Send an email straight from ChatGPT through a connected Gmail account (attachments didn't work)
- Posted
- by Graham Barlow (TechRadar)
- Last checked
- Method:
- How we verify
Evidence: Article or interviewA newsletter, journalist or interview account of what happened.
PartialThe source says it only partly worked, or had a significant problem a person had to deal with.
What went wrong: Sending worked, but the attachment failed.
Outcome
A TechRadar editor connected Gmail to ChatGPT and asked it to write and send an email with a story idea, background and a source link. ChatGPT showed the exact email and asked him to Allow or Deny; after he approved, it arrived seconds later. But it failed when he tried to add an attachment, and the feature only works on the web for paid plans. Gemini told him it couldn't send email directly.
Agent
Prompt Recreated prompt
The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote this from what it describes.
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Write and send a short email from my connected mail account, with my approval before it goes. Fill in before running: - Recipient: [EMAIL] - What the email should say: [POINTS] - Links to include: [LINKS] - Tone: [e.g. brief, friendly] Rules: - Show me the full email (recipient, subject, body) and wait for my OK before sending. - Use only the facts and links I give you. - If I need an attachment, tell me up front if you can't add one, so I send it from my mail app instead. - Confirm once it's sent. - If a site asks for a login, a CAPTCHA or payment details, stop and hand control back to me. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. Output: The draft for approval, then a sent confirmation. You'll know it worked when: the email arrives as approved, or I know to send it myself if it needs a file.
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Your prompt
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Write and send a short email from my connected mail account, with my approval before it goes. Fill in before running: - Recipient: [EMAIL] - What the email should say: [POINTS] - Links to include: [LINKS] - Tone: [e.g. brief, friendly] Rules: - Show me the full email (recipient, subject, body) and wait for my OK before sending. - Use only the facts and links I give you. - If I need an attachment, tell me up front if you can't add one, so I send it from my mail app instead. - Confirm once it's sent. - If a site asks for a login, a CAPTCHA or payment details, stop and hand control back to me. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. Output: The draft for approval, then a sent confirmation. You'll know it worked when: the email arrives as approved, or I know to send it myself if it needs a file.
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Optional stronger version
Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Write and send a short email from my connected mail account, with my approval before it goes. Fill in before running: - Recipient: [EMAIL] - What the email should say: [POINTS] - Links to include: [LINKS] - Tone: [e.g. brief, friendly] Rules: - Show me the full email (recipient, subject, body) and wait for my OK before sending. - Use only the facts and links I give you. - If I need an attachment, tell me up front if you can't add one, so I send it from my mail app instead. - Confirm once it's sent. - If a site asks for a login, a CAPTCHA or payment details, stop and hand control back to me. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. - If the task needs an attachment, stop and give me the finished text to paste into my email app. Output: The draft for approval, then a sent confirmation. You'll know it worked when: the email arrives as approved, or I know to send it myself if it needs a file. Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.
Source
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