diff --git a/app/scouts/connectors/gmail.py b/app/scouts/connectors/gmail.py
index d3abb3c..ee3bf96 100644
--- a/app/scouts/connectors/gmail.py
+++ b/app/scouts/connectors/gmail.py
@@ -16,12 +16,35 @@ from datetime import datetime, timezone
 
 from app.config.settings import settings
 from app.integrations import decrypt_token
-from app.integrations.gmail import GmailClient
 from app.scouts.connectors.base import ItemContent, ItemMetadata, ItemRef
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+def _extract_plain_text_body(payload: dict) -> str:
+    """Recursively walk a Gmail message payload to find text/plain content."""
+    import base64
+    mime_type = payload.get("mimeType", "")
+    if mime_type == "text/plain":
+        data = payload.get("body", {}).get("data", "")
+        if data:
+            return base64.urlsafe_b64decode(data + "==").decode("utf-8", errors="replace")
+        return ""
+    if mime_type.startswith("multipart/"):
+        for part in payload.get("parts", []):
+            text = _extract_plain_text_body(part)
+            if text:
+                return text
+    # text/html fallback: strip tags rudimentarily if no text/plain part
+    if mime_type == "text/html":
+        data = payload.get("body", {}).get("data", "")
+        if data:
+            import re
+            html = base64.urlsafe_b64decode(data + "==").decode("utf-8", errors="replace")
+            return re.sub(r"<[^>]+>", " ", html)
+    return ""
+
+
 def _get_gmail_service(scout):
     """Return a synchronous Google API client for low-level metadata/history calls."""
     from googleapiclient.discovery import build
@@ -118,32 +141,27 @@ class GmailConnector:
     # ── fetch_content ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
     async def fetch_content(self, scout, ref: ItemRef) -> ItemContent:
-        """Fetch full body text via GmailClient — transient, must not be persisted."""
-        creds_info = decrypt_token(scout.oauth_token_encrypted)
-        client = GmailClient(creds_info)
-        # fetch_messages returns EmailMessage dataclasses with body_text already
-        # extracted and decoded. We pass an empty filter to avoid narrowing by
-        # date — callers should only invoke fetch_content for known-new messages.
-        messages = await client.fetch_messages(filter_config=None, since=None)
+        """Fetch full body text for a single message — transient, must not be persisted."""
 
-        # Pick the message matching our ref (or fall back to first if only one returned).
-        email_msg = next(
-            (m for m in messages if m.id == ref.source_msg_ref),
-            messages[0] if messages else None,
-        )
-        if email_msg is None:
-            raise ValueError(f"Message {ref.source_msg_ref!r} not found via GmailClient")
+        def _sync() -> ItemContent:
+            service = _get_gmail_service(scout)
+            msg = service.users().messages().get(
+                userId="me", id=ref.source_msg_ref, format="full",
+            ).execute()
+            headers = {h["name"]: h["value"] for h in msg.get("payload", {}).get("headers", [])}
+            body_text = _extract_plain_text_body(msg.get("payload", {}))
+            return ItemContent(
+                metadata=ItemMetadata(
+                    subject=headers.get("Subject"),
+                    sender=headers.get("From"),
+                    snippet=msg.get("snippet"),
+                    received_at=None,
+                ),
+                body_text=body_text,
+                raw_headers=headers,
+            )
 
-        return ItemContent(
-            metadata=ItemMetadata(
-                subject=email_msg.subject,
-                sender=email_msg.sender,
-                snippet=None,
-                received_at=email_msg.date,
-            ),
-            body_text=email_msg.body_text,
-            raw_headers={},
-        )
+        return await asyncio.to_thread(_sync)
 
     # ── archive ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
diff --git a/tests/test_scout_connectors_gmail.py b/tests/test_scout_connectors_gmail.py
index 16c35aa..f54edd6 100644
--- a/tests/test_scout_connectors_gmail.py
+++ b/tests/test_scout_connectors_gmail.py
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import uuid
-from datetime import datetime, timezone
-from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, MagicMock, patch
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 
 import pytest
 
@@ -53,16 +52,24 @@ async def test_fetch_metadata_returns_subject_and_snippet():
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_fetch_content_returns_body_text():
+    import base64
     scout = _make_scout()
     conn = GmailConnector()
-    # decrypt_token is patched because the test doesn't set OAUTH_ENCRYPTION_KEY.
-    with patch("app.scouts.connectors.gmail.decrypt_token", return_value={}), \
-         patch("app.scouts.connectors.gmail.GmailClient") as MockClient:
-        instance = MockClient.return_value
-        instance.fetch_messages = AsyncMock(return_value=[
-            MagicMock(id="msg-1", subject="S", sender="a@b", body_text="hello world",
-                     date=datetime.now(tz=timezone.utc), labels=[]),
-        ])
+    body_data = base64.urlsafe_b64encode(b"hello world").decode()
+    fake_message = {
+        "id": "msg-1",
+        "snippet": "hello world",
+        "payload": {
+            "mimeType": "text/plain",
+            "headers": [
+                {"name": "Subject", "value": "S"},
+                {"name": "From", "value": "a@b"},
+            ],
+            "body": {"data": body_data},
+        },
+    }
+    with patch("app.scouts.connectors.gmail._get_gmail_service") as mock_svc:
+        mock_svc.return_value.users().messages().get().execute.return_value = fake_message
         content = await conn.fetch_content(scout, ItemRef(source_msg_ref="msg-1"))
     assert content.body_text == "hello world"
     assert content.metadata.subject == "S"