proton-read-mcp

A tiny read-only Proton Mail MCP server. It lets Claude (Desktop or Claude Code) read and search your Proton inbox live through Proton Bridge. Nothing else.

Why this exists

You want Claude to see your mail, not run your mailbox. So this server is read-only by construction:

• No tools that send, reply, delete, move, flag, or modify anything. They don't exist in the code.

• Every fetch uses BODY.PEEK, so reading does not mark a message as seen.

• Folders are opened readonly=True.

• No local cache or database. It reads live over IMAP and stores nothing on disk. There is no decrypted copy of your mail sitting around.

• One dependency (mcp); everything else is the Python standard library.

Sending stays wherever you already do it. This server is only the eyes.

Related MCP server: email-mcp

Prerequisites

• Proton Bridge installed, signed in, and running (on the same machine, or on a server you can reach over SSH).

• Python 3.10+.

• Your Bridge IMAP host/port and the Bridge password (Proton Bridge → your account → Mailbox details). This is not your Proton login password.

Install

git clone https://github.com/314159DD/proton-read-mcp.git
cd proton-read-mcp
python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Verify Bridge connectivity before wiring up any MCP client:

PROTONMAIL_USERNAME=you@pm.me \
PROTONMAIL_PASSWORD_FILE=~/.proton-bridge-pass \
python server.py --check

You should see a folder list and an INBOX count. --check is read-only (folder list + counts only) and never starts the server.

Put the Bridge password in a file (so it never sits in a config or shell history):

printf '%s' 'your-bridge-password' > ~/.proton-bridge-pass
chmod 600 ~/.proton-bridge-pass

Topology

Bridge runs on the VPS and listens on 127.0.0.1:1143. Two ways to reach it:

A) Claude Code on the VPS (direct)

Bridge is already on localhost, so just register the server:

claude mcp add proton-read -s user -- \
  python /path/to/proton-read-mcp/server.py

Set the env for that entry (in ~/.claude.json under the proton-read server, or export before launching):

PROTONMAIL_USERNAME=you@pm.me
PROTONMAIL_PASSWORD_FILE=/home/you/.proton-bridge-pass
PROTONMAIL_IMAP_HOST=127.0.0.1
PROTONMAIL_IMAP_PORT=1143

B) Claude Desktop on your Mac (via SSH tunnel)

The server has no remote URL on purpose. Forward the VPS Bridge IMAP port to your Mac's localhost, then point the local server at it. Keep this tunnel running while you use it (autossh or a LaunchAgent is handy):

ssh -N -L 1143:127.0.0.1:1143 you@your-vps

Then add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "proton-read": {
      "command": "/ABSOLUTE/PATH/proton-read-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/ABSOLUTE/PATH/proton-read-mcp/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "PROTONMAIL_USERNAME": "you@pm.me",
        "PROTONMAIL_PASSWORD_FILE": "/Users/you/.proton-bridge-pass",
        "PROTONMAIL_IMAP_HOST": "127.0.0.1",
        "PROTONMAIL_IMAP_PORT": "1143"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop, keep Bridge (on the VPS) and the tunnel up, then check + → Connectors → proton-read.

Running it on the Mac means the mail flows (decrypted by Bridge) over the SSH tunnel to the Mac process. The SSH tunnel is encrypted and not publicly exposed. If you want the Mac to stay completely mail-free, skip path B and just use Claude Code on the VPS (path A).

C) Same machine (Bridge local, e.g. a Windows or Mac desktop)

If you run Bridge and Claude on the same box, there is no tunnel - Bridge already listens on 127.0.0.1, so just point the server at it. This is the simplest setup.

1. Install Proton Bridge and sign in (on Windows: winget install Proton.ProtonMailBridge).

2. Bridge → your account → Mailbox details. Note the IMAP port and the per-device Bridge password.

   • Port gotcha: Bridge's default IMAP port is 1143, but if something else already holds 1143 Bridge silently falls back to the next free port (e.g. 1144). Always use the port Bridge actually reports, and set PROTONMAIL_IMAP_PORT to match.

3. Store the Bridge password in a locked-down file outside the repo and verify:

   python server.py --check

Claude Code (any OS):

claude mcp add proton-read -s user \
  -e PROTONMAIL_USERNAME=you@pm.me \
  -e PROTONMAIL_PASSWORD_FILE=/path/to/.proton-bridge-pass \
  -e PROTONMAIL_IMAP_HOST=127.0.0.1 \
  -e PROTONMAIL_IMAP_PORT=1144 \
  -- /path/to/.venv/bin/python /path/to/server.py

Claude Desktop on Windows - config path: the normal location is %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json. But the Microsoft Store (MSIX) build virtualizes AppData, so its real config lives under:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Claude_<id>\LocalCache\Roaming\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add the same mcpServers block shown in path B (use the venv python.exe and the absolute server.py path with \\-escaped backslashes), then fully quit Claude Desktop from the system tray (closing the window is not enough) and relaunch. The server appears under Settings → Developer, not in the + → Connectors list (that list is for remote/OAuth connectors; local stdio servers show under Developer).

Tools

list_recent and search_emails return an id per message; pass it to read_email.

Notes & limits

• Search matching is ASCII-oriented (IMAP TEXT). For names with umlauts, try a substring like Mueller or search by company domain.

• It opens a fresh IMAP connection per call. Simple and stateless; fine for interactive use, not for high-frequency polling.

• No classification or scoring is built in. Feed list_recent / search_emails output into your own logic if you need that.

License

MIT - see LICENSE.