<p align="center">
  <a href="https://mailmcp.ai"><img src="assets/hero.jpg" alt="mailmcp: your mail in ChatGPT and Claude. Passwords stay yours." width="100%"></a>
</p>

<h1 align="center">mailmcp</h1>

<p align="center"><strong>All your mailboxes in ChatGPT and Claude. Passwords stay yours.</strong></p>

<p align="center">
  <a href="https://github.com/kojott/mailmcp-dist/releases/latest"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/kojott/mailmcp-dist?label=release&color=ec3013" alt="Latest release"></a>
  <a href="https://mailmcp.ai/audit"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/security%20review-Sept%202026%2C%20published-111111" alt="Security review"></a>
  <a href="LICENSE"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/licence-commercial%2C%20one%20payment-555555" alt="Licence"></a>
  <a href="https://vercel.com/new/clone?repository-url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fkojott%2Fmailmcp-dist&env=MAILMCP_KEY,MAILMCP_LICENSE&envDescription=MAILMCP_KEY%3A%2032%20random%20bytes%20as%20base64url.%20MAILMCP_LICENSE%3A%20your%20key%2C%20or%20empty%20for%20the%20free%20tier.&envLink=https%3A%2F%2Fmailmcp.ai%2Fstart&project-name=mailmcp&repository-name=mailmcp"><img src="https://vercel.com/button" alt="Deploy with Vercel"></a>
</p>

mailmcp is a self-hosted MCP server that gives ChatGPT, Claude and other MCP clients access to your e-mail over IMAP and SMTP: several mailboxes at once, any provider, attachments in both directions. This repository is the **prebuilt distribution** (minified bundles in `dist/`, no build step) under a commercial licence; it runs as a free tier without a key, and the source code is available to customers on request.

Ask *"What came in from accounting this week?"* and get one answer across Gmail, iCloud and the company mail server: the invoice as a download link, a reply already drafted.

<p align="center"><img src="assets/first-question.jpg" alt="One question across two mailboxes: three messages from accounting, the invoice as a link, a draft reply ready to send." width="88%"></p>

## When to use it

Use mailmcp when you have more than one mailbox, a provider without an official connector, or you need attachments. As of September 2026 the official Gmail and Outlook connectors in ChatGPT and Claude handle one mailbox each and cannot send attachments.

| | Official connectors | mailmcp |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mailboxes | one per connector | several at once, one token |
| Providers | Gmail, Outlook | Gmail, iCloud, Fastmail, Yahoo, Zoho, Seznam.cz and any IMAP/SMTP server with password sign-in, including your own domain (Microsoft 365 / Outlook.com do not work with passwords, OAuth planned) |
| Attachments | read some, send none | one-hour download links; sending from the mailbox, from a file the assistant uploads, or by forwarding |
| Authentication | OAuth grant held by the AI vendor | an app password, encrypted in your browser into a token; the server keeps one master key and no database |
| Hosting | the vendor's | yours: Vercel, Docker, any Node 22 host, or Claude Desktop without a server |
| Cost | included in the assistant's plan | free with a signature in sent mail, or one payment (€19 / €149) |

## Quickstart

**Requirements.** Node 22 (or Vercel, or Docker), an HTTPS address (ChatGPT and Claude only connect over HTTPS), and an app password for each mailbox. Gmail: turn on 2-Step Verification first, otherwise Google hides the app-passwords page (organisation policies or Advanced Protection can hide it too). Microsoft 365 / Exchange Online and Outlook.com do not work yet: Microsoft does not allow password sign-in over IMAP (OAuth planned).

1. **Deploy.** Click the Vercel button above; it asks for `MAILMCP_KEY` (32 random bytes as base64url, `node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('base64url'))"`) and `MAILMCP_LICENSE` (your key, or empty for the free tier). Or run it yourself:

   ```bash
   docker build -t mailmcp . && docker run -d -p 8080:8080 \
     -e MAILMCP_KEY=… -e MAILMCP_LICENSE=… -e MAILMCP_PUBLIC_URL=https://mail.example.com mailmcp
   # without Docker: node dist/node.js with the same variables
   ```

2. **Open `https://<your-server>/start`** and follow it: on the setup page pick the provider, paste the e-mail and the app password, tick what the assistant may do (reading is on by default; drafts are a good second step; sending only with an allowlist of recipients). The page encrypts the password in your browser and hands you one token.

3. **Connect.** ChatGPT → Settings → Apps → Create → URL `https://<your-server>/mcp`; claude.ai → Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector. Sign in with the token. Then ask: *"List my mail accounts."*

<p align="center"><img src="assets/setup.png" alt="The setup page: provider, e-mail, app password, permissions. The password is encrypted before it leaves the browser." width="88%"></p>

**Try it without deploying.** The shared server at [mailmcp.ai/setup](https://mailmcp.ai/setup) runs this same code; create a token there and connect. The operator of any shared server can technically see your configuration while it serves your requests, which is why companies run their own.

**Claude Desktop, no server.** Download `mailmcp.mcpb` from the [latest release](https://github.com/kojott/mailmcp-dist/releases/latest), open it in Claude Desktop, paste the configuration from `/setup` → "Values for your own deployment".

Behind a reverse proxy set `MAILMCP_PUBLIC_URL` or `MAILMCP_TRUST_PROXY=1`. Company mail servers on private addresses need `MAILMCP_ALLOW_PRIVATE_MAIL_HOSTS=1`. Changing `MAILMCP_KEY` invalidates every token. All variables: [`.env.example`](.env.example).

## What the assistant can do

Every tool is gated by the permissions in the token, per mailbox:

| Permission | Tools |
| --- | --- |
| read (default) | `list_accounts`, `list_folders`, `search_messages` (Gmail syntax on Gmail), `get_message`, `get_thread`, `get_attachment` (one-hour download link), ChatGPT `search`/`fetch` |
| draft | `create_draft`, `upload_attachment`, `request_upload` (a one-hour upload link the assistant fills itself) |
| send | `send_message`, `send_draft`, `forward_message`, only to addresses on your allowlist |
| modify | `modify_message` (flags, folders) |
| delete | `trash_message`; nothing is ever deleted permanently |

Every tool is listed to the client; a call the token does not permit fails with an error naming the missing permission.

## Security and data flow

- **Credentials.** The setup page encrypts mailbox passwords in your browser into a split-key token. The server holds one master key, decrypts the configuration only while serving your request, keeps it in memory for at most 15 minutes after the last one, and has no database and no copy of your mail.
- **What leaves the server.** IMAP/SMTP traffic to your mail provider and tool results to your assistant (so the AI vendor sees the results of every tool call, never the passwords). Licence verification is offline. The only links to the vendor are the Buy buttons.
- **Prompt injection.** Message bodies are marked as untrusted data, hidden text is stripped and header fields are sanitized, which reduces the risk of instructions planted in an e-mail; it cannot make a model immune.
- **Protocol.** OAuth 2.1 with PKCE, dynamic client registration and client metadata documents, encrypted tokens with replay guards, login throttling. Read-only defaults, send allowlists, no permanent deletion.
- **Revocation.** Delete the app password at your provider; the token is then useless no matter who holds it. Rotating `MAILMCP_KEY` invalidates all tokens on a server.
- **Review.** An internal, AI-assisted security review of version 0.4.1 (September 2026) with every finding, fix and accepted trade-off is public: [mailmcp.ai/audit](https://mailmcp.ai/audit).

## Pricing

| Free | Personal, €19 once | Unlimited, €149 once |
| --- | --- | --- |
| All tools included, up to 2 mailboxes per token (tokens created before 0.7.0 keep 5). Every message the assistant composes (drafts, sends, forwards) ends with "Sent with mailmcp.ai". | One person, up to 5 mailboxes per token, no signature, on your own server or in Claude Desktop. | One server for the whole company, unlimited users and mailboxes. |

All 0.x updates are included; a 1.0 upgrade may carry a fee, and 0.x keeps working. 14-day refund, no questions asked. Company deployment, €990: two hours of online onboarding on your Vercel or cloud, Unlimited licence included. Buy at [mailmcp.ai/pricing](https://mailmcp.ai/pricing): the key appears right after payment and Stripe e-mails the invoice.

## Updating

Releases are tagged here and listed in [`CHANGELOG.md`](CHANGELOG.md). If you deployed with the Vercel button, Vercel created your own copy of this repository: pull the new tag into it (`git pull https://github.com/kojott/mailmcp-dist.git main` and push), and Vercel deploys the push. Docker and Node: pull, rebuild or restart. To roll back, deploy the previous tag. Your tokens keep working across versions as long as `MAILMCP_KEY` stays the same.

## Questions people ask

**Google says the app-passwords setting "is not available for your account".** Turn on 2-Step Verification and reload; if it is still missing, an organisation policy or Advanced Protection is blocking app passwords.

**I lost my token.** Tokens cannot be recovered. Create a new one on the setup page (with an edit password this time, so you can load and change it later) and swap it in your assistant.

**Can the assistant send mail on its own?** Only if you enabled sending, and only to addresses on the allowlist. Drafts are the safer default.

**Attachment links.** Download and upload links are valid for one hour and carry the token in encrypted form; anyone with the link can use it during that hour.

## Licence, support, reporting problems

The licence agreement is in [`LICENSE`](LICENSE) (English translation first, the Czech original governs): one key, one running installation, no redistribution; removing the licence check or the free-tier signature is prohibited. This is closed-source software, so pull requests are not accepted, but bug reports in [Issues](https://github.com/kojott/mailmcp-dist/issues) are welcome. Security problems: write to info@swingingdogs.com instead of opening an issue. Privacy policy: https://mailmcp.ai/privacy, terms: https://mailmcp.ai/terms.

Guide for people: [mailmcp.ai/docs](https://mailmcp.ai/docs). Guide for assistants, paste the link into ChatGPT or Claude and let it walk you through: [mailmcp.ai/llms.txt](https://mailmcp.ai/llms.txt). Support: [jiridolejs.cz/kontakt](https://jiridolejs.cz/kontakt).

<sub>Version 0.7.6. Made in Prague by <a href="https://jiridolejs.cz">Jiří Dolejš</a>.</sub>