdomain.com
Port: 465 (SSL) or 587 (STARTTLS)
IMAP: mail.yourdomain.com
Check your hosting provider's email settings. Username is usually the full email address.
ProtonMail
SMTP: 127.0.0.1 (via Bridge)
Port: 1025 (Bridge local)
IMAP: 127.0.0.1 (via Bridge)
Requires ProtonMail Bridge running locally. Bridge provides local IMAP/SMTP access to encrypted mail.
What Are the Best Email Automation Use Cases?
Real scenarios where OpenClaw email automation saves hours of manual inbox management every week.
Auto-Reply to Customer Inquiries
Set up rules to automatically respond to common customer questions within minutes. The agent reads the email, understands the context, drafts an appropriate response, and sends it — or flags complex issues for your review.
"Auto-reply to support emails. For billing questions, include our pricing page link. For technical issues, ask for screenshots and escalate to me."
Email Sorting & Triage
Process your inbox automatically every morning. Categorize emails by priority, sender type, and topic. Move newsletters to a digest folder, flag client emails as urgent, and archive automated notifications.
"Every morning at 7 AM, sort my inbox. Flag anything from clients or partners as urgent. Move newsletters to Digest. Archive all automated notifications."
Lead Follow-Up Sequences
Automate multi-step outreach sequences. Send initial contact, wait for a response, and follow up at configured intervals with personalized messages that reference previous interactions.
"Send a follow-up to leads who have not replied in 3 days. Reference their company name and the service we discussed. Stop after 3 follow-ups."
Newsletter Drafting & Distribution
Compile content from your notes, blog posts, or data sources into a formatted newsletter. Review the draft, make edits, and distribute to your subscriber list on schedule.
"Draft this week's newsletter using my last 3 blog posts. Include a section on industry news. Send me the draft for review before distributing on Friday."
How Do You Configure Gateway Email Routing?
The Maton Gateway adds advanced email routing capabilities: webhook triggers, email parsing pipelines, and multi-account management.
Enable gateway for email channel
openclaw configure gateway --channel emailThis connects the email skill to the Maton Gateway for inbound email processing and advanced routing rules.
Configure inbound email triggers
openclaw gateway rules add --trigger "email.received" --filter "from:*@client.com"Define rules that trigger agent workflows when specific emails arrive. Filter by sender, subject, keywords, or attachments.
Set up multi-account routing
openclaw configure email --account support@yourcompany.comAdd multiple email accounts. Route support emails to one workflow, sales inquiries to another. Each account has its own credentials and rules.
How Does OpenClaw Keep Your Email Secure?
Your email credentials and data stay on your server. Here is how OpenClaw handles email security.
App Passwords, Not Your Main Password
Gmail App Passwords are separate credentials that can be revoked instantly without changing your account password. If you ever want to disconnect OpenClaw, simply delete the app password from your Google Account settings.
Encrypted Credential Storage
Email credentials are encrypted at rest on your server using AES-256 encryption. They are never transmitted to OpenClaw's servers, ClawHub, or any third party. Your server, your keys, your data.
Read-Only Mode Available
Configure the email skill in read-only mode to prevent the agent from sending emails. Useful for monitoring, sorting, and summarizing without any risk of outbound messages being sent on your behalf.
Docker Container Isolation
When running in Docker, email processing happens inside the container. Container isolation means even if another skill is compromised, your email credentials remain protected by container boundaries.
Audit Logging
Every email action is logged: reads, sends, replies, forwards, and deletes. Review the audit log anytime with 'openclaw logs --skill email'. Full transparency on what your agent does with your inbox.
TLS/SSL Encryption in Transit
All connections to your email provider use TLS/SSL encryption. Email content is encrypted in transit between your server and Gmail/SMTP providers. No plaintext email data on the wire.
Frequently Asked Questions
Want All Your Channels Connected?
Every week we send one automation that saves 10+ hours of manual work — the same playbooks our clients use to run their businesses on autopilot. Miss a week, miss the edge.
Get the Automation Playbook (Free)
One deploy-ready automation every week. Same strategies our clients pay thousands for. 400+ business owners already inside.
Need it done for you?
Book a Free Strategy Call See what we've built for real businesses →