diff --git a/.changeset/feat-gmail-read.md b/.changeset/feat-gmail-read.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1f5bcbee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/feat-gmail-read.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@googleworkspace/cli": minor
+---
+
+Add +read helper for extracting Gmail message body as plain text
diff --git a/src/helpers/gmail/mod.rs b/src/helpers/gmail/mod.rs
index 3e8d3274..acfbffb7 100644
--- a/src/helpers/gmail/mod.rs
+++ b/src/helpers/gmail/mod.rs
@@ -14,12 +14,14 @@
 
 use super::Helper;
 pub mod forward;
+pub mod read;
 pub mod reply;
 pub mod send;
 pub mod triage;
 pub mod watch;
 
 use forward::handle_forward;
+use read::handle_read;
 use reply::handle_reply;
 use send::handle_send;
 use triage::handle_triage;
@@ -730,6 +732,49 @@ TIPS:
                 ),
         );
 
+        cmd = cmd.subcommand(
+            Command::new("+read")
+                .about("[Helper] Read a message and extract its body as plain text")
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::new("message-id")
+                        .long("message-id")
+                        .help("Gmail message ID to read")
+                        .required(true)
+                        .value_name("ID"),
+                )
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::new("html")
+                        .long("html")
+                        .help("Return HTML body instead of plain text")
+                        .action(ArgAction::SetTrue),
+                )
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::new("body-only")
+                        .long("body-only")
+                        .help("Print only the message body (no headers/metadata)")
+                        .action(ArgAction::SetTrue),
+                )
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::new("format")
+                        .long("format")
+                        .help("Output format: json (default), table, yaml, csv")
+                        .value_name("FORMAT"),
+                )
+                .after_help(
+                    "\
+EXAMPLES:
+  gws gmail +read --message-id 18f1a2b3c4d
+  gws gmail +read --message-id 18f1a2b3c4d --body-only
+  gws gmail +read --message-id 18f1a2b3c4d --html
+  gws gmail +read --message-id 18f1a2b3c4d --format json | jq '.body'
+
+TIPS:
+  Read-only — never modifies your mailbox.
+  Use --body-only to pipe the message content to other tools.
+  Use --html to get the rich HTML body when available.",
+                ),
+        );
+
         cmd = cmd.subcommand(
             Command::new("+reply")
                 .about("[Helper] Reply to a message (handles threading automatically)")
@@ -1058,6 +1103,11 @@ TIPS:
                 return Ok(true);
             }
 
+            if let Some(matches) = matches.subcommand_matches("+read") {
+                handle_read(doc, matches).await?;
+                return Ok(true);
+            }
+
             if let Some(matches) = matches.subcommand_matches("+triage") {
                 handle_triage(matches).await?;
                 return Ok(true);
diff --git a/src/helpers/gmail/read.rs b/src/helpers/gmail/read.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..979b02d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/helpers/gmail/read.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+use super::*;
+
+/// Handle the `+read` subcommand.
+pub(super) async fn handle_read(
+    _doc: &crate::discovery::RestDescription,
+    matches: &ArgMatches,
+) -> Result<(), GwsError> {
+    let config = parse_read_args(matches)?;
+
+    let token = auth::get_token(&[GMAIL_READONLY_SCOPE])
+        .await
+        .map_err(|e| GwsError::Auth(format!("Gmail auth failed: {e}")))?;
+
+    let client = crate::client::build_client()?;
+
+    // Reuse the shared fetch helper which includes send_with_retry.
+    let parsed = super::fetch_message_metadata(&client, &token, &config.message_id).await?;
+
+    let fmt = matches
+        .get_one::<String>("format")
+        .map(|s| crate::formatter::OutputFormat::from_str(s))
+        .unwrap_or_default();
+
+    let body = if config.html {
+        parsed
+            .body_html
+            .clone()
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| parsed.body_text.clone())
+    } else {
+        parsed.body_text.clone()
+    };
+
+    if config.body_only {
+        println!("{body}");
+    } else {
+        let output = json!({
+            "id": config.message_id,
+            "from": parsed.from,
+            "to": parsed.to,
+            "cc": parsed.cc,
+            "subject": parsed.subject,
+            "date": parsed.date,
+            "body": body,
+        });
+        println!("{}", crate::formatter::format_value(&output, &fmt));
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub(super) struct ReadConfig {
+    pub message_id: String,
+    pub html: bool,
+    pub body_only: bool,
+}
+
+fn parse_read_args(matches: &ArgMatches) -> Result<ReadConfig, GwsError> {
+    let message_id = matches.get_one::<String>("message-id").unwrap().to_string();
+
+    if message_id.trim().is_empty() {
+        return Err(GwsError::Validation(
+            "--message-id must not be empty".to_string(),
+        ));
+    }
+
+    Ok(ReadConfig {
+        message_id,
+        html: matches.get_flag("html"),
+        body_only: matches.get_flag("body-only"),
+    })
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    fn make_matches_read(args: &[&str]) -> ArgMatches {
+        let cmd = Command::new("test")
+            .arg(Arg::new("message-id").long("message-id").required(true))
+            .arg(Arg::new("html").long("html").action(ArgAction::SetTrue))
+            .arg(
+                Arg::new("body-only")
+                    .long("body-only")
+                    .action(ArgAction::SetTrue),
+            )
+            .arg(Arg::new("format").long("format"));
+        cmd.try_get_matches_from(args).unwrap()
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_parse_read_args_basic() {
+        let matches = make_matches_read(&["test", "--message-id", "abc123"]);
+        let config = parse_read_args(&matches).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(config.message_id, "abc123");
+        assert!(!config.html);
+        assert!(!config.body_only);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_parse_read_args_html() {
+        let matches = make_matches_read(&["test", "--message-id", "abc123", "--html"]);
+        let config = parse_read_args(&matches).unwrap();
+        assert!(config.html);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_parse_read_args_body_only() {
+        let matches = make_matches_read(&["test", "--message-id", "abc123", "--body-only"]);
+        let config = parse_read_args(&matches).unwrap();
+        assert!(config.body_only);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_parse_read_args_empty_message_id() {
+        let matches = make_matches_read(&["test", "--message-id", "  "]);
+        let err = parse_read_args(&matches).unwrap_err();
+        assert!(err.to_string().contains("must not be empty"));
+    }
+}