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 999d65ce..b3c8e2fb 100644
--- a/src/helpers/gmail/mod.rs
+++ b/src/helpers/gmail/mod.rs
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
 
 use super::Helper;
 pub mod forward;
-pub mod reply;
+pub mod read;
+mod reply;
 pub mod send;
 pub mod triage;
 pub mod watch;
@@ -31,6 +32,8 @@ pub(super) use crate::executor;
 pub(super) use anyhow::Context;
 pub(super) use base64::{engine::general_purpose::URL_SAFE, Engine as _};
 pub(super) use clap::{Arg, ArgAction, ArgMatches, Command};
+pub(super) use serde::Serialize;
+
 pub(super) use serde_json::{json, Value};
 use std::future::Future;
 use std::pin::Pin;
@@ -40,6 +43,7 @@ pub struct GmailHelper;
 pub(super) const GMAIL_SCOPE: &str = "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify";
 pub(super) const GMAIL_READONLY_SCOPE: &str = "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly";
 pub(super) const PUBSUB_SCOPE: &str = "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/pubsub";
+#[derive(Serialize)]
 
 pub(super) struct OriginalMessage {
     pub thread_id: String,
@@ -1006,6 +1010,55 @@ TIPS:
                 ),
         );
 
+        cmd = cmd.subcommand(
+            Command::new("+read")
+                .about("[Helper] Read a message and extract its body or headers")
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::new("id")
+                        .long("id")
+                        .alias("message-id")
+                        .required(true)
+                        .help("The Gmail message ID to read")
+                        .value_name("ID"),
+                )
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::new("headers")
+                        .long("headers")
+                        .help("Include headers (From, To, Subject, Date) in the output")
+                        .action(ArgAction::SetTrue),
+                )
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::new("format")
+                        .long("format")
+                        .help("Output format (text, json)")
+                        .value_parser(["text", "json"])
+                        .default_value("text"),
+                )
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::new("html")
+                        .long("html")
+                        .help("Return HTML body instead of plain text")
+                        .action(ArgAction::SetTrue),
+                )
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::new("dry-run")
+                        .long("dry-run")
+                        .help("Show the request that would be sent without executing it")
+                        .action(ArgAction::SetTrue),
+                )
+                .after_help(
+                    "\
+EXAMPLES:
+  gws gmail +read --id 18f1a2b3c4d
+  gws gmail +read --id 18f1a2b3c4d --headers
+  gws gmail +read --id 18f1a2b3c4d --format json | jq '.body'
+
+TIPS:
+  Converts HTML-only messages to plain text automatically.
+  Handles multipart/alternative and base64 decoding.",
+                ),
+        );
+
         cmd = cmd.subcommand(
             Command::new("+watch")
                 .about("[Helper] Watch for new emails and stream them as NDJSON")
@@ -1103,6 +1156,11 @@ TIPS:
                 return Ok(true);
             }
 
+            if let Some(matches) = matches.subcommand_matches("+read") {
+                read::handle_read(doc, matches).await?;
+                return Ok(true);
+            }
+
             if let Some(matches) = matches.subcommand_matches("+reply") {
                 handle_reply(doc, matches, false).await?;
                 return Ok(true);
diff --git a/src/helpers/gmail/read.rs b/src/helpers/gmail/read.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ab874e2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/helpers/gmail/read.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+// Copyright 2026 Google LLC
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+use super::*;
+
+/// Handle the `+read` subcommand.
+pub(super) async fn handle_read(
+    _doc: &crate::discovery::RestDescription,
+    matches: &ArgMatches,
+) -> Result<(), GwsError> {
+    let message_id = matches
+        .get_one::<String>("id")
+        .unwrap();
+
+    let dry_run = matches.get_flag("dry-run");
+
+    let original = if dry_run {
+        OriginalMessage::dry_run_placeholder(message_id)
+    } else {
+        let t = auth::get_token(&[GMAIL_READONLY_SCOPE])
+            .await
+            .map_err(|e| GwsError::Auth(format!("Gmail auth failed: {e}")))?;
+
+        let client = crate::client::build_client()?;
+        fetch_message_metadata(&client, &t, message_id).await?
+    };
+
+    let format = matches.get_one::<String>("format").unwrap();
+    let show_headers = matches.get_flag("headers");
+    let use_html = matches.get_flag("html");
+
+    if format == "json" {
+        println!(
+            "{}",
+            serde_json::to_string_pretty(&original)
+                .map_err(|e| GwsError::Other(anyhow::anyhow!(e)))?
+        );
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+
+    if show_headers {
+        println!("From: {}", original.from);
+        println!("To: {}", original.to);
+        if !original.cc.is_empty() {
+            println!("Cc: {}", original.cc);
+        }
+        println!("Subject: {}", original.subject);
+        println!("Date: {}", original.date);
+        println!("---");
+    }
+
+    let body = if use_html {
+        original
+            .body_html
+            .as_deref()
+            .filter(|s| !s.is_empty())
+            .unwrap_or(&original.body_text)
+    } else {
+        &original.body_text
+    };
+
+    println!("{}", body);
+
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/src/setup_tui.rs b/src/setup_tui.rs
index 67591526..75087cf9 100644
--- a/src/setup_tui.rs
+++ b/src/setup_tui.rs
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ use crossterm::{
     terminal::{disable_raw_mode, enable_raw_mode, EnterAlternateScreen, LeaveAlternateScreen},
     ExecutableCommand,
 };
+use ratatui::prelude::Stylize;
 use ratatui::{
     layout::{Constraint, Layout},
     style::{Color, Modifier, Style},