title: How do I get around HttpError 403 Insufficient Permission? (gmail api, python)
body: <p>I keep getting the following error when I execute my code: </p>
  
  <pre><code>An error occurred: &lt;HttpError 403 when requesting https://www.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/send?alt=json returned "Insufficient Permission"&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This is my code: </p>
  
  <pre><code>import httplib2
  import os
  from httplib2 import Http
  
  from apiclient import discovery
  import oauth2client
  from oauth2client import client
  from oauth2client import tools
  
  try:
      import argparse
      flags = argparse.ArgumentParser(parents=[tools.argparser]).parse_args()
  except ImportError:
      flags = None
  
  #SCOPES = 'https://www.googleapis.com/'
  SCOPES = 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.compose'
  CLIENT_SECRET_FILE = 'client_secret.json'
  APPLICATION_NAME = 'Gmail API Quickstart'
  
  def get_credentials():
      """Gets valid user credentials from storage.
  
      If nothing has been stored, or if the stored credentials are invalid,
      the OAuth2 flow is completed to obtain the new credentials.
  
      Returns:
          Credentials, the obtained credential.
      """
      home_dir = os.path.expanduser('~')
      credential_dir = os.path.join(home_dir, '.credentials')
      if not os.path.exists(credential_dir):
          os.makedirs(credential_dir)
      credential_path = os.path.join(credential_dir,
                                     'gmail-quickstart.json')
  
      store = oauth2client.file.Storage(credential_path)
      credentials = store.get()
      if not credentials or credentials.invalid:
          flow = client.flow_from_clientsecrets(CLIENT_SECRET_FILE, SCOPES)
          flow.user_agent = APPLICATION_NAME
          if flags:
              credentials = tools.run_flow(flow, store, flags)
          else: # Needed only for compatability with Python 2.6
              credentials = tools.run(flow, store)
          print 'Storing credentials to ' + credential_path
      return credentials
  
  def CreateMessage(sender, to, subject, message_text):
    """Create a message for an email.
  
    Args:
      sender: Email address of the sender.
      to: Email address of the receiver.
      subject: The subject of the email message.
      message_text: The text of the email message.
  
    Returns:
      An object containing a base64 encoded email object.
    """
    message = MIMEText(message_text)
    message['to'] = to
    message['from'] = sender
    message['subject'] = subject
    return {'raw': base64.b64encode(message.as_string())}
  
  testMessage = CreateMessage('ENTER SENDERS EMAIL ADDRESS', 'ENTER RECEIVERRS EMAIL ADDRESS', 'ENTER SUBJECT', 'ENTER EMAIL BODY')
  
  def SendMessage(service, user_id, message):
    """Send an email message.
  
    Args:
      service: Authorized Gmail API service instance.
      user_id: User's email address. The special value "me"
      can be used to indicate the authenticated user.
      message: Message to be sent.
  
    Returns:
      Sent Message.
    """
    try:
      message = (service.users().messages().send(userId=user_id, body=message)
                 .execute())
      print 'Message Id: %s' % message['id']
      return message
    except errors.HttpError, error:
      print 'An error occurred: %s' % error
  
  
  testSend = SendMessage(service, 'me', testMessage)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I keep reading that I need to edit a credentials file, but I can't seem to find it. I have windows 7 installed. Does anyone know what I need to do in order to get past this error? I'm a total noob at this so please excuse me if I seem a bit nooby about this. Thanks! </p>