draft/create

Save an email as a Gmail draft without sending, enabling human review and approval workflows before delivery.

When to Use

Human review before send: Stage outbound emails for a manager or compliance officer to review and approve before the workflow sends them.
Batch approval workflow: Prepare multiple templated emails as drafts, submit them for batch approval via a Human-in-the-Loop node, then send approved drafts.
Support agent draft prep: Generate AI-drafted replies for support agents to review, edit, and send from their Gmail interface.
Workflow checkpoint save: At a decision point in a complex workflow, save the partially composed email as a draft so the workflow can resume and complete it later.
Scheduled send staging: Create drafts at workflow trigger time, then send them at a scheduled time using a ScheduledTrigger and Gmail API send-draft endpoint.

Configuration

Connection

Field	Type	Description
`credentialId`	Guid required	OAuth2 credential ID from BizFirst Credentials Manager. Requires `gmail.send` scope.

Operation Fields

Field	Type	Default	Description
`message`	string required	—	Email body content. HTML or plain text depending on `emailType`.
`threadId`	string optional	—	Thread ID to associate this draft as a reply. When set, the draft will be in-thread with the specified conversation.
`fromAlias`	string optional	—	Send-as alias email address (must be configured in Gmail settings). Defaults to the authenticated account's primary address.
`subject`	string optional	—	Email subject line. Required for new emails; optional for thread replies (inherits thread subject).
`emailType`	enum optional	`html`	Content type: `html` or `text`.
`replyTo`	string optional	—	Reply-To email address for the draft.
`ccList`	string optional	—	Comma-separated CC email addresses.
`bccList`	string optional	—	Comma-separated BCC email addresses.
`attachmentBinaryFields`	string[] optional	—	Binary field names from upstream node outputs to attach to the draft.

Sample Configuration

{
  "nodeType": "Gmail",
  "operation": "draft/create",
  "credentialId": "a3f9d12b-44e1-4c89-b7d2-9f0a1e2b3c4d",
  "subject": "Proposal for {{client.name}} — {{project.title}}",
  "message": "<p>Dear {{client.name}},</p><p>Please find the project proposal attached.</p>",
  "emailType": "html",
  "ccList": "manager@bizfirstai.com",
  "attachmentBinaryFields": ["proposalPdf"]
}

Validation Errors

Error	Cause	Resolution
`MISSING_FIELD: message`	Draft body is empty	Provide non-empty message content
`INVALID_CREDENTIAL`	OAuth token expired or credential not found	Re-authenticate in BizFirst Credentials Manager
`THREAD_NOT_FOUND`	Provided `threadId` does not exist	Verify the thread ID from the authenticated account
`INVALID_ALIAS`	`fromAlias` is not configured in Gmail send-as settings	Configure the alias in Gmail Settings > Accounts before using

Output

Success Port

Field	Type	Description
`draftId`	string	Gmail draft ID — use this to retrieve or delete the draft later
`messageId`	string	The underlying message ID of the draft
`threadId`	string	Thread ID the draft belongs to
`labelIds`	string[]	Labels applied (typically `["DRAFT"]`)
`status`	string	`success`
`errorCode`	string	Empty on success

Error Port

On failure, routes to the error port with status: "error", errorCode, and errorMessage.

Sample Output

{
  "draftId": "r9876543210abcdef",
  "messageId": "18e4c3d2e1f0a9b8",
  "threadId": "18e4c3d2e1f0a9b8",
  "labelIds": ["DRAFT"],
  "status": "success",
  "errorCode": ""
}

Expression Reference

Expression	Resolves To	Example Use
`{{client.name}}`	Client name from CRM or upstream data	Subject and body personalization
`{{draftCreate.draftId}}`	Draft ID from this node's output	Pass to approval node or draft/delete
`{{proposal.pdfBinary}}`	PDF binary from document generator node	`attachmentBinaryFields`
`{{thread.id}}`	Thread ID for in-thread draft reply	`threadId` field

Node Policies & GuardRails

Policy	Rule
Credential Storage	Store OAuth credentials in BizFirst Credentials Manager — never hardcode tokens in workflow configuration
Draft Lifecycle	Always delete drafts that are not sent — use `draft/delete` in the error path or after rejection to avoid inbox clutter
PII Protection	Do not log draft content in workflow execution history — drafts contain PII and pre-send content
Review Workflow	When using drafts for human review, implement a Human-in-the-Loop (HIL) approval node before the send step
Quota Management	Draft creation uses gmail.send quota — counts toward daily send limits even though the message is not delivered
Test Isolation	Test draft workflows against a dedicated Gmail test account to avoid creating unintended drafts in production inboxes

Examples

Example 1: Proposal Draft for Manager Review

Generate a client proposal email, create it as a draft, then pause for manager approval before sending.

{
  "nodeType": "Gmail",
  "operation": "draft/create",
  "credentialId": "a3f9d12b-44e1-4c89-b7d2-9f0a1e2b3c4d",
  "subject": "Proposal — {{project.name}}",
  "message": "{{proposalTemplate.html}}",
  "emailType": "html",
  "attachmentBinaryFields": ["proposalDocBinary"]
}

Example 2: AI-Generated Support Reply Draft

An AI agent generates a reply draft that a support agent reviews and sends from their Gmail inbox.

{
  "nodeType": "Gmail",
  "operation": "draft/create",
  "credentialId": "a3f9d12b-44e1-4c89-b7d2-9f0a1e2b3c4d",
  "threadId": "{{ticket.gmailThreadId}}",
  "message": "{{aiAgent.generatedReplyHtml}}",
  "emailType": "html"
}

Example 3: Scheduled Newsletter Draft

A workflow prepares newsletter drafts at month-end for a scheduled send on the first day of the next month.

{
  "nodeType": "Gmail",
  "operation": "draft/create",
  "credentialId": "a3f9d12b-44e1-4c89-b7d2-9f0a1e2b3c4d",
  "subject": "BizFirst Monthly Digest — {{$now | dateFormat:'MMMM YYYY'}}",
  "message": "{{newsletter.compiledHtml}}",
  "emailType": "html"
}