Open Gmail attachments in Grok Bot
Get a Gmail attachment in front of a Bot by saving it, sharing it, or uploading it in chat. The Gmail plugin's documented jobs are search, read, draft, and reply — not opening the file that came with the message.
The Gmail plugin README in cursor/plugins lists searching and reading mail and creating drafts and replies. Cursor help says Gmail can search and read mail, draft and send, and apply labels. Downloading or opening attachments is not documented as a capability. A Bot may still fetch a file in some cases; that path is not a documented feature, so do not depend on it. You can attach files directly in a Bot chat, and on iPhone, the system share sheet can send a photo, file, link, or text to Grok Bot. On Android, the share sheet currently accepts text only. Official mobile note: Mobile. More Grok Bot jobs live on the Grok Bot hub under X, plugins and connectors.
Get the file into a chat
Use one of these routes. None of them requires the Gmail plugin to grow a documented “open attachment” action.
- Open the message in Gmail. Save the attachment to your computer or phone.
- In Grok Bot, open the Bot that should read it. Attach the file in the chat and say what you want done with it. Desktop attachment limits and file types are in Attach files and links in Grok Bot.
- On iPhone, share the saved file to Grok Bot with the system share sheet; pick a chat, then choose Attach. Android's share sheet accepts text only. It is the device share sheet, not a Gmail-app-only hook.
- Or upload the file to Google Drive yourself, then ask a Bot that already has the Drive plugin to read that Drive file. Do not expect Gmail to save the attachment to Drive on its own. Nothing documents an automatic Drive save from the Gmail plugin.
Connect Gmail first if you still want the Bot to search threads and draft replies: Connect a plugin to Grok Bot. Searching Spam is a separate Gmail-search quirk: Search Gmail Spam from Grok Bot.
What to tell the Bot
Name the file and the job in the same message. The Bot cannot see an attachment you never handed it, and it should not be asked to “open the PDF on that email” as if the plugin documented that step.
I attached the invoice PDF from the vendor email. Extract the amount, the due date, and the invoice number. Do not send any mail.
If the file is encrypted, damaged, or in an unusual format, export it as PDF, CSV, plain text, or an image before you attach it. The attach-files page lists those limits.
Pitfalls
- Treating “the Gmail plugin opens attachments” as a documented feature. The plugin README does not list that action.
- Waiting for Gmail to drop the file into Drive by itself. No official page describes that.
- Asking the Bot to fetch the attachment and then building a workflow on that guess. It is not documented, so keep a saved copy.
- Pasting a Gmail URL and expecting the file bytes to arrive without an attach, a share, or a Drive file the Bot can already read.
- Using Android's share sheet to send a file. That sheet currently accepts text only.