Where do I get the Authorized Gmail API service instance? (python, gmail api)

Question

I'm trying to call from my gmail api code so I can create a draft, but I can't figure out where to get the "Authorized Gmail API service instance." Here's my code:

def CreateDraft(service, user_id, message_body):
  CreateDraft('SERVICE THING NEEDS TO BE HERE','me','thisisbody')
  """Create and insert a draft email. Print the returned draft's message and id.

  Args:
    service: Authorized Gmail API service instance.
    user_id: User's email address. The special value "me"
    can be used to indicate the authenticated user.
    message_body: The body of the email message, including headers.

  Returns:
    Draft object, including draft id and message meta data.
  """
  try:
    message = {'message': message_body}
    draft = service.users().drafts().create(userId=user_id, body=message).execute()

    print 'Draft id: %s\nDraft message: %s' % (draft['id'], draft['message'])

    return draft
  except errors.HttpError, error:
    print 'An error occurred: %s' % error
    return None

Does anyone know where the Authorized Gmail API service instance is found? I have a client id and secret but it's nothing to do with that right?

Answer 1

So I figured it out. I did the following:

1) Change SCOPES to:

SCOPES = 'https://mail.google.com/' 

2) On your computer (Windows 7) go to "C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\.credentials

3) Delete the file "gmail-quickstart"

4) Run the code again (quickstart.py)

5) When the message pops up in your browser, click accept.

6) Check mail, you should have your message in there if you're looking to send email through the api.

The credentials file seems to hold the permissions. Changing your permissions and then deleting that file seems to make it all work perfectly. So overall your code should look something like this if you were looking to send mail through the api:

import httplib2
import os

from apiclient import discovery
import oauth2client
from oauth2client import client
from oauth2client import tools

try:
    import argparse
    flags = argparse.ArgumentParser(parents=[tools.argparser]).parse_args()
except ImportError:
    flags = None

SCOPES = 'https://mail.google.com/'
CLIENT_SECRET_FILE = 'client_secret.json'
APPLICATION_NAME = 'Gmail API Quickstart'


def get_credentials():
    """Gets valid user credentials from storage.

    If nothing has been stored, or if the stored credentials are invalid,
    the OAuth2 flow is completed to obtain the new credentials.

    Returns:
        Credentials, the obtained credential.
    """
    home_dir = os.path.expanduser('~')
    credential_dir = os.path.join(home_dir, '.credentials')
    if not os.path.exists(credential_dir):
        os.makedirs(credential_dir)
    credential_path = os.path.join(credential_dir,
                                   'gmail-quickstart.json')

    store = oauth2client.file.Storage(credential_path)
    credentials = store.get()
    if not credentials or credentials.invalid:
        flow = client.flow_from_clientsecrets(CLIENT_SECRET_FILE, SCOPES)
        flow.user_agent = APPLICATION_NAME
        if flags:
            credentials = tools.run_flow(flow, store, flags)
        else: # Needed only for compatability with Python 2.6
            credentials = tools.run(flow, store)
        print 'Storing credentials to ' + credential_path
    return credentials

import base64
from email.mime.audio import MIMEAudio
from email.mime.base import MIMEBase
from email.mime.image import MIMEImage
from email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipart
from email.mime.text import MIMEText
import mimetypes
from httplib2 import Http

from apiclient import errors

from apiclient.discovery import build
credentials = get_credentials()
service = build('gmail', 'v1', http=credentials.authorize(Http()))

def SendMessage(service, user_id, message):
  """Send an email message.

  Args:
    service: Authorized Gmail API service instance.
    user_id: User's email address. The special value "me"
    can be used to indicate the authenticated user.
    message: Message to be sent.

  Returns:
    Sent Message.
  """
  try:
    message = (service.users().messages().send(userId=user_id, body=message)
               .execute())
    print 'Message Id: %s' % message['id']
    return message
  except errors.HttpError, error:
    print 'An error occurred: %s' % error


def CreateMessage(sender, to, subject, message_text):
  """Create a message for an email.

  Args:
    sender: Email address of the sender.
    to: Email address of the receiver.
    subject: The subject of the email message.
    message_text: The text of the email message.

  Returns:
    An object containing a base64 encoded email object.
  """
  message = MIMEText(message_text)
  message['to'] = to
  message['from'] = sender
  message['subject'] = subject
  return {'raw': base64.b64encode(message.as_string())}

testMessage = CreateMessage('EMAIL ADDRESS', 'EMAIL ADDRESS', 'subject', 'YOUR MESSAGE')

testSend = SendMessage(service, 'me', testMessage)