How to login to Gmail using Python Grab library

Other Questions Gmail
1

I’m trying to create a Gmail login script using the Grab library in Python but I’m running into some issues. My code seems to execute without errors, but I’m not getting the expected results.

from grab import Grab

browser = Grab()
browser.go('https://accounts.google.com/signin/v2/identifier?service=mail&continue=https://mail.google.com/mail/')
browser.doc.set_input('identifier', '[email protected]')
browser.doc.submit()
browser.doc.set_input('password', 'mypassword123')
browser.doc.submit()

page_title = browser.doc.select('//title').text()
print(page_title)

The output I get is just ‘Gmail’ but I was expecting something like ‘Inbox - [email protected] - Gmail’. It seems like the authentication isn’t working properly or I’m not reaching the actual inbox page. What could be causing this problem? Am I missing some steps in the login process or using the wrong approach with the Grab library?

2

Grab’s been deprecated for years and can’t handle modern web authentication. Google’s login uses multiple redirects, JavaScript, and security checks that Grab just can’t deal with. Your code might look like it’s working, but it’s probably getting stuck on some intermediate auth page instead of actually reaching your inbox. Use the official Gmail API with OAuth2 instead - it’s way more reliable. If you really need web scraping, try Selenium WebDriver, but you’ll still run into Google’s bot detection. The Gmail API route is your best bet and won’t violate Google’s terms.

3

Had the same issue when I tried this. Google’s login has multiple auth steps that run asynchronously, and Grab can’t handle the JavaScript redirects. Even if you get past the login form, there’s usually extra verification like device confirmation that breaks everything. I switched to IMAP with app passwords instead of scraping the web interface. Enable 2FA on your Google account, generate an app password, then use Python’s imaplib to access emails directly. Way cleaner and you don’t have to deal with Google’s constantly changing web interface.

4

yeah, grab’s kinda old-school for this. google’s got strong anti-bot measures, so u might face captchas or 2FA. I suggest using selenium with some delays or just go for the gmail API, it’s way smoother.