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Overview

The gws chat +send helper command provides a simple way to send text messages to Google Chat spaces. It wraps the Chat API’s spaces.messages.create method.

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Command Syntax

gws chat +send --space NAME --text TEXT

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Parameters

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space
string
required
Space name/ID in the format spaces/AAAA.... Use gws chat spaces list to find space names
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text
string
required
Plain text message content to send

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Examples

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Basic message

Send a simple text message: 
gws chat +send --space spaces/AAAAxxxx --text 'Hello team!'

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Multi-line message

gws chat +send \
  --space spaces/AAAAxxxx \
  --text 'Build Status:\n✅ Tests passed\n✅ Deploy complete\n\nVersion: 1.2.3'

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Using variables

SPACE_ID="spaces/AAAAxxxxYYYYzzzz"
MESSAGE="Deployment to production completed successfully"

gws chat +send --space "$SPACE_ID" --text "$MESSAGE"

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Alert notification

ERROR_COUNT=$(grep ERROR /var/log/app.log | wc -l)

if [ "$ERROR_COUNT" -gt 0 ]; then
  gws chat +send \
    --space spaces/AAAAxxxx \
    --text "⚠️ Alert: Found $ERROR_COUNT errors in application logs"
fi

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Finding Space Names

Use the Chat API to list spaces and get their IDs: 
# List all spaces
gws chat spaces list --params '{"pageSize":50}' --format table

# Get a specific space
gws chat spaces get --params '{"name":"spaces/AAAAxxxx"}'
The space name will be in the format spaces/AAAAxxxxYYYYzzzz.

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Output Format

Returns the created message object: 
{
  "name": "spaces/AAAAxxxx/messages/xyz123.abc456",
  "sender": {
    "name": "users/123456789",
    "displayName": "Your Name",
    "email": "you@example.com",
    "type": "HUMAN"
  },
  "createTime": "2026-03-05T10:30:00.123456Z",
  "text": "Hello team!",
  "thread": {
    "name": "spaces/AAAAxxxx/threads/xyz789"
  }
}

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How It Works

  1. Space Validation: The space name must be in the correct format (spaces/...)
  2. Message Construction: Builds a JSON body with the text field
  3. API Call: Executes spaces.messages.create with:
    • Path parameter: parent (the space name)
    • Request body: {"text": "..."}
  4. Authentication: Uses OAuth2 with appropriate Chat API scopes

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Limitations

This helper sends plain text messages only. For advanced features, use the raw Chat API:
  • Rich formatting: Use cardsV2 for interactive cards
  • Threaded replies: Specify thread.name or threadKey
  • Mentions: Use <users/123> format in text
  • Attachments: Use attachment field
  • Custom names: Use messageId for idempotency

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Example with cards (raw API)

gws chat spaces messages create \
  --params '{"parent":"spaces/AAAAxxxx"}' \
  --json '{
    "cardsV2": [{
      "cardId": "unique-card",
      "card": {
        "header": {"title": "Build Status"},
        "sections": [{
          "widgets": [{
            "textParagraph": {"text": "All tests passed!"}
          }]
        }]
      }
    }]
  }'

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Example with threaded reply

# Reply to an existing thread
gws chat spaces messages create \
  --params '{"parent":"spaces/AAAAxxxx"}' \
  --json '{
    "text": "Reply message",
    "thread": {"name": "spaces/AAAAxxxx/threads/xyz789"}
  }'

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Common Patterns

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CI/CD notifications

#!/bin/bash
SPACE="spaces/AAAAxxxx"

if ./run-tests.sh; then
  gws chat +send --space "$SPACE" --text "✅ Tests passed (commit: $GIT_SHA)"
else
  gws chat +send --space "$SPACE" --text "❌ Tests failed (commit: $GIT_SHA)"
fi

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Monitoring alerts

# Cron job to check service health
STATUS=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' https://api.example.com/health)

if [ "$STATUS" != "200" ]; then
  gws chat +send \
    --space spaces/AAAAxxxx \
    --text "🚨 Service health check failed: HTTP $STATUS"
fi

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Interactive bot responses

# Read incoming messages and respond
gws chat spaces messages list \
  --params '{"parent":"spaces/AAAAxxxx","pageSize":1}' | \
  jq -r '.messages[0].text' | \
  while read msg; do
    response="You said: $msg"
    gws chat +send --space spaces/AAAAxxxx --text "$response"
  done