Create Google Tasks by sending email to Google GMail

From Ittichai Chammavanijakul's Wiki
Revision as of 06:12, 10 August 2012 by Ittichai (talk | contribs)
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Goal:

  • Send email to a specified address - in the case Gmail address named yourgmail+task@gmail.com.
  • Script will parse that email based on Gmail label, and grab the email's subject then create a new task.

Follow this step-by-step of this page. http://www.pipetree.com/qmacro/blog/2011/10/automated-email-to-task-mechanism-with-google-apps-script/

This is just an overview what will happen:

  1. Create Gmail new labels - newtask and newtaskdone.
  2. Create Gmail filter based on newtask label.
  3. Create script from Google Spreadsheet.
  4. Integrate the script with Google API.
  5. Schedule it via the time-driven even trigger.

Pay attention to the *Integrate the script with Google API* in the *Script Code* section especially if this is your first time coding this. You will have to enable Google API service to allow access the Task API - https://developers.google.com/apps-script/articles/google_apis_reading_list. If not doing so, you will receive an error message saying "Tasks - not defined".

In addition to above sample, I'd like to add the email's body into the G! task's note.

  • Add this new variable to grab the email's body
        // Grab the task data  
        var taskTitle = thread.getFirstMessageSubject();  
        var taskNote = getTextFromHtml((thread.getMessages()[0]).getBody());
  • Add new parameter of task's note to addTask_
        // Insert the task  
        //addTask_(taskTitle, TASKLIST);  
        addTask_(taskTitle, taskNote, TASKLIST);  
  • Update the addTask_ to include setNotes
    function addTask_(title, message, tasklistId) {  
      //var newTask = Tasks.newTask().setTitle(title);  
      var newTask = Tasks.newTask().setTitle(title).setNotes(message);  
      Tasks.Tasks.insert(newTask, getTasklistId_(tasklistId));  
    }