What is the benefits of using this lib vs using official gmail api?

[codeyourwayup]

Pls share your thoughts.

[josteink]

Benefits of the official API:

• it’s official and supported
• gmail updates should not break your code
• Can be used from any client.

cons:

• requires implementing OAuth flow, and certification from Google, because Gmail is a restricted scope.
• UI-integration/extension possibilities are limited.

If those conditions sounds good to you, the official API is probably the best.

The benefits of this lib:

• No OAuth flow required. Implicitly “authenticated” as current user.
• No certification required.
• More options for UI-customisation/extensions.

It comes with a few cons:

• not supported. May break on Gmail-updates.
• can only be used in web-extensions. Definitely no mobile-support.

They both have their uses. Gmail.js was made long before Gmail had anywhere a usable API. If the official API today can be used to cover your needs, you should probably go for that.

[stevepeak]

@josteink Thank you for your thoughts. I have looked over the official Gmail API, I presume the REST API, but I could not find anything concerning UI-integration/extension that is officially supported by Google. Can you reference a resource if you are aware of one? Thank you!

[josteink]

I'm thinking about this platform:

https://www.blog.google/products/g-suite/do-more-your-inbox-gmail-add-ons/

I must admit I haven't looked at it in years, so not sure if this is what's currently supported/promoted by Google.