Non-Coder's Guide to OpenClaw(1): Giving AI Permissions to Google Workspace - My Struggles with gog Integration 🤖📧

Introduction

Since many YouTubers and developers have already explained how to connect and use OpenClaw, I’ll skip that part!

I wrote this troubleshooting log while building my OpenClaw AI assistant, hoping it might help other “vibe coders” (non-developers who can’t even write a for-loop) solve similar errors they might face.

First off, my coding skills(?) are non-existent. I’m a vibe coder who can’t actually write a for-loop or if-statement. LOL However, I took a machine learning course in college, so I have some theoretical background and can somewhat read existing Python or C++ code and guess, “Ah, so this is how it flows…” Please keep this in mind while reading!

Chronicles(1): Trusting AI with Gmail?

What if an AI assistant could read my emails, check my schedule, and even reply to important messages?

Sounds cool, right? So today, I took on the challenge. Connecting gog CLI to the OpenClaw open-source AI framework to access Google Workspace (Gmail, Calendar, Drive, etc.).

The result? Success! 🎉

…But the process wasn’t exactly smooth. lol

Step 1: Discovering the gog Skill

Initially, I thought about using an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, which other developers mainly use. But while digging through the OpenClaw skills folder, I found a hidden treasure.

/home/myuser/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/openclaw/skills/gog/

There was already a Google Workspace-specific CLI called gog! 😲

What is gog?
A CLI tool to control Google Workspace from the terminal.
It can do almost anything: search Gmail, send emails, manage Calendar events, search Drive files, etc. It’s a built-in OpenClaw Skill.

Step 2: Google Cloud Console Setup (First Mistake)

To use OAuth authentication, you need to set it up in the Google Cloud Console.

What I did:

✅ Created a Project
✅ Enabled APIs (Gmail, Calendar, Drive, etc. - It’s convenient to do this in your existing Gemini API Project.)
✅ Created OAuth Client ID (Desktop app)
✅ Downloaded client_secret.json
❌ Configure OAuth Consent Screen Scopes… Forgot it

And confidently attempted authentication:

gog auth add [email protected] --services gmail,calendar,drive,contacts,docs,sheets

Result:

Access blocked: Authorization Error
Some requested scopes were invalid.
{valid=[...calendar], invalid=[...gmail, ...drive, ...contacts]}
400 Error: invalid_scope

😱 I hadn’t added the scopes to the OAuth Consent Screen!

Step 3: Adding Scopes and Retrying (Second Mistake)

Rushed back to Google Cloud Console:

OAuth Consent Screen → Edit App
Click “Add or Remove Scopes”
Added all necessary scopes:
- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify
- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive
- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents
- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/spreadsheets
- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/contacts
- …and so on
Added my email to Test Users

Tried again!

gog auth add [email protected] --services gmail,calendar,drive,contacts,docs,sheets

The browser opens, and the Google login screen appears. Approval complete! Other users, don’t be too hasty—just ask your AI assistant calmly!

💡 Pro Tip: When the Browser Doesn’t Open (Must-Read for WSL Users!)

If you are working in a Linux (WSL) environment like me, gog auth add might not open the browser automatically. Don’t panic! Copy the very long link (https://…) printed in the terminal and paste it into your Windows Chrome address bar. The login screen will appear perfectly!

Result:

Authorization received. Finishing…
store token: no TTY available for keyring file backend password prompt; 
set GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD

😵 Failed again!

This time, it was an error because I tried to save the token in an encrypted keyring, but there was no terminal to input the password.

Step 4: Solving with Environment Variables (Finally Success!)

The solution was simple. Set the keyring password as an environment variable.

export GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD="openclaw"
gog auth add [email protected] --services gmail,calendar,drive,contacts,docs,sheets

Browser opens, approve again…

Result:

Authorization received. Finishing…
email: [email protected]
services: calendar,contacts,docs,drive,gmail,sheets
client: default

🎉 Finally, Success!

Step 5: Testing - Does it Really Work?

Gmail Search:

export GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD="openclaw"
gog gmail search 'newer_than:1d' --max 5 --account [email protected]

Result: The last 5 emails from the past 24 hours are printed cleanly! ✅

Calendar Check:

gog calendar events primary --from 2026-02-08T00:00:00+09:00 --to 2026-02-09T00:00:00+09:00 --account [email protected]

Result: No events (I had no schedule today lol) ✅

Perfect!

Step 6: Important Safety Mechanisms 🚨

This isn’t the end. Giving an AI permission to Gmail… can be more dangerous than you think.

Imagine:

Accidentally sending a love confession to the Finance Department manager? 😱
Sending insults to an important client? 🔥
Deleting important emails? 💀

So, I recommend creating Safety Rules!

🔴 Mandatory Approval Tasks (AI NEVER does these arbitrarily):

Send Gmail (gog gmail send)
Delete Gmail (All delete commands)
Delete Drive Files
Delete/Modify Calendar Events

✅ Safe Tasks (AI can do freely):

Search/Read Emails
Check Calendar Events
Search Drive Files
Create Drafts (Never send!)

How it Works:

AI drafts the email
Shows it to me: “Shall I send this content?”
I explicitly approve: “Send”, “OK”, “Approve”
Only then, it executes

“Better to ask twice than to apologize once!”

Step 7: Integration with OpenClaw and Final Experiment!

Finally, I added the gog skill to the OpenClaw configuration file.

openclaw gateway config.patch

Now my AI assistant can freely handle requests like:

“Show me emails I received today” 👀
“Tell me next week’s schedule”
“Find the budget file in Drive” 🔍

So, I asked it to mark today’s unread emails as read.

gog_before gog_request gog_after

It really succeeded…!! (I didn’t click it myself lol)

Lessons Learned 💡

1. OAuth is More Complex Than Expected

Enabling APIs isn’t enough.
You must explicitly add Scopes in the OAuth Consent Screen.
Don’t forget to add Test Users!

2. Environment Variables are Universal Solvers

When there’s no TTY, pass the password via environment variable.
GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD="your-password"

3. Safety Mechanisms are Essential

Always follow the Principle of Least Privilege when granting permissions to AI.
Dangerous tasks (send, delete) must go through an approval step.

4. Read the Docs Carefully

If I had read gog --help first, I would have saved a lot of time lol

Conclusion

Thanks to today’s struggles, my AI assistant has become smarter! 🎉

Now it handles requests like “Mark today’s unread emails as read” with ease.

Next Goals:

Automatic email classification (Important/Spam)
Schedule-based automatic reminders
Automatic Drive file organization

With advancing technology, the era of working with AI has truly arrived. (Saving the non-coders…)

See you in the next chronicle of struggles!

Why not try raising your own AI assistant? 😊

References

P.S. My AI assistant helped write this post too. An era where AI writes its own struggle log about my mistakes… pretty funny. lol

Introduction#

Chronicles(1): Trusting AI with Gmail?#

Step 1: Discovering the gog Skill#

Step 2: Google Cloud Console Setup (First Mistake)#

What I did:#

Result:#

Step 3: Adding Scopes and Retrying (Second Mistake)#

💡 Pro Tip: When the Browser Doesn’t Open (Must-Read for WSL Users!)#

Result:#

Step 4: Solving with Environment Variables (Finally Success!)#

Result:#

Step 5: Testing - Does it Really Work?#

Gmail Search:#

Calendar Check:#

Step 6: Important Safety Mechanisms 🚨#

🔴 Mandatory Approval Tasks (AI NEVER does these arbitrarily):#

✅ Safe Tasks (AI can do freely):#

How it Works:#

Step 7: Integration with OpenClaw and Final Experiment!#

It really succeeded…!! (I didn’t click it myself lol)#

Lessons Learned 💡#

1. OAuth is More Complex Than Expected#

2. Environment Variables are Universal Solvers#

3. Safety Mechanisms are Essential#

4. Read the Docs Carefully#

Conclusion#

References#

Introduction

Chronicles(1): Trusting AI with Gmail?

Step 1: Discovering the gog Skill

Step 2: Google Cloud Console Setup (First Mistake)

What I did:

Result:

Step 3: Adding Scopes and Retrying (Second Mistake)

💡 Pro Tip: When the Browser Doesn’t Open (Must-Read for WSL Users!)

Result:

Step 4: Solving with Environment Variables (Finally Success!)

Result:

Step 5: Testing - Does it Really Work?

Gmail Search:

Calendar Check:

Step 6: Important Safety Mechanisms 🚨

🔴 Mandatory Approval Tasks (AI NEVER does these arbitrarily):

✅ Safe Tasks (AI can do freely):

How it Works:

Step 7: Integration with OpenClaw and Final Experiment!

It really succeeded…!! (I didn’t click it myself lol)

Lessons Learned 💡

1. OAuth is More Complex Than Expected

2. Environment Variables are Universal Solvers

3. Safety Mechanisms are Essential

4. Read the Docs Carefully

Conclusion

References