MCP Email

You can run the MCP Email Server to access IMAP and SMTP through MCP, enabling programmatic email management with attachment handling and automatic sent-mail syncing. This server is designed to be controlled from an MCP client, making it easy to integrate into your automation and tooling workflows.

How to use

Run the MCP Email Server through an MCP client to enable IMAP and SMTP access and manage your email accounts from scripts or automation.

How to install

Prerequisites include Node tooling for MCP client orchestration and Python if you plan to use the PyPI package. The recommended workflow uses uv to manage your environment.

uvx mcp-email-server@latest ui

This configures the MCP client to run the email server using the stdio interface.

Install the MCP Email Server package from PyPI if you prefer a Python-based setup.

pip install mcp-email-server

After installing, configure your email server using the user interface provided by the MCP client.

Additional configuration and usage notes

Configure environment variables to run the server in CI/CD or other automation environments. The zerolib-email setup supports both UI configuration via a TOML file and environment variables, with environment variables taking precedence.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zerolib-email": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-email-server@latest", "stdio"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_ACCOUNT_NAME": "work",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_FULL_NAME": "John Doe",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_EMAIL_ADDRESS": "john@example.com",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_USER_NAME": "john@example.com",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_PASSWORD": "your_password",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_IMAP_HOST": "imap.gmail.com",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_IMAP_PORT": "993",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SMTP_HOST": "smtp.gmail.com",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SMTP_PORT": "465"
      }
    }
  }
}

Enabling attachment downloads

Attachment download is disabled by default for security reasons. You can enable it in one of two ways.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zerolib-email": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-email-server@latest", "stdio"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_ENABLE_ATTACHMENT_DOWNLOAD": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Saving sent emails to IMAP Sent folder

Emails sent through the MCP server can be saved to your IMAP Sent folder automatically. The server auto-detects common Sent folder names. You can specify a custom Sent folder name if needed.

# Option 1: environment variable
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zerolib-email": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-email-server@latest", "stdio"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SENT_FOLDER_NAME": "INBOX.Sent"
      }
    }
  }
}

# Option 2: TOML configuration example
[[emails]]
account_name = "work"
save_to_sent = true
sent_folder_name = "INBOX.Sent"
# ... rest of your email configuration

To disable saving to the Sent folder, set MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SAVE_TO_SENT=false or save_to_sent = false in your TOML config.

## Installing via Smithery

If you want to install the Email Server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery, use the following command.

npx -y @smithery/cli install @ai-zerolab/mcp-email-server --client claude

## Available tools

### get\_emails\_content

Fetch emails from a specified account and IDs to inspect content and metadata.

### send\_email

Send an email with specified recipients, subject, body, and threading headers like In-Reply-To and References for proper conversation threading.

### download\_attachment

Download and save attachments from emails when enabled.

### save\_to\_sent

Automatically save sent messages to the designated IMAP Sent folder, with optional custom folder name.