Install gyb with Homebrew, Nix, winget

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• gyb

Project history

The GYB repository identifies the tool as maintained by Jay Lee and describes it as a command-line program for backing up Gmail messages to a local computer using Gmail's API over HTTPS. GitHub repository metadata records the public GAM-team repository as created in June 2014, and the README preserves the earlier jay0lee project links in its release and wiki references.

The project documentation grew around practical setup and recovery tasks rather than a large library API. The wiki walks users through creating a Google Cloud project, granting Gmail access, running estimates, backing up, restoring, using Gmail searches for selective backups, and supporting Google Workspace administrator scenarios.

Adoption history

GYB adoption tracks administrators and power users who need command-line control over Gmail exports and restores. The project offers Windows installers and Mac/Linux shell installation instructions, while the supplied package facts show Homebrew, Nix, and winget packages, giving it reach across the operating systems commonly used by Google Workspace administrators.

The wiki's emphasis on Gmail.com, Google Workspace, service accounts, Vault, mbox restore, selective search, and daily incremental backup patterns shows why the tool became useful beyond one-off personal backup: it could be scripted into migration, retention, and audit-adjacent workflows.

How it is used

The core usage is `gyb --email user@example.com --action backup` to download messages to a local folder, followed by restore commands that can restore to the same mailbox or a different mailbox when a backup folder is supplied. The wiki also documents estimates, label operations, mbox and EML restore, quota checks, service-account modes, and Gmail search filters for scoped backups.

GYB's command-line design is important because Gmail's web UI and Takeout workflows are not shaped for repeatable administrator automation. GYB gives package-managed environments a small executable that can sit in scripts, scheduled jobs, migration runbooks, and support procedures.

Why package nerds care

GYB is a package-nerd kind of productivity tool: thin, scriptable, API-backed, and valuable precisely because it turns a cloud service workflow into a reproducible local command. It also brings the usual packaging concerns for OAuth-era CLIs, including installers, Python/runtime expectations, local backup folders, and user-provided Google credentials.

Its relationship to the GAM ecosystem matters because GAM is a well-known Google Workspace administration CLI. GYB is not just another mail downloader; it is part of a cluster of tools used by admins who prefer shellable workflows for Google services.

Timeline

• 2014: The public GAM-team GitHub repository was created.
• 2010s: GYB documentation centered on Gmail API over HTTPS backups, local restore, and Google Groups support.
• 2020s: The wiki documented Google Workspace naming, Google Cloud project setup, service-account options, Vault, mbox and EML restore, and selective Gmail-search backups.
• 2020s: Package-manager coverage included Homebrew, Nix, and winget according to the supplied package facts.

Related projects

• GYB is related to GAM and the broader GAM-team Google Workspace administration ecosystem. It also overlaps with Google Takeout, Google Vault exports, Gmail API tooling, mbox/EML mail utilities, and administrator migration scripts.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/GAM-team/got-your-back
• https://github.com/GAM-team/got-your-back
• https://github.com/GAM-team/got-your-back/wiki
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GAM-team/got-your-back/main/README.md
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wiki/GAM-team/got-your-back/Home.md