How to prevent duplicate Gmail emails using a unique identifier?

Other Questions Gmail
1

I’m working on a project where I need to stop my system from sending the same Gmail message more than once. I noticed the message class has an id field. I’m thinking about using a UUID for this.

Here’s what I’m considering:

import java.util.UUID;
import com.google.api.services.gmail.model.Message;

String uniqueId = UUID.randomUUID().toString();
Message message = new Message();
message.setId(uniqueId);

Will this work? I mean, if I use the same UUID for identical messages, will Gmail automatically avoid sending duplicates? I’m not sure if Gmail handles message deduplication based on this ID.

Has anyone tried this before? Are there any gotchas or better ways to prevent duplicate emails? I’d really appreciate any insights or alternative approaches. Thanks!

2

Using the Message class’s id field won’t prevent duplicates, as Gmail overwrites it. A more reliable approach is implementing a custom deduplication system. Store unique identifiers for sent emails in a database, along with timestamps. Before sending, query this database to check if the email has been sent recently. This method works well for catching duplicates, even in concurrent processes. Remember to periodically clean old entries to maintain efficiency. Also, consider rate limiting your email sends to comply with Gmail’s usage policies.

3

hey there ethan, i’ve dealt w/ this before. the message id won’t cut it cuz gmail overwrites it. what worked 4 me was adding a custom header to each email w/ a UUID. then b4 sending, i’d check if that header existed in sent emails. it’s not perfect but helps catch most dupes. good luck!

4

I’ve experienced similar challenges when trying to prevent duplicate Gmail emails. Relying on the Message class’s id field won’t work because Gmail assigns its own ID when the email is sent, overriding any predefined UUID. I solved this by creating a custom deduplication approach. I generated a unique identifier for each email, recorded it along with a timestamp in a database, and then checked for its existence before sending a new email. This method proved effective, even when dealing with concurrent email processes, by reducing the chance of duplicates over a defined period.