dropscan-mcp
MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for the Dropscan postal-mail-to-email API. Dropscan receives your physical letters at a scanbox; this server lets your MCP client list mailings, download the scans (PDF / ZIP / envelope image / OCR text), and, when explicitly enabled, request actions (scan / forward / destroy) and manage recipients, forwarding addresses and webhook rules.
mcp-name: io.github.bitterdev/dropscan-mcp
Safety first: Dropscan has no sandbox
Every request hits the real production account. Actions are irreversible: a destroyed letter is physically shredded and gone, a forward physically mails the letter and costs money.
Because of that, all write/action tools are gated twice:
DROPSCAN_ALLOW_WRITES environment flag. Unless it is set to 1/true/yes, every non-GET tool refuses to run. It is disabled by default.confirm: true parameter. Each write/action tool takes an explicit confirm argument (default false) and refuses unless it is true.
Read-only GET tools are always available and never change state.
Read-only (always available)
| Tool | Endpoint |
|---|
list_scanboxes | GET /scanboxes |
list_mailings(scanbox_id, current_status?, older_than?) | GET /scanboxes/{id}/mailings |
get_mailing(scanbox_id, uuid) | GET /scanboxes/{id}/mailings/{uuid} |
get_mailing_pdf(scanbox_id, uuid, save_path?) | GET .../{uuid}/pdf |
get_mailing_zip(scanbox_id, uuid, save_path?) | GET .../{uuid}/zip |
get_mailing_envelope(scanbox_id, uuid, save_path?) | GET .../{uuid}/envelope |
get_mailing_plaintext(scanbox_id, uuid) | GET .../{uuid}/plaintext |
list_recipients(scanbox_id) | GET /scanboxes/{id}/recipients |
get_recipient(scanbox_id, recipient_id) | GET /scanboxes/{id}/recipients/{id} |
get_forwarding_address(address_id) | GET /forwarding_addresses/{id} |
get_shipment(shipment_id) | GET /shipments/{id} |
list_webhook_rules() | GET /webhook_rules |
get_webhook_rule(rule_id) | GET /webhook_rules/{id} |
The download tools save the asset to disk (default ~/Downloads, override with save_path or the DROPSCAN_DOWNLOAD_DIR env var) and return the saved path, byte size and content type.
Write / action (double-gated: DROPSCAN_ALLOW_WRITES=1 and confirm=true)
| Tool | Endpoint |
|---|
request_mailing_action(scanbox_id, mailing_uuid, action_type, forwarding_address_id?, forwarding_date?, confirm) | POST .../{uuid}/action_requests |
cancel_mailing_action(scanbox_id, mailing_uuid, action_request_id, confirm) | DELETE .../{uuid}/action_requests/{id} |
set_mailing_recipient(scanbox_id, mailing_uuid, recipient_id, confirm) | PUT .../{uuid}/recipient |
create_recipient(scanbox_id, type, firstname?, lastname?, name?, confirm) | POST /scanboxes/{id}/recipients |
create_forwarding_address(firstname, lastname, street, number, zip_code, city, country_code, company?, info?, state?, confirm) | POST /forwarding_addresses |
create_webhook_rule(url, events, authorization_header?, confirm) | POST /webhook_rules |
update_webhook_rule(rule_id, url?, events?, authorization_header?, confirm) | PATCH /webhook_rules/{id} |
delete_webhook_rule(rule_id, confirm) | DELETE /webhook_rules/{id} |
action_type is one of scan, forward, destroy (exact enum from the API). For forward, both forwarding_address_id and forwarding_date (ISO YYYY-MM-DD) are required.
Webhook events: mailing_received, scan_requested, mailing_scanned, mailing_archived, mailing_trashed, mailing_shredded, mailing_added_to_shipment, mailing_removed_from_shipment, shipment_sent, package_tracking_updated.
Requirements
- Python >= 3.10
- A Dropscan personal access token
Installation
From a local clone:
python3 -m venv .venv
./.venv/bin/pip install .
Configuration
The token is read from the DROPSCAN_TOKEN environment variable and sent as Authorization: Bearer <token>. It is never hardcoded.
Claude Code
claude mcp add dropscan -e DROPSCAN_TOKEN="dspat-..." -- dropscan-mcp
Claude Desktop / generic MCP client
{
"mcpServers": {
"dropscan": {
"command": "/absolute/path/to/dropscan-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
"args": ["-m", "dropscan_mcp.server"],
"env": {
"DROPSCAN_TOKEN": "dspat-..."
}
}
}
}
To enable the write/action tools, add "DROPSCAN_ALLOW_WRITES": "1" to env. Leave it out to keep the server strictly read-only.
The server runs over stdio.
Environment variables
| Variable | Description |
|---|
DROPSCAN_TOKEN | Required. Dropscan personal access token (Bearer). |
DROPSCAN_ALLOW_WRITES | Set to 1/true to enable write/action tools. Default: disabled. |
DROPSCAN_DOWNLOAD_DIR | Default directory for downloaded PDFs/ZIPs/images. Default: ~/Downloads. |
License
MIT, see LICENSE.
Author
Fabian Bitter (fabian@bitter.de)