Connect Gmail to Codex
Give Codex governed access to Gmail’s 16 tools through Runlayer, with identity, policy, scanning, and audit on every call.
Set up
Add Gmail to Codex in four steps
Admins approve the server once. Everyone in Codex then gets it through the same governed connection.
- 1
Approve Gmail in Runlayer
Add Gmail from the catalog and choose who can use it and which of its tools are allowed.
- 2
Connect Codex to Runlayer
Runlayer’s CLI adds the Runlayer Plugin to Codex’s local plugin marketplace, and users then enable it in Codex. With direct tool listing turned on for your deployment, Gmail’s 16 tools show up in Codex’s own tool list (Codex 0.122 or newer, installed through the Runlayer CLI).
Codex setup guide - 3
Sign in to Gmail
Sign in the way Gmail requires. Runlayer holds the credentials so they stay out of the client’s configuration.
- 4
Use Gmail from Codex
Gmail’s approved tools appear in Codex. Every call is checked against policy and recorded.
Tools
16 Gmail tools in Codex
Runlayer policy decides which of these Codex users can call. 6 read data only.
Add labels
Add one or more labels to a message or multiple messages
Archive messages
Archive one or more messages (remove from inbox)
Create draft
Create a draft email that can be edited later or sent
Create label
Create a new label in the user's Gmail account
Fetch attachment
Fetch a Gmail message attachment.
Fetch message
Fetch the full content of a Gmail message using its message ID (don't use external tools to read messages)
List drafts
List all draft messages with pagination support
List labels
List all available labels in the Gmail account
Control
What Runlayer can see and stop in Codex
Some controls apply to every client at the gateway. Others depend on what Codex exposes to Runlayer.
Gateway policy (available)
Every Gmail call from Codex passes through Runlayer, where your policies can allow, alert, mask, or block it.
Audit trail (available)
Each call is recorded with the user, Codex as the client, the tool, and the policy and scanner decisions.
Client hooks (available)
Capture supported prompts, reasoning, local and MCP tool calls, responses, and scanner decisions in real time.
Stop a call before it runs (available)
Runlayer can deny a tool call or permission request before Codex runs it.
Block output after it runs (available)
Runlayer can block a tool’s output before Codex’s model sees it.
Redact output in place (not available)
Codex cannot take masked output, so Runlayer can block a tool’s output but not mask it. The gateway still applies policy to the call.
Frequently asked questions
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