Need to Upload Gmail Attachments to Google Drive—Cannot Obtain Attachment URL Mid-Workflow

[Kelvin Ip]

Dear Experts,

I am building an accounting automation workflow in Pabbly Connect. My process involves:

• Collecting all emails in a Gmail thread (using the Gmail API)
• Parsing and grouping them for a single accounting entry
• Recording data to Google Sheets
• Uploading all attachments from the thread to Google Drive with custom filenames

The problem:
Pabbly’s native “Upload a File” or “Upload Large File” actions for Google Drive require a file URL, but when I download Gmail attachments mid-workflow (using the Gmail API), I only get base64 data, not a file URL.
The “Email Parser by Pabbly” action can provide an attachment URL, but it is only available as the workflow trigger, not as an action mid-flow.
My workflow needs to process entire Gmail threads, so I cannot use the Email Parser as the trigger (it only processes single emails).

What I need:

• A way to obtain a file URL or file object for a Gmail attachment (by messageId and attachmentId) at any point in the workflow, so I can upload it to Google Drive using Pabbly’s native actions.
• OR, the ability to use “Email Parser by Pabbly” as an action (not just a trigger), so I can parse and get attachment URLs for any message in a thread mid-workflow.

Please advise on the best way to achieve this in Pabbly Connect, or let me know if this feature can be added.

Thank you!

 

[Preeti Paryani]

Hello @Kelvin Ip,

Could you please provide us with the Workflow URL where you are facing this issue? This will help us investigate the problem more effectively and assist you accordingly.

Please be aware that to assist you effectively, we may need to access your Pabbly Connect account. If you're comfortable with this, please grant us permission by stating in your next reply: "You have my permission to log into my Pabbly Connect account, and edit workflow {If required}. Here is the registered email address associated with it."

Looking forward to assisting you further.