ryanwold.net - Civic Tech, Bitcoin, and Open Government Innovation

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I've been using the Gmail.gem to pull email counts in a Personal Dashboard for a couple years. And, in Gmail, I use [Superstars](http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/07/gmail-superstars.html), which are flags you can toggle through on an email. I was disappointed not to be able to filter Superstars through the email.

A recent Stack Overflow article pointed me in the right direction.
I use Gmail Superstars, which enables additional flags where the standard `yellow-star` is used. Below, you can see the `red-bang` and `green-check`.

### How I Use Superstars

I use `red-bang` for emails I need to respond to.
I use the `orange-guillemet` for emails that I'm awaiting a response on.
I use the `green-check` for emails I have completed. (Though, most of the time I just archive things as I complete them).
And, I use the `yellow-star` for informational items, sorta like a bookmark.

![an Example of Gmail Superstars](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1186808/afomi/misc/gmail-superstars.png)

### Searching for GMail Superstars

Superstars labels are searchable through the Gmail interface using 2 syntaxes.

* `has:yellow-star` or `l:^ss_sy`
* `has:blue-star` or `l:^ss_sb`
* `has:red-star` or `l:^ss_sr`
* `has:orange-star` or `l:^ss_so`
* `has:green-star` or `l:^ss_sg`
* `has:purple-star` or `l:^ss_sp`
* `has:red-bang` or `l:^ss_cr`
* `has:yellow-bang` or `l:^ss_cy`
* `has:blue-info` or `l:^ss_cb`
* `has:orange-guillemet` or `l:^ss_co`
* `has:green-check` or `l:^ss_cg`
* `has:purple-question` or `l:^ss_cp`

### Superstars and the Gmail.gem
    
So, using the Gmail .gem, I was delighted to find I can access these specific counts. Here's how:

gmail = Gmail.connect(@email_address, @password)
    @red_banged_emails = gmail.inbox.emails(gm: '"l:^ss_cr"')

Or, as I use them

@starred = gmail.inbox.emails(gm: '"l:^ss_cy"')
    @requires_my_follow_up = gmail.inbox.emails(gm: '"l:^ss_cr"')
    @requires_a_response_from_somebody_else = gmail.inbox.emails(gm: '"l:^ss_co"')

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Thanks to Google and Stack Overflow for persisting this knowledge!

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