@marlinjai/email-mcp
A unified MCP server for email access across Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, and generic IMAP providers.
Features
- Multi-provider support -- Gmail (REST API), Outlook (Microsoft Graph), iCloud (IMAP), and generic IMAP/SMTP
- OAuth2 authentication -- Browser-based OAuth flows for Gmail and Outlook, with automatic token refresh
- Full email client -- Search, read, send, reply, forward, organize, and manage drafts
- Batch operations -- Delete, move, or mark hundreds of emails in a single call
- Lightweight search -- Compact search results by default (~20KB vs ~1.4MB) with optional full body retrieval
- Encrypted credential storage -- AES-256-GCM encryption at rest with machine-derived keys
- Provider-native APIs -- Uses Gmail API and Microsoft Graph where available for richer features, falls back to IMAP for universal compatibility
Installation
Install globally from npm:
npm install -g @marlinjai/email-mcp
Or run directly with npx (no install needed):
Quick Start
- Run the interactive setup wizard to add your email accounts:
npx -y -p @marlinjai/email-mcp@latest email-mcp-setup
The -p/--package flag is required. This package declares two binaries (email-mcp for the MCP server, email-mcp-setup for this wizard). Without -p, npx runs the bin matching the package's own name (email-mcp, the server) and silently passes email-mcp-setup to it as an ignored argument — the server then sits waiting for MCP protocol input on stdin forever, producing no output at all. It looks exactly like a hang. -p tells npx explicitly which package to resolve and which of its binaries to actually run.
The wizard will walk you through provider selection and authentication. After each account, it asks if you'd like to add another — so you can set up Gmail, Outlook, and iCloud all in one go.
- Add the server to your MCP configuration (
.mcp.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"email": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["@marlinjai/email-mcp"]
}
}
}
- Start using email tools in Claude Code — search your inbox, send emails, organize messages, and more.
Provider Setup Guides
Gmail
No configuration needed — the setup wizard handles everything using built-in OAuth credentials (PKCE):
npx -y -p @marlinjai/email-mcp@latest email-mcp-setup
The wizard asks which Gmail permission scope to authorize:
- Full (default) — everything below, plus immediate, Trash-bypassing permanent deletion (
https://mail.google.com/, Gmail's maximum-permission scope).
- Restricted — read, send, label, archive, and move-to-trash (
gmail.modify + gmail.settings.basic), but no permanent deletion. Every tool in this server works identically under Restricted except an explicit permanent: true delete, which fails with a Gmail API error instead of succeeding.
Pass --scope full or --scope restricted to skip the prompt, or set EMAIL_MCP_GMAIL_SCOPE=restricted in the environment the wizard runs in.
Note: If you prefer to use your own OAuth app instead of the shared one this package ships with, create a Desktop OAuth 2.0 Client in the Google Cloud Console with the Gmail API enabled, then set EMAIL_MCP_GMAIL_CLIENT_ID and EMAIL_MCP_GMAIL_CLIENT_SECRET in the environment before running the setup wizard (and in the MCP server's environment, since re-authentication uses the same variables). This gives you your own token lifecycle, independent of the publisher's Cloud project, and sidesteps Google's unverified-app warning and 100-test-user cap for your own account(s) once you add yourself as a test user on your own app.
Outlook
No configuration needed — the setup wizard handles everything using built-in OAuth credentials (PKCE):
npx -y -p @marlinjai/email-mcp@latest email-mcp-setup
Note: If you prefer to use your own OAuth app, register one in the Azure Portal with Mail.ReadWrite, Mail.Send, MailboxSettings.ReadWrite (needed for email_create_block_rule), and offline_access permissions, then set EMAIL_MCP_OUTLOOK_CLIENT_ID in the environment before running the setup wizard.
iCloud
- Go to appleid.apple.com and sign in.
- Navigate to App-Specific Passwords and generate a new password.
- Run the setup wizard:
npx -y -p @marlinjai/email-mcp@latest email-mcp-setup
Generic IMAP
Run the setup wizard with your IMAP/SMTP server details:
npx -y -p @marlinjai/email-mcp@latest email-mcp-setup
Account Management (4)
| Tool | Description |
|---|
email_list_accounts | List all configured accounts with connection status |
email_add_account | Add a new IMAP or iCloud account (Gmail/Outlook require setup wizard) |
email_remove_account | Remove an account and its stored credentials; revokes the Google grant for Gmail, removes Outlook tokens from the local token cache, and reports the outcome |
email_test_account | Test connection to an account |
Reading & Searching (6)
| Tool | Description |
|---|
email_list_folders | List all folders/labels for an account |
email_search | Search emails with filters. Returns compact results by default (returnBody=false). Set returnBody=true to include full email bodies |
email_get | Get full email content by ID (headers, body, attachment metadata) |
email_get_thread | Get an entire email thread/conversation |
email_get_attachment | Download a specific attachment by ID (returns base64 data) |
email_save_attachment | Download an attachment directly to disk, returning metadata only — avoids the token cost of round-tripping large files as base64. outputPath is relative to a fixed downloads directory (~/.email-mcp/downloads, override with EMAIL_MCP_DOWNLOADS_DIR) and cannot escape it |
Sending & Drafts (6)
| Tool | Description |
|---|
email_send | Compose and send a new email (to, cc, bcc, subject, body) |
email_reply | Reply to an email (supports reply-all, preserves threading) |
email_forward | Forward an email to new recipients |
email_draft_create | Save a draft without sending |
email_draft_update | Update an existing draft in place. On Gmail/Outlook the draft id is unchanged; on iCloud/generic IMAP there's no in-place update (IMAP messages are immutable), so the old draft is deleted and a new one appended — the returned id is a new id, always use it going forward |
email_draft_list | List all drafts |
Organization (8)
| Tool | Description |
|---|
email_move | Move an email to a different folder. Supports sourceFolder for IMAP/iCloud |
email_transfer | Move or copy emails between accounts, preserving the original message (sender, date, threading) via raw MIME transfer. deleteAfter=true trashes the source only after a confirmed import (safe cross-account move) |
email_delete | Delete an email (trash or permanent). Supports sourceFolder for IMAP/iCloud |
email_mark | Mark as read/unread, starred, or flagged. Supports sourceFolder for IMAP/iCloud |
email_label | Add/remove labels (Gmail only) |
email_folder_create | Create a new folder |
email_get_labels | List all labels with counts (Gmail only) |
email_get_categories | List all categories (Outlook only) |
Batch Operations (3)
| Tool | Description |
|---|
email_batch_delete | Delete multiple emails at once (up to 1000 for Gmail, batches of 20 for Outlook, UID ranges for IMAP) |
email_batch_move | Move multiple emails to a folder in a single call |
email_batch_mark | Mark multiple emails read/unread, starred, or flagged at once |
All batch tools accept a sourceFolder parameter for IMAP/iCloud and include a sequential fallback for maximum compatibility.
Spam Moderation (5)
| Tool | Description |
|---|
email_report_spam | Report an email as spam/junk, training the provider's own filter — the same signal the "Report Junk" button sends in Gmail/Outlook. This is different from email_delete, which removes the message but teaches the filter nothing. Not an abuse report to the provider's security team; it only trains this account's filter |
email_batch_report_spam | Report multiple emails as spam/junk at once |
email_create_block_rule | Create a standing rule that intercepts future mail matching a pattern (sender domain/address, subject, or arbitrary header content) and either deletes it or moves it. Use headerContains (e.g. a Reply-To domain) to block a spam template family whose visible "From" domain rotates — matching the rotating domain directly stops working within days. Not supported on iCloud/generic IMAP (no standard server-side rule mechanism exists across IMAP servers). On Outlook, moveToJunk files straight to the Junk Email folder and requires the MailboxSettings.ReadWrite scope. On Gmail, moveToJunk skips the inbox (archives) rather than literally filing to Spam — Gmail's filter API rejects the SPAM label on standing rules (only Gmail's own classifier can apply it; email_report_spam still can, since that's a direct per-message action, not a filter) — and requires the gmail.settings.basic scope. Accounts authenticated before these scopes existed need to re-run the setup wizard once to re-consent |
email_list_block_rules | List the standing block rules on an account, for auditing or before deleting one |
email_delete_block_rule | Delete a standing block rule — use to undo a rule that turned out too broad |
Gmail and Outlook only for the rule tools; email_report_spam/email_batch_report_spam work on every provider (iCloud/IMAP fall back to a best-effort move into the account's Junk-typed folder, with no vendor ML training signal since generic IMAP has none to train).
Usage with Claude Code
Add the following to your .mcp.json file (project-level or global ~/.claude/.mcp.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"email": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["@marlinjai/email-mcp"]
}
}
}
Once configured, you can ask Claude to interact with your email:
- "Check my inbox for unread messages"
- "Search for emails from alice@example.com in the last week"
- "Reply to the latest email from Bob and thank him"
- "Move all newsletters to the Archive folder"
- "Delete all spam emails" (uses batch operations for speed)
- "Draft a follow-up email to the team about the meeting"
Development
pnpm install
pnpm build
pnpm dev
pnpm test
pnpm test:watch
pnpm test:integration
Credential Storage
Account credentials are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM in ~/.email-mcp/credentials.enc.
By default the encryption key is derived from a stable, machine-specific identifier
(the hardware UUID on macOS, /etc/machine-id on Linux, or the MachineGuid on
Windows), falling back to the hostname when none is available.
Set the EMAIL_MCP_KEY environment variable to supply your own passphrase instead.
This is recommended when the machine identifier may change (for example in
containers or CI), or when you want to move credentials.enc between machines:
export EMAIL_MCP_KEY="your-strong-passphrase"
When EMAIL_MCP_KEY is set, existing credential files are transparently
re-encrypted with the passphrase the next time they are read.
The Outlook refresh token lives in the token cache of Microsoft's authentication
library (MSAL), ~/.email-mcp/msal-cache.enc, encrypted with the same scheme and key
derivation as credentials.enc, so EMAIL_MCP_KEY protects both files. Versions before 1.8.0
kept this cache as plain JSON in ~/.email-mcp/msal-cache.json; 1.8.0 encrypts it and
deletes the plain file the first time it reads it, without signing you out. Going back
to an older version afterwards means signing in to Outlook again.
On macOS and Linux, attachments saved with email_save_attachment are written
owner-only (0600), and folders email-mcp creates for them are 0700. They are not
encrypted.
The OAuth sign-in callback started by email-mcp-setup listens on the loopback
addresses only (127.0.0.1, and ::1 when available), so nothing else on your network
can reach it.
Support
If this project is useful to you, consider supporting its development:
License
MIT