Definition

The Find Forwarding Address action allows you to retrieve detailed information about a specific forwarding address configured for a Gmail account within your Google Workspace domain. This action checks whether a particular forwarding address exists and verifies its status (whether it has been confirmed and is active).
It’s ideal for maintaining security compliance and automating account audits, providing fast and precise lookup of forwarding addresses without manual checks.

Key Capabilities:

• Retrieve forwarding address details quickly.
• Confirm verification status of forwarding addresses.
• Automate security and compliance checks within Gmail.

Example Use Cases

1. Security Audits
Quickly verify if a forwarding address exists and is verified for a user as part of regular security checks.

2. Compliance Monitoring
Ensure that forwarding addresses comply with internal policies, especially for sensitive departments like HR or Finance.

3. Offboarding Automation
Check if an employee's account has active forwarding addresses during offboarding to prevent unauthorized data transfer.

4. Forwarding Validation for Helpdesk Accounts
Validate the forwarding setup for shared or helpdesk Gmail accounts to ensure emails are being correctly routed.

5. Troubleshooting Email Delivery Issues
Find and review forwarding addresses when diagnosing why certain emails aren't reaching the intended recipient.

Inputs

1. Connection

A Google Workspace Administration connection.

• Explanation: This connection uses a service account with domain-wide delegation to access Gmail settings.
• Important Note: You must upload a credential JSON file for the service account.
• Guide: Refer to this guide to set up the required connection.
• Best Practice: Ensure that the service account has appropriate admin permissions and the correct OAuth scopes to interact with Gmail forwarding settings.

2. User Email

The email address of the Gmail user for whom you want to find the forwarding address.

• Explanation: Enter the email of the account you wish to query. For example, [email protected].
• Best Practice: Double-check the email address for accuracy to avoid missing or incorrect results.

3. Forwarding Email

The specific forwarding email address you want to check for verification.

• Explanation: Provide the forwarding address (e.g., [email protected]) to verify if it's configured for the Gmail account.
• Best Practice: Ensure that the forwarding address is properly entered to retrieve accurate results.

Outputs

The Find Forwarding Address action will return the following details:

1. Forwarding Email

The email address to which messages are being forwarded.

• Explanation: This is the forwarding address configured in the user's Gmail account. If the address exists, it will appear in this field.
• Example: If the user has set up forwarding to [email protected], this is the value that will be returned.

2. Verification Status

Indicates whether the forwarding email address has been verified and is currently active for forwarding.

• Explanation: Only verified addresses are functional for forwarding, so this status will help confirm if the forwarding setup is complete.
• Example Values:
  • Verified: The forwarding address is confirmed and active for forwarding emails.
  • Pending: The address has been added, but verification is still pending.
  • Unverified: The forwarding address has not been verified and cannot be used for forwarding yet.

Example

Scenario:
An IT administrator needs to verify if a specific forwarding address has been set up for an employee’s Gmail account. The employee is leaving the company, and the administrator wants to ensure that no sensitive emails are being forwarded to an unauthorized address.

How to Set It Up:

1. Add the Find Forwarding Address action to your workflow.
2. Select the Connection (Google Workspace Administration connection with the required service account credentials).
3. Enter the User Email of the employee whose forwarding address you want to check (e.g., [email protected]).
4. Input the Forwarding Email (e.g., [email protected]) to verify if this address is configured for forwarding emails from the user’s account.
5. Run the flow to retrieve the forwarding email and its verification status.

Outcome:
The administrator can check the Verification Status field to see if the forwarding email is active and verified. If it's not verified, the administrator can take corrective action before the employee's account is deactivated.