Why does Gmail API history().list() only return history ID?

Other Questions Gmail
1

I’m having trouble with the Gmail API. I set up a subscription listening script, yet every time I send a new email, all I get is {'historyId': 123456}. I’ve tried regenerating access tokens and purging Pub/Sub messages, but nothing seems to work. What am I missing?

Here’s a revised version of my code as an example:

def callback(message):
    data = json.loads(message.data.decode('utf-8'))
    print(data)
    process_history(email=data['emailAddress'], history_id=data['historyId'])
    message.ack()


def process_history(email, history_id):
    service = create_gmail_service(email)
    changes = service.users().history().list(userId=email, startHistoryId=history_id).execute()
    print('Changes:', changes)


def listen_to_pubsub():
    subscriber = pubsub_v1.SubscriberClient(credentials=get_credentials())
    subscription_path = subscriber.subscription_path(PROJECT_ID, SUBSCRIPTION_NAME)
    streaming_pull_future = subscriber.subscribe(subscription_path, callback=callback)
    print(f'Listening on {subscription_path}')
    streaming_pull_future.result()

Am I using the history().list() method correctly, or is there another approach to retrieve more data than just the history ID?

2

I’ve dealt with this exact problem before, and it can be frustrating. One thing that worked for me was adding the ‘historyTypes’ parameter to the history().list() method. Try modifying your code like this:

changes = service.users().history().list(userId=email, startHistoryId=history_id, historyTypes=[‘messageAdded’, ‘labelAdded’]).execute()

This tells the API to return more detailed information about specific types of changes. Also, make sure you’re iterating through the ‘history’ list in the response, as it might contain multiple entries. Something like:

for item in changes.get(‘history’, ):
print(item)

This should give you more detailed information about each change, not just the historyId. Hope this helps!

3

I’ve encountered this issue before, and it can be quite tricky. One key aspect you might want to check is the ‘maxResults’ parameter in your history().list() call. By default, it’s set to return only a limited number of results. Try adding ‘maxResults=1000’ (or a suitable number) to your method call:

changes = service.users().history().list(userId=email, startHistoryId=history_id, maxResults=1000).execute()

Additionally, ensure you’re handling pagination correctly. The API might return a ‘nextPageToken’ if there are more results. You’ll need to make subsequent requests using this token to fetch all changes:

while ‘nextPageToken’ in changes:
page_token = changes[‘nextPageToken’]
changes = service.users().history().list(userId=email, startHistoryId=history_id, pageToken=page_token).execute()
# Process changes here

These adjustments should help you retrieve more comprehensive data from the Gmail API.

4

hey TomDream42, i ran into similar issues. Make sure you’ve set the right scopes for your API access. Try adding ‘https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify’ to your scopes. Also, check if you’re passing the correct startHistoryId in your history().list() call. Sometimes it helps to use a slightly older historyId to catch more changes.