gmail drafts delete is permanent — add a reversible option (or document the irreversibility)

[chrischall]

Version

v0.19.0 (b25a3c0)

Summary

gog gmail drafts delete <id> permanently deletes a draft. Unlike gog gmail trash
(which moves messages to Trash, recoverable), there is no reversible path for drafts —
gog gmail trash accepts message IDs only, and gog gmail drafts exposes only
list/get/delete/send/create/update. For an agent driving a live mailbox, an
accidental drafts delete is unrecoverable.

Expected

Either:

• a reversible default (e.g. move the draft's underlying message to Trash) with a
  --force/--permanent flag for the irreversible path, matching how gmail trash
  treats messages; or
• if the Gmail API genuinely only supports permanent draft deletion, document that
  clearly in gog gmail drafts delete --help so callers know there's no undo.

Notes

The underlying Gmail API distinction: users.drafts.delete is permanent, but the
draft's message can be trashed via users.messages.trash on draft.message.id.
A reversible mode could trash that message id instead of deleting the draft.

---

Filed from usage of the gogcli-mcp wrapper.

[clawsweeper]

Codex review: keeping this open for maintainer follow-up; there is still a little grit to resolve. Reviewed May 30, 2026, 12:21 AM ET / 04:21 UTC.

Summary
Keep open: current main still permanently deletes Gmail drafts and the command help/docs do not warn that the action cannot be undone, while a narrow documentation/help fix can satisfy the reporter’s fallback request without changing existing command semantics.

Reproducibility: yes. Source inspection shows gmail drafts delete calls the Gmail draft DELETE endpoint and the generated help/docs only say “Delete a draft,” with no irreversible warning.

Next step
A narrow help/docs warning is clear, low-risk, and automatable; changing delete semantics or adding a reversible mode should wait for maintainer direction.

Review details

Best possible solution:

Update the existing command help/schema and generated docs to say draft deletion is permanent and cannot be undone; consider a reversible mode later only after maintainers choose the desired command semantics.

Do we have a high-confidence way to reproduce the issue?

Yes. Source inspection shows gmail drafts delete calls the Gmail draft DELETE endpoint and the generated help/docs only say “Delete a draft,” with no irreversible warning.

Is this the best way to solve the issue?

Yes for the documentation-warning branch. It is the narrowest maintainable fix that satisfies the issue’s fallback request without changing existing delete behavior; a reversible default should be handled separately if maintainers want that product change.

AGENTS.md: found and applied where relevant.

Remaining risk / open question:

• Changing gmail drafts delete to a reversible default would alter existing script semantics, so that path should be an explicit maintainer product decision rather than an automatic cleanup fix.
• The reporter’s draft-message trash path was not live-tested here; a help/docs warning avoids depending on Gmail draft-message trash semantics while still addressing the documented safety gap.

Codex review notes: model gpt-5.5, reasoning high; reviewed against 929e26b4a999.

Label changes

Label changes:

• add P2: This is a normal-priority Gmail safety/documentation improvement with limited command scope but meaningful accidental-loss consequences.
• add impact:data-loss: The issue is specifically about an irreversible draft deletion path that can permanently lose user draft content.
• add issue-rating: 🦞 diamond lobster: Current issue advisory state selects this label.
• add clawsweeper:source-repro: Current issue advisory state selects this label.
• add clawsweeper:queueable-fix: Current issue advisory state selects this label.
• add clawsweeper:fix-shape-clear: Current issue advisory state selects this label.

Label justifications:

• P2: This is a normal-priority Gmail safety/documentation improvement with limited command scope but meaningful accidental-loss consequences.
• impact:data-loss: The issue is specifically about an irreversible draft deletion path that can permanently lose user draft content.

Evidence reviewed

Acceptance criteria:

• make docs-commands
• go test ./internal/cmd -run 'TestGmailDraftsDeleteCmd_JSON|TestGmailDraftsCreateDelete_Text|TestDryRunE2E_MutatingCommandsSkipAuthAndAPI'
• go test ./internal/cmd

What I checked:

• Current draft delete implementation: GmailDraftsDeleteCmd has only a draft ID argument, asks for destructive confirmation, then calls svc.Users.Drafts.Delete("me", draftID).Do() with no reversible/trash mode or command-local permanent flag. (internal/cmd/gmail_drafts.go:181, 929e26b4a999)
• Generated command docs lack irreversible warning: The generated command page describes the command only as “Delete a draft” and exposes no command-local flag or warning about permanent deletion; only the global destructive --force flag appears. (docs/commands/gog-gmail-drafts-delete.md:5, 929e26b4a999)
• Adjacent reversible-delete pattern exists: Drive deletion defaults to trash and exposes --permanent, showing this CLI already uses explicit wording/flags where a delete-like action can be reversible or permanent. (internal/cmd/drive.go:233, 929e26b4a999)
• Gmail trash is message-ID based: gog gmail trash moves message IDs to TRASH via bulk label modification, but the draft delete command does not resolve a draft ID to its underlying message ID before deleting. (internal/cmd/gmail_archive.go:26, 929e26b4a999)
• Tests encode permanent draft-delete endpoint: Existing draft-delete tests expect an HTTP DELETE to /gmail/v1/users/me/drafts/d1, matching the permanent draft delete path rather than a message-trash path. (internal/cmd/gmail_drafts_cmd_test.go:174, 929e26b4a999)
• History provenance for current behavior: Blame for the whole draft delete command points to the v0.19.0 release commit, and later main has no diff in the central draft-delete files compared with v0.19.0. (internal/cmd/gmail_drafts.go:181, b25a3c029b37)

Likely related people:

• steipete: Blame on the draft delete command points to the v0.19.0 release commit by Peter Steinberger, and git history shows most recent/current-main touches in the Gmail drafts file under that author. (role: introduced behavior and recent area contributor; confidence: high; commits: b25a3c029b37, 05239aed5b9c; files: internal/cmd/gmail_drafts.go, internal/cmd/gmail_drafts_cmd_test.go, docs/commands/gog-gmail-drafts-delete.md)
• salmonumbrella: Git history shows multiple Gmail draft workflow changes from or credited to salmonumbrella, including draft quote support and fallback hardening in the same implementation/test files. (role: adjacent draft workflow contributor; confidence: medium; commits: 5234214de33f, ce9a89adfeea; files: internal/cmd/gmail_drafts.go, internal/cmd/gmail_drafts_cmd_test.go)
• antons: Draft update behavior around preserving recipients/thread headers was credited to antson-related reports in commits touching the same Gmail drafts files, so they are useful historical context for draft semantics. (role: adjacent draft update contributor; confidence: medium; commits: 7899c4feaed3, 95e883dc8f7f; files: internal/cmd/gmail_drafts.go, internal/cmd/gmail_drafts_cmd_test.go)

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[chrischall]

Addressed in a PR on my fork: chrischall#2. Since the Gmail Drafts API only supports an irreversible delete (drafts aren't moved to Trash and have no untrash path), I took the documentation route this issue offers: the command help and destructive-confirmation prompt now state the deletion is permanent and not recoverable (matching the existing gmail batch delete "permanently delete" phrasing), plus a doc comment on the command. No behavioural change. Happy to open it here upstream if wanted.