How to use the Google Loops agent skill: setup and daily digest

What is an agent skill and what does google-loops do?

An agent skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file that tells an AI agent how to handle a specific task. google-loops covers two jobs: setting up the Gmail, Calendar and Contacts connector, and operating the open-loop engine that tracks who is waiting on you and what you promised.

Once running, the connector ingests Gmail threads, calendar events and contacts into the gbrain knowledge base and maintains the record behind the command gbrain waiting.

• Produces a ranked digest of people waiting on you, most urgent first
• Lists promises you have made to others, with the evidence quote and a Gmail link
• Gives context on each contact, including recent history and other open threads
• Helps you close, mute or drop tracked items and troubleshoot common Google setup errors

What you need before installing

The skill assumes you already use gbrain and are comfortable creating a Google Cloud OAuth client. Setup is not possible without it, so check these requirements first.

• The gbrain CLI installed
• A Google Cloud project with OAuth Desktop app credentials (a client_secret JSON file), or an existing external Google access token
• The Google account or accounts you want to connect
• Note: test-mode consent tokens expire after about 7 days unless the app is published to Production

Install the skill: ZIP download or Claude app upload

Option one is to download the ZIP from this directory page and unzip it into your personal skills folder, ~/.claude/skills/, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder so it applies only to that project.

Option two is to upload the ZIP in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: unzip into the project's .claude/skills/ folder
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP

Set up the Google connection in one command

Setup is handled by a single command. It asks for your Google credentials, runs consent, registers the source, runs a first sync (newest mail first), and produces your first waiting digest. The agent is designed so the whole setup takes exactly two interactions from you: first a Google Cloud checklist where you hand back the downloaded client JSON, then one click on the consent URL.

To connect more than one account, repeat the command with the account flag. Re-running the setup is safe if something goes wrong.

• Google may show 'Google hasn't verified this app'. This is expected because the app is your own; choose Advanced, then Continue
• If you are already signed in to Google through another tool such as gcloud, you can point gbrain at that access token instead of using OAuth

Trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need to remember commands. The skill responds to plain requests. Its triggers include phrases such as 'connect gmail', 'connect google', 'connect calendar', 'connect contacts', 'who is waiting on me', 'what do I owe people', 'open loops', 'unanswered email', 'set up email ingestion' and 'gbrain waiting'.

• "Connect my Gmail to gbrain"
• "Who is waiting on me today?"
• "What do I owe people?"
• "Show my unanswered email"

Read and act on the daily digest

The daily command gbrain waiting lists people waiting on you. Each item can be marked done, dropped, or muted by sender. Dropping a loop cannot be undone, so the agent confirms before dropping items from automated senders such as bank or shipping alerts. Muting is the reversible option.

If the data is older than 24 hours, the command refuses and names the sync to run first. A partial result means some recent mail could not be imported, so treat it as incomplete.

• gbrain loops done <id> when you have handled an item
• gbrain loops drop <id> when you will not act on it
• gbrain loops mute sender <email> to stop tracking a sender (reversible with unmute)
• gbrain loops drop sender <email> --dry-run to preview before closing a sender's loops

Keep data current and check health

Google sources sync like other sources through autopilot or gbrain sync --all. A bare gbrain sync does not reach them, so use --source <id> or --all. Check account health with the status command; gbrain doctor also warns when a Testing-mode account has gone 5 or more days without a successful refresh.

• Per-account health check: gbrain google status --json
• Sync one Google source: gbrain sync --source <id>