Why we only ask for gmail.send
A practical, technical breakdown of the OAuth scopes Maildriply requests and why we deliberately chose the minimum.
Maildriply asks for one Gmail permission, gmail.send, plus the basic
sign-in scopes openid, email and profile. Google describes
gmail.send as "Send email on your behalf": it can't read, list, search or
delete anything in your mailbox. Many email tracking products ask for
permissions that let them read every message you own. This page explains
what we ask for, why, and what the difference means in practice.
Which scopes does Maildriply request?
| Scope | Why |
|---|---|
openid, email, profile | Identify your Google account so we can attach campaigns to the right user. |
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.send | Send email on your behalf through the Gmail API. Gmail files each message in your Sent folder. |
That's the whole list. Google's Gmail API scope reference lists every Gmail scope and what it allows.
Which scopes does Maildriply not request?
gmail.readonly— would let us read every email you own. We don't want it.gmail.modify— would let us read, label, archive and trash your mail. We don't want it.gmail.metadata— would expose header metadata (subjects, recipients, dates). We don't want it.gmail.compose— would let us create drafts. Not needed for send-only.
What can gmail.send do, and what can't it?
| Operation | Allowed? |
|---|---|
| Send a new message on your behalf | yes |
| Add a message to your Sent folder | yes (Gmail does this automatically) |
| Read existing messages, drafts, labels | no |
| List your inbox | no |
| Detect replies to a thread | no (we use the message ID Gmail returns at send time; we never query the inbox) |
Sequences (auto-pause on reply) are still in development. Gmail's push
notifications API requires a read-level scope, so gmail.send alone can't
detect replies. We haven't settled how sequences will handle this, and
the scope we request today won't change without you seeing a new Google
consent screen.
How do I revoke Maildriply's access?
If you ever want us out, go to myaccount.google.com/permissions, find Maildriply, and click Remove access. Subsequent send attempts from us will fail because the refresh token becomes invalid.
You can also delete your data from inside the app — Settings → Delete account & data.