Enable the Gmail API and download the credentials file in JSON format. This file will allow your Python scripts to authenticate and securely interact with your Gmail account.

Google provides client libraries for Gmail API for several languages, such as Java, JavaScript, .NET, Python, Objective-C, and PHP.

The new version of Gmail -- which was more of a back-end update -- has given developers access to an easy Greasemonkey API that makes developing plugins or changing the appearance of Gmail a breeze.

Google has exploited a regulatory gap to withdraw access to the Gmail API, according to UK startup Gener8.