imap-smtp-mcp
Enables reading, searching, sending, and managing emails via IMAP/SMTP for AOL Mail.
Enables reading, searching, sending, and managing emails via IMAP/SMTP for Apple Mail (iCloud).
Enables reading, searching, sending, and managing emails for self-hosted email servers using Dovecot.
Enables reading, searching, sending, and managing emails via IMAP/SMTP for Gmail.
Enables reading, searching, sending, and managing emails via IMAP/SMTP for iCloud Mail.
Enables reading, searching, sending, and managing emails via IMAP/SMTP for ProtonMail (via ProtonMail Bridge).
Enables reading, searching, sending, and managing emails via IMAP/SMTP for Zoho Mail.
Click on "Install Server".
Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state.
In the chat, type
@followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@imap-smtp-mcpsearch my inbox for emails from Alice"
That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed.
Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.
imap-smtp-mcp
Connect ANY mailbox to ANY AI agent. Expose Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail (iCloud), Fastmail, ProtonMail, Yahoo, and every self-hosted server as Model Context Protocol tools, so any MCP-compatible agent (Claude Desktop, Hermes, your own scripts) can read, search, send, and manage email.
┌──────────────────┐ httpStream + SSE ┌──────────────────┐ IMAP ┌────────────┐
│ MCP client │ ──────────────────►│ imap-smtp-mcp │ ───────►│ Mail │
│ (Claude, │ │ (this server) │ │ server │
│ Hermes, etc.) │ │ │ SMTP │ (any) │
└──────────────────┘ └──────────────────┘ ───────►└────────────┘✨ Features
8 MCP tools:
server_info,list_mailboxes,list_emails,read_email,search_emails,send_email,mark_read,delete_email.Universal: works with any IMAP/SMTP server (Gmail, Outlook, Fastmail, ProtonMail, Dovecot, Stalwart, Postfix, etc.).
Transport: FastMCP 3.x with
httpStream(per-session, server-sent events) andstdio(for desktop integration).Production-ready: graceful shutdown, persistent connections, structured logging, error handling.
No secrets in code: configuration via environment variables only.
Related MCP server: mcp-email-server
📦 Installation
Prerequisites
Node.js ≥ 18
An IMAP/SMTP-enabled mailbox
For Gmail/Yahoo/Microsoft: an app password (not your account password). See provider-specific notes below.
From npm (once published)
npm install -g imap-smtp-mcp
imap-smtp-mcpFrom source
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/imap-smtp-mcp.git
cd imap-smtp-mcp
npm install
npm run build
npm startDevelopment mode (with hot reload)
npm run dev⚙️ Configuration
All configuration is via environment variables. Create a .env file or
export them in your shell / systemd unit.
Required
Variable | Description |
| IMAP server hostname (e.g. |
| IMAP username (often your full email address) |
| IMAP password or app password |
| SMTP server hostname (often same as IMAP host) |
| SMTP username |
| SMTP password or app password |
Optional
Variable | Default | Description |
|
| IMAP port (993 for SSL, 143 for STARTTLS) |
|
| Use TLS (set |
|
| Reject invalid TLS certs (set |
|
| SMTP port (465 for SSL, 587 for STARTTLS) |
|
| Use TLS |
|
| Reject invalid TLS certs |
|
| "From" address (if different from SMTP_USER) |
|
|
|
|
| HTTP port (only for httpStream) |
|
| Bind address (use |
|
|
|
|
| Directory for log files |
Example .env
IMAP_HOST=imap.gmail.com
IMAP_USER=you@gmail.com
IMAP_PASS=abcd efgh ijkl mnop
IMAP_PORT=993
IMAP_SECURE=true
IMAP_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=true
SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
SMTP_USER=you@gmail.com
SMTP_PASS=abcd efgh ijkl mnop
SMTP_PORT=465
SMTP_SECURE=true
FASTMCP_TRANSPORT=httpStream
FASTMCP_PORT=3143
FASTMCP_HOST=0.0.0.0
LOG_LEVEL=info
LOG_DIR=/var/log/imap-smtp-mcp🚀 Usage
As a daemon (recommended)
Once configured, just run:
imap-smtp-mcp
# [INFO] HTTP Stream listening on http://0.0.0.0:3143/mcpWith systemd
# /etc/systemd/system/imap-smtp-mcp.service
[Unit]
Description=IMAP/SMTP MCP Server
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=simple
User=imap-smtp
EnvironmentFile=/etc/imap-smtp-mcp.env
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /opt/imap-smtp-mcp/dist/index.js
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
StandardOutput=append:/var/log/imap-smtp-mcp/mcp.log
StandardError=append:/var/log/imap-smtp-mcp/mcp.err.log
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.targetsudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now imap-smtp-mcp
systemctl status imap-smtp-mcpWith Docker
FROM node:20-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
RUN npm ci --omit=dev
COPY dist ./dist
ENV NODE_ENV=production
EXPOSE 3143
CMD ["node", "dist/index.js"]docker run -d --name imap-smtp-mcp \
-p 3143:3143 \
--env-file ./.env \
imap-smtp-mcp:latestAs an MCP client (Claude Code, etc.)
{
"mcpServers": {
"mail": {
"url": "http://localhost:3143/mcp"
}
}
}For a remote server, replace localhost with the host:
{
"mcpServers": {
"mail": {
"url": "http://localhost:3143/mcp"
}
}
}As stdio (alternative)
If you prefer stdio transport (one process per session, e.g. for local desktop):
{
"mcpServers": {
"mail": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/path/to/imap-smtp-mcp/dist/index.js"],
"env": {
"FASTMCP_TRANSPORT": "stdio",
"IMAP_HOST": "imap.gmail.com",
"IMAP_USER": "you@gmail.com",
"IMAP_PASS": "..."
}
}
}
}🧰 Tools reference
server_info
Returns IMAP/SMTP server details and inbox counts.
{
"user": "you@example.com",
"imap": "imap.example.com:993",
"smtp": "smtp.example.com:465",
"inbox_total": 42,
"inbox_unread": 7
}list_mailboxes
Lists all mailboxes with message counts.
[
{ "name": "INBOX", "total": 42, "unread": 7 },
{ "name": "Sent", "total": 15, "unread": 0 },
{ "name": "Drafts", "total": 0, "unread": 0 }
]list_emails
Lists emails in a mailbox.
Param | Type | Default | Description |
| string |
| Mailbox name |
| number |
| Max results (1-500) |
| boolean |
| Only return unread emails |
[
{
"uid": 1234,
"subject": "Hello",
"from": "alice@example.com",
"to": "you@example.com",
"date": "2026-07-25T18:00:00.000Z",
"flags": ["\\Seen"],
"preview": "First 200 chars of body..."
}
]read_email
Reads a full email by UID.
Param | Type | Description |
| number | Email UID (from |
| string | Mailbox name (default |
Returns the email with full body. body is parsed as text/plain from the MIME source.
search_emails
Searches emails by keyword (matches body text).
Param | Type | Default | Description |
| string | (required) | Keyword |
| string |
| Mailbox |
| number |
| Max results |
send_email
Sends an email via SMTP.
Param | Type | Description |
| string | Recipient address |
| string | Subject line |
| string | Plain-text body |
Returns { status: "sent", to, subject, messageId }.
mark_read
Marks an email as read or unread.
Param | Type | Default | Description |
| number | (required) | Email UID |
| string |
| Mailbox |
| boolean |
|
|
delete_email
Marks an email as deleted and expunges it. Permanent.
Param | Type | Default | Description |
| number | (required) | Email UID |
| string |
| Mailbox |
📧 Provider notes
Gmail
Enable 2FA on your Google account
Create an app password
Use the app password as
IMAP_PASS/SMTP_PASS
IMAP_HOST=imap.gmail.com
IMAP_PORT=993
IMAP_SECURE=true
SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
SMTP_PORT=465
SMTP_SECURE=trueOutlook / Microsoft 365 / Hotmail / Live
Enable 2FA on your Microsoft account
Create an app password via Microsoft account security
IMAP_USERshould be your full email address
IMAP_HOST=outlook.office365.com
IMAP_PORT=993
IMAP_SECURE=true
SMTP_HOST=smtp.office365.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_SECURE=false # STARTTLS, not implicit TLSApple iCloud / Apple Mail / me.com / mac.com
Enable 2FA on your Apple Account
Generate an app-specific password at appleid.apple.com → Sign-In and Security → App-Specific Passwords
Use your full iCloud email and the app-specific password
IMAP_HOST=imap.mail.me.com
IMAP_PORT=993
IMAP_SECURE=true
SMTP_HOST=smtp.mail.me.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_SECURE=false # STARTTLSFastmail
IMAP_HOST=imap.fastmail.com
IMAP_PORT=993
IMAP_SECURE=true
SMTP_HOST=smtp.fastmail.com
SMTP_PORT=465
SMTP_SECURE=trueProtonMail Bridge
Run ProtonMail Bridge locally, then:
IMAP_HOST=127.0.0.1
IMAP_PORT=1143
IMAP_SECURE=false
SMTP_HOST=127.0.0.1
SMTP_PORT=1025
SMTP_SECURE=false
IMAP_USER=your-bridge-username
IMAP_PASS=your-bridge-passwordYahoo Mail / AOL
IMAP_HOST=imap.mail.yahoo.com
SMTP_HOST=smtp.mail.yahoo.comGenerate an app password in Yahoo Account Security.
Zoho Mail
IMAP_HOST=imap.zoho.com
IMAP_PORT=993
IMAP_SECURE=true
SMTP_HOST=smtp.zoho.com
SMTP_PORT=465
SMTP_SECURE=trueSelf-hosted (Dovecot, Stalwart, Postfix, Mailcow, etc.)
For self-hosted mail servers with self-signed certificates:
IMAP_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=false
SMTP_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=falseFor production with valid certificates (Let's Encrypt), set both to true.
🛠️ Development
Scripts
npm run build # Compile TypeScript to dist/
npm run dev # Watch mode with tsx
npm run lint # ESLint
npm test # Run unit tests (vitest)
npm run test:watch # Tests in watch mode
npm run format # PrettierProject layout
src/
index.ts # Entry point
config.ts # Env loading + Zod validation
logger.ts # Pino logger setup
mail-service.ts # IMAP/SMTP operations
tools.ts # MCP tool definitions
tests/
config.test.ts # Config validation tests
mail-service.test.ts # MailService with mocks
tools.test.ts # Tool registration + dispatch
.github/
workflows/
ci.yml # Lint + test + build on Node 18/20/22Adding a new tool
Add a method to
MailService(insrc/mail-service.ts).Register the tool in
registerMailTools(insrc/tools.ts).Add a test in
tests/tools.test.ts.
🔒 Security
No secrets in code. All credentials come from environment variables.
Use app passwords, not account passwords, for Gmail/Outlook/Yahoo.
For production, set
IMAP_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=trueandSMTP_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=truewith valid certificates.Bind
FASTMCP_HOST=127.0.0.1if the MCP client runs on the same host.For remote access, place behind a reverse proxy (nginx) with TLS.
📜 License
MIT — see LICENSE.
🤝 Contributing
Issues and pull requests welcome. Please run npm run lint && npm test before
submitting.
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