Gmail Workflows

Automate Gmail with intelligent workflows for attachment management, email organization, and Google Drive integration. Based on n8n's 7,800+ workflow templates.

Overview

This skill helps you design and implement Gmail automation workflows that:

• Automatically save attachments to Google Drive
• Organize emails with smart labeling
• Archive processed emails
• Send notifications via Slack/Email
• Track email metrics

Core Workflow Templates

1. Gmail Attachment Manager

Purpose: Automatically extract attachments from emails and save to Google Drive

Workflow Steps:

┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐
│ Gmail       │───▶│ Filter by   │───▶│ Extract     │───▶│ Upload to   │
│ Trigger     │    │ Criteria    │    │ Attachments │    │ Google Drive│
└─────────────┘    └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘
                                                                │
                         ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    │
                         │ Send        │◀───│ Apply Label │◀───┘
                         │ Notification│    │ & Archive   │
                         └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘

Configuration:

trigger:
  type: gmail_new_email
  filters:
    has_attachment: true
    from: ["*@company.com", "*@vendor.com"]
    subject_contains: ["invoice", "report", "contract"]

actions:
  - extract_attachments:
      file_types: [pdf, xlsx, docx, csv]
      max_size_mb: 25
  
  - upload_to_drive:
      folder_path: "/Attachments/{year}/{month}"
      naming_pattern: "{filename}_{sender}_{date}"
      create_folder_if_missing: true
  
  - organize_email:
      apply_label: "Processed/Attachments"
      mark_as_read: true
      archive: true
  
  - notify:
      channel: slack
      message: "New attachment saved: {filename} from {sender}"

Best Practices:

• Use specific sender filters to avoid processing spam
• Set file size limits to prevent storage issues
• Use date-based folder structure for easy retrieval
• Enable duplicate detection to avoid redundant uploads

2. Invoice Auto-Archiver

Purpose: Automatically collect and organize invoices from email

Workflow Steps:

Gmail Trigger → Detect Invoice → Extract PDF → OCR/Parse → Save to Drive → Update Spreadsheet → Archive Email

Configuration:

trigger:
  subject_patterns:
    - "invoice"
    - "bill"
    - "statement"
    - "付款"
    - "发票"

processing:
  - detect_invoice:
      methods: [subject_keywords, attachment_name, sender_domain]
  
  - extract_data:
      fields: [invoice_number, amount, date, vendor, due_date]
      use_ocr: true
  
  - save_to_drive:
      folder: "/Finance/Invoices/{year}/{vendor}"
      naming: "{date}_{vendor}_{amount}"
  
  - update_tracker:
      spreadsheet: "Invoice Tracker"
      columns: [Date, Vendor, Amount, Invoice#, Status, File_Link]
  
  - archive:
      label: "Finance/Invoices"
      star: true

3. Client Communication Organizer

Purpose: Automatically organize client emails by project/client

Configuration:

rules:
  - name: "Client A Emails"
    condition:
      from_domain: "clienta.com"
    actions:
      - apply_label: "Clients/Client A"
      - forward_to: "[email protected]"
      - save_attachments: "/Clients/Client A/{subject}"

  - name: "Project X Updates"
    condition:
      subject_contains: ["Project X", "PX-"]
    actions:
      - apply_label: "Projects/Project X"
      - add_to_task: "Project X Board"
      - notify_slack: "#project-x"

  - name: "Urgent Requests"
    condition:
      subject_contains: ["URGENT", "ASAP", "紧急"]
      is_unread: true
    actions:
      - apply_label: "Priority/Urgent"
      - send_sms: "+1234567890"
      - move_to_inbox: true

4. Email Analytics Dashboard

Purpose: Track email metrics and generate reports

Metrics to Track:

daily_metrics:
  - emails_received: count(inbox)
  - emails_sent: count(sent)
  - response_time_avg: avg(reply_time)
  - unread_count: count(unread)
  - attachment_count: count(has_attachment)

weekly_report:
  - top_senders: group_by(from, count)
  - busiest_hours: group_by(hour, count)
  - label_distribution: group_by(label, count)
  - response_rate: sent / received

automation:
  - schedule: "every Monday 9am"
  - output: Google Sheets
  - notify: Slack #email-metrics

Implementation Guide

Using n8n

// n8n Workflow: Gmail to Google Drive
{
  "nodes": [
    {
      "name": "Gmail Trigger",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.gmailTrigger",
      "parameters": {
        "pollTimes": { "item": [{ "mode": "everyMinute" }] },
        "filters": { "labelIds": ["INBOX"] }
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Filter Attachments",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.if",
      "parameters": {
        "conditions": {
          "boolean": [{
            "value1": "={{ $json.hasAttachment }}",
            "value2": true
          }]
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Get Attachments",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.gmail",
      "parameters":