Gmail SMTP MCP Server (Python)

Sends email as a teammate's Gmail account via SMTP + an App Password, instead of Google OAuth. No Google Cloud project, no client secret, no redirect_uri allowlist, no consent screen. This is a Python port of the Node.js version — same architecture, same endpoints.

How auth works

claude.ai's connector setup still expects a normal OAuth 2.1 + PKCE dance — that part of the MCP spec doesn't change. What changes is who the "identity provider" is:

1. User adds your connector in claude.ai → claude.ai opens /authorize.

2. Instead of "Sign in with Google", they see a form asking for their Gmail address + an App Password (requires 2-Step Verification on their Google account).

3. The server test-sends an email to confirm the credentials work, encrypts and stores the app password, then redirects back to claude.ai with an auth code — same as a normal OAuth flow.

4. claude.ai exchanges that code at /token for a bearer token.

5. Every send_email_tool call carries that bearer token; the server looks up which Gmail account it maps to (via the token's subject) and sends via SMTP using only Python's standard library (smtplib).

Nothing here talks to Google's OAuth API. There's no client secret to leak or rotate.

Related MCP server: Gmail MCP Server

Setup

pip install -r requirements.txt

# Generate a 32-byte encryption key for storing app passwords at rest
export MASTER_KEY=$(python3 -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(32))")
export BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000

uvicorn server:app --port 3000

Add both MASTER_KEY and BASE_URL to a .env file if you'd rather not export them each time — just make sure something loads it before uvicorn starts (e.g. python-dotenv, or your platform's env var settings).

Deploying to Render

1. Push this repo, create a new Web Service pointing at it.

   • Build command: pip install -r requirements.txt

   • Start command: uvicorn server:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port $PORT

2. Set env vars: MASTER_KEY (generate as above), BASE_URL (your Render URL, e.g. https://your-app.onrender.com).

3. Important: data.json (where users/tokens live) is written to local disk. Render's free web services have ephemeral disks — a redeploy wipes it and every teammate has to reconnect. For anything beyond testing, either add a Render persistent disk mount, or swap store.py for Postgres/SQLite (the function signatures in store.py are the only thing you'd need to keep the same).

4. In claude.ai, add a custom connector pointing at https://your-app.onrender.com/mcp.

Files

• server.py — FastAPI app: OAuth-shaped /authorize + /token endpoints, the MCP server (built with mcp's FastMCP) mounted at /mcp with bearer-token auth enforced automatically by the SDK.

• store.py — encrypted (AES-256-GCM) storage for app passwords, auth codes, and access tokens.

• mailer.py — sends via smtp.gmail.com:465 using Python's built-in smtplib, no extra package needed.

A gotcha worth knowing about if you modify this

FastMCP's streamable_http_app() normally manages its own startup/shutdown (a "session manager") when run standalone. When you mount it inside another FastAPI app with app.mount("/mcp", ...), FastAPI does not automatically run the sub-app's lifespan — so streaming requests fail with RuntimeError: Task group is not initialized. The fix already in server.py is wiring mcp.session_manager.run() into the outer FastAPI app's own lifespan. If you restructure this file, keep that wiring intact.

Security notes

• App passwords are encrypted at rest with MASTER_KEY, but they're still bearer credentials with full mail-send access — treat data.json (or your DB) like you would a password table.

• Access tokens are long-lived (90 days) bearer tokens with no rotation. Fine for an internal team tool; add refresh tokens or shorter expiry if this ever leaves that trust boundary.

• Anyone who can reach /authorize can register any Gmail address they control an app password for — there's no allowlist. Add one (e.g. only @caratlane.com addresses) if you want to restrict this before sharing the connector link.