The latest articles on DEV Community by thavuth (@thavuth772). https://dev.to/thavuth772 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4156278%2F07b15a0e-186a-43c2-9ea6-a7bda2690049.png https://dev.to/thavuth772 en thavuth Fri, 02 Oct 2026 04:35:58 +0000 https://dev.to/thavuth772/i-built-a-gmail-like-email-client-with-react-and-the-gmail-api-2kh1 https://dev.to/thavuth772/i-built-a-gmail-like-email-client-with-react-and-the-gmail-api-2kh1 <p>🚀 Introduction</p> <p>I recently built <strong>MailBox</strong>, a Gmail-like email client using React and the Gmail API.</p> <p>I created this project to understand how a React application can communicate with a real Google API and authenticate users using Google OAuth.</p> <p>The application is now connected to my real Gmail account, so I can send and receive actual emails.</p> <h2> ✨ Features </h2> <p>The current version supports:</p> <ul> <li>🔐 Google OAuth authentication</li> <li>📥 Real Gmail inbox</li> <li>📤 Send emails through Gmail</li> <li>📧 Receive and read emails</li> <li>⭐ Star / unstar emails</li> <li>✅ Mark emails as read</li> <li>🗑️ Move emails to Trash</li> <li>🔄 Gmail-style interface</li> <li>📱 Responsive UI</li> <li>☁️ Hosted using GitHub Pages</li> </ul> <h2> 🛠️ Technologies Used </h2> <ul> <li>React</li> <li>JavaScript</li> <li>Vite</li> <li>Gmail API</li> <li>Google OAuth</li> <li>GitHub</li> <li>GitHub Pages</li> </ul> <h2> 🔐 Google OAuth Integration </h2> <p>The application uses Google OAuth to allow the user to connect their Gmail account.</p> <p>After authentication, the application obtains an access token and uses the Gmail API to perform operations such as:</p> <ul> <li>Reading emails</li> <li>Sending emails</li> <li>Updating email status</li> <li>Starring emails</li> <li>Moving emails to Trash</li> </ul> <p>The OAuth Client Secret is never included in the frontend code or GitHub repository.</p> <h2> 📬 Gmail API </h2> <p>The application communicates directly with the Gmail API.</p> <p>Some of the operations implemented include:</p> <ul> <li>Fetching inbox messages</li> <li>Getting email metadata</li> <li>Opening individual messages</li> <li>Marking messages as read</li> <li>Adding/removing stars</li> <li>Sending emails</li> <li>Moving messages to Trash</li> </ul> <p>This was a great learning experience because I was able to move from a simple Gmail-style UI to an application that actually communicates with Gmail.</p> <h2> 🎨 User Interface </h2> <p>I designed the interface to resemble a modern email application.</p> <p>It includes:</p> <ul> <li>Sidebar navigation</li> <li>Inbox</li> <li>Starred</li> <li>Sent</li> <li>Drafts</li> <li>Trash</li> <li>Search</li> <li>Compose</li> <li>Account information</li> <li>Responsive layout</li> </ul> <h2> 🌐 Live Demo </h2> <p>👉 <strong>Try MailBox:</strong></p> <p><a href="https://thavuth772-alt.github.io/gmail-like-react-app/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://thavuth772-alt.github.io/gmail-like-react-app/</a></p> <h2> 💻 Source Code </h2> <p>👉 <strong>GitHub Repository:</strong></p> <p><a href="https://github.com/thavuth772-alt/gmail-like-react-app" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/thavuth772-alt/gmail-like-react-app</a></p> <h2> 📸 What I Learned </h2> <p>Through this project, I learned how to:</p> <ul> <li>Build a React application with Vite</li> <li>Work with REST APIs</li> <li>Integrate Google OAuth</li> <li>Use the Gmail API</li> <li>Handle access tokens</li> <li>Send emails using the Gmail API</li> <li>Work with asynchronous API requests</li> <li>Deploy a React application using GitHub Pages</li> <li>Understand the difference between a frontend-only demo and a real API-integrated application</li> </ul> <h2> 🔮 Future Improvements </h2> <p>I plan to add more Gmail functionality, including:</p> <ul> <li>🔍 Advanced Gmail search</li> <li>↩️ Reply and Forward</li> <li>📎 Email attachments</li> </ul> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Flp3qmw4wc45kj1up9m0o.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Flp3qmw4wc45kj1up9m0o.png" alt=" " width="800" height="384"></a></p> <ul> <li>🏷️ Gmail labels</li> <li>🔔 Better unread notification handling</li> <li>📂 Better Sent and Trash synchronization</li> <li>🌙 Improved dark mode</li> <li>📱 Further mobile improvements</li> </ul> <h2> 💬 Feedback </h2> <p>I'm continuing to improve this project.</p> <p>I'd really appreciate feedback from other developers:</p> <p><strong>What feature would you add next?</strong></p> <p><strong>What could I improve in the UI or functionality?</strong></p> <p>Thanks for reading! 🚀</p> javascript webdev react