What can an AI agent do with
Change Gmail settings and filters?
The agent can change your Gmail settings and create filters that act on new mail automatically. Filters can label, archive, trash or forward incoming email.
How to spot it
On a Google Workspace connection or settings screen, this is https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.settings.basic.
With it, an agent can
- Create filters that label, archive or trash incoming mail
- Create filters that forward mail to a verified forwarding address
- Turn on or change your vacation auto reply
- Permanently delete your existing filters
It cannot, on its own
- Add a brand new forwarding address. Google limits that to a separate administrator permission.
- Read your email with this permission alone
What a bad day looks like
A bad filter runs on every new email, so it could quietly trash or forward customer mail until someone spots it.
Set it up safer
- Check your Gmail filter list after connecting and after any change the agent makes.
- Only grant this if the agent's job is managing settings. Most inbox helpers do not need it.
Ask the company selling the agent
- Why does the agent need to change my settings?
- Will it tell me every time it creates or changes a filter?
- Does it ever turn on forwarding or auto replies?
Source
Checked against Google Workspace documentation on 2026-09-28. All Google Workspace permissions →
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This page explains what a permission allows. It does not describe, test or rate any product. Permission details are summarized in our own words from the provider's documentation, linked on the page; providers change their documentation, so check the source before you rely on a detail.