How I got Claude working across all my client's Gmail accounts

This is one of the AI consulting jobs I did recently for a business owner here on Long Island. It's a good example of how a small piece of custom software can fix something that gets in your way all day.

The problem

My client runs his business across several Gmail accounts. He uses Claude every day to read, sort, and answer his email.

Claude's Gmail connection works with one account at a time. So whenever he needed something from a different inbox, he had to disconnect one account and connect the next. Then he'd switch back. He was doing that again and again through the day, and it made the whole tool feel clumsy.

What I built

I built him a custom connector that runs on his own Google Cloud. Claude now works with all of his Gmail accounts at once. He can ask about any of his inboxes in the same conversation without switching anything.

His email stays in his account. The connector runs in his Google Cloud project, not on a server of mine.

How it works

Claude can use outside tools through MCP, the Model Context Protocol. A connector is a small program that speaks MCP and gives Claude a set of actions, like searching email or reading a thread.

Each Gmail account is connected once through Google's own sign in, called OAuth. He approves access for each account himself. The connector keeps those approvals and uses the right one when Claude asks about a given inbox.

The connector runs in a Google Cloud project that he owns. He controls who can use it, and he can remove access to any account from his Google settings whenever he wants.

What changed for him

All of his inboxes now work inside Claude together. No more disconnecting and reconnecting. He also told me he was glad it was set up fast. You can read what he wrote on my reviews page.

Workflow automation for owners with more than one inbox

I work with businesses around the Five Towns and across Long Island, and a lot of owners I meet use more than one email account for their business. Do you have the same kind of setup, with your AI tools only seeing part of the picture? Tell me how your accounts are set up and I'll take a look.