honest-gmail-mcp

Local Gmail MCP server. Your emails never leave your machine except to Google. No third party in the middle.

Why this exists

Most Gmail integrations for AI assistants — including the "official" MCP connectors — route your emails through a third-party server before they reach the AI. That means the third party sees plaintext of every message you search, read, or send.

This project takes a different path: it runs on your machine, authenticates directly to Google Gmail API with your OAuth credentials, and exposes 6 tools to your local AI client (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, or any MCP-compatible client) over stdio.

Data flow: You ↔ this server (on your Mac) ↔ Google Gmail API. That's the whole path. No hosted service. No proxy. No third-party access to your inbox.

You can read the entire server — one file, ~240 lines of Python — and confirm for yourself.

Related MCP server: Gmail MCP Server

Features

Six tools exposed over MCP:

• search_messages — Gmail search syntax (e.g. from:foo@bar is:unread newer_than:7d)

• get_message — full headers + decoded text/plain body

• send_message — with optional local file attachments (this is a feature the official connector lacks)

• create_draft — same fields as send, does not send

• list_labels — all labels with ids

• modify_labels — add/remove labels on a message

Requirements

• Python 3.10+

• A Google account you want to give it access to

• A one-time setup in Google Cloud Console (~10 min)

Setup

1. Clone

git clone https://github.com/bartosz-kuc/honest-gmail-mcp.git
cd honest-gmail-mcp

2. Install dependencies

python3 -m venv venv
./venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Get Google OAuth credentials

You create your own OAuth client in your own Google Cloud project. Nobody but you controls it.

1. Go to https://console.cloud.google.com/ (signed in with the account you want to authorize)

2. Create a new project (name it whatever, e.g. gmail-mcp)

3. APIs & Services → Library → search Gmail API → Enable

4. APIs & Services → OAuth consent screen:

   • User Type: External → Create

   • App name: gmail-mcp

   • User support email + Developer contact: your email

   • Test users: add the email you'll authorize

5. APIs & Services → Credentials → + Create Credentials → OAuth client ID:

   • Application type: Desktop app

   • Download the JSON

6. Save it as credentials.json in this repo's root directory

4. First run (does the OAuth dance)

./venv/bin/python server.py

A browser tab will open. Sign in, click Allow. Token is saved locally as token.json. The server then starts serving MCP over stdio (nothing visible — it's designed to be launched by an MCP client, not run manually).

You can press Ctrl+C after the browser flow finishes — the token is saved.

5. Register with your MCP client

Claude Code:

claude mcp add gmail-personal /absolute/path/to/venv/bin/python /absolute/path/to/server.py

Claude Desktop: edit claude_desktop_config.json (find via Claude menu → Settings → Developer → Edit Config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gmail-personal": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

Restart the client. Tools appear as mcp__gmail-personal__search_messages etc.

Data flow (in detail)

Your AI client (Claude Code / Claude Desktop)
         ↕  MCP protocol over stdio (local process pipe)
This server (Python, on your machine)
         ↕  HTTPS to googleapis.com
Google Gmail API

No cloud in the middle. No telemetry. No analytics. The server has no network dependencies beyond Google itself.

The credentials.json (your OAuth client secret) and token.json (your refresh token) stay on your disk. Both are .gitignored so a stray git push cannot leak them.

Security notes

• You own the OAuth client. Nobody else can revoke, rotate, or misuse it.

• You can revoke access anytime at https://myaccount.google.com/permissions.

• Scope requested: gmail.modify — covers read, labels, send, drafts. It does not cover Gmail settings, filters, delegates, or account management.

• No secrets are in git. .gitignore blocks credentials.json, token.json, and virtualenvs.

• Audit the code. server.py is ~240 lines. Read it once and you know exactly what it can and cannot do.

Author

Bartosz Kuć — Warsaw-based developer, JDG owner running skanfirmy.pl.

• Site: https://skanfirmy.pl

• GitHub: https://github.com/bartosz-kuc

• Email: firma@bartosza.pl

Consulting

Available for consulting on Polish tax and business integrations (KSeF, GUS/NFZ/GIOŚ APIs, mBank data), MCP server design, and AI-assisted tooling for JDGs and small teams. See skanfirmy.pl/uslugi for productized packages (audit 3k PLN, setup 8-15k PLN, retainer 2-4k PLN/mo), or reach out via email.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome. Please keep the code minimal and auditable — the whole selling point is that a user can read it in one sitting.