How do I install Email (IMAP/SMTP)?

Copy the stdio config for Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or VS Code on this page. It uses the publisher's install, not a PlugMCP proxy.

Does Email (IMAP/SMTP) need an API key?

The publisher lists these environment variables: EMAIL_CONFIG_FILE, EMAIL_ACCOUNTS.

What transport does Email (IMAP/SMTP) use?

Email (IMAP/SMTP) runs locally over stdio.

When was Email (IMAP/SMTP) last checked?

Last checked 2026-11-09. Multi-account IMAP/SMTP email server with 22 tools for reading, sending, searching, and organizing.

Email (IMAP/SMTP) MCP server

mcp-server-email

Multi-account email server for the Model Context Protocol. Gives LLMs full email access — read, send, search, organize — over IMAP/SMTP with connection pooling, rate limiting, and retry. Designed as the remote-email counterpart to apple-bridge (local Mail.app access).

Quick Start

Install

go install github.com/boutquin/mcp-server-email/cmd/mcp-server-email@latest

Create a config file (~/.config/mcp-email/accounts.json)

For well-known providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, Fastmail, Zoho), host and port are auto-detected from the email domain — just provide credentials:

[
  {
    "id": "hello",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "username": "[email protected]",
    "password": "app-password-here"
  }
]

For custom mail servers, specify host and port explicitly:

[
  {
    "id": "work",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "imap_host": "mail.example.com",
    "imap_port": 993,
    "smtp_host": "mail.example.com",
    "smtp_port": 465,
    "username": "[email protected]",
    "password": "app-password-here"
  }
]

chmod 600 ~/.config/mcp-email/accounts.json

Add to Claude Code (~/.claude.json)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "email": {
      "command": "mcp-server-email",
      "env": {
        "EMAIL_CONFIG_FILE": "~/.config/mcp-email/accounts.json"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Code — the email_* tools are now available.

Installation

Go Install (recommended for Go developers)

go install github.com/boutquin/mcp-server-email/cmd/mcp-server-email@latest

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

brew install boutquin/tap/mcp-server-email

Binary Download

Download pre-built binaries for your platform from GitHub Releases.

Available for: Linux (amd64, arm64), macOS (amd64, arm64), Windows (amd64, arm64).

Docker

docker run --rm \
  -e EMAIL_ACCOUNTS='[{"id":"main","email":"[email protected]","imap_host":"mail.example.com","imap_port":993,"smtp_host":"mail.example.com","smtp_port":465,"username":"[email protected]","password":"app-password"}]' \
  ghcr.io/boutquin/mcp-server-email:latest

MCP Bundle (Claude Desktop)

Download the .mcpb file from Releases and open in Claude Desktop.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/boutquin/mcp-server-email.git
cd mcp-server-email
go build -o mcp-server-email ./cmd/mcp-server-email

Configuration

Accounts are loaded once at startup. Changes require a server restart.

Config file vs environment variable

Approach	Best for
`EMAIL_CONFIG_FILE` — path to a JSON file	Production use. File can be permission-locked (`chmod 600`)
`EMAIL_ACCOUNTS` — inline JSON in env var	Testing, CI, or containerized deployments

If both are set, EMAIL_ACCOUNTS takes precedence.

Account JSON schema

[
  {
    "id": "hello",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "imap_host": "mail.example.com",
    "imap_port": 993,
    "smtp_host": "mail.example.com",
    "smtp_port": 465,
    "username": "[email protected]",
    "password": "app-password-here"
  }
]

Field	Required	Description
`id`	Yes	Unique account identifier
`email`	Yes	Email address
`imap_host`	No*	IMAP server hostname
`imap_port`	No*	IMAP port (993 = implicit TLS, 143 = STARTTLS)
`smtp_host`	No*	SMTP server hostname
`smtp_port`	No*	SMTP port (465 = implicit TLS, 587 = STARTTLS)
`username`	Yes	Login username
`password`	Yes**	App password or account password
`use_starttls`	No	Override TLS auto-detection (`true`/`false`)
`insecure_skip_verify`	No	Skip TLS certificate verification (dev/testing)
`auth_method`	No	`"password"` (default) or `"oauth2"`
`oauth_client_id`	No	OAuth2 client ID (required when `auth_method` is `"oauth2"`)
`oauth_client_secret`	No	OAuth2 client secret
`oauth_token_file`	No	Override token file path

*Host and port are auto-detected for well-known providers (see below). Required for custom servers. **Not required when using OAuth2 authentication.

Provider auto-detection

When imap_host/smtp_host are omitted, the server detects settings from the email domain:

Provider	Domains	IMAP	SMTP
Gmail	`gmail.com`, `googlemail.com`	`imap.gmail.com:993`	`smtp.gmail.com:587`
Outlook	`outlook.com`, `hotmail.com`, `live.com`	`outlook.office365.com:993`	`smtp.office365.com:587`
Yahoo	`yahoo.com`	`imap.mail.yahoo.com:993`	`smtp.mail.yahoo.com:587`
iCloud	`icloud.com`, `me.com`, `mac.com`	`imap.mail.me.com:993`	`smtp.mail.me.com:587`
Fastmail	`fastmail.com`, `fastmail.fm`	`imap.fastmail.com:993`	`smtp.fastmail.com:587`
Zoho	`zoho.com`, `zohomail.com`	`imap.zoho.com:993`	`smtp.zoho.com:587`

Explicit host/port in the config always takes precedence over auto-detection.

TLS modes

TLS mode is auto-detected from port:

Port	Protocol	Mode
993	IMAP	Implicit TLS
143	IMAP	STARTTLS
465	SMTP	Implicit TLS
587	SMTP	STARTTLS

Override with "use_starttls": true or "use_starttls": false in the account object. Omit for auto-detection (recommended).

OAuth2 authentication

For providers that support it (Gmail, Outlook), you can use OAuth2 instead of app passwords. This uses the device code flow (RFC 8628) — no browser redirect needed.

Create OAuth2 credentials in the provider's developer console (Google Cloud Console or Azure AD)

Configure the account with auth_method: "oauth2":

[
  {
    "id": "gmail",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "username": "[email protected]",
    "auth_method": "oauth2",
    "oauth_client_id": "your-client-id.apps.googleusercontent.com",
    "oauth_client_secret": "your-client-secret"
  }
]

On first connection, the server initiates the device code flow — printing a verification URL and code to stderr. Visit the URL and enter the code to authorize.
Tokens are persisted in ~/.config/mcp-email/tokens/ and automatically refreshed. Subsequent connections reuse the stored token without re-authorization.

Supported OAuth2 providers: Gmail (gmail.com, googlemail.com) and Outlook (outlook.com, hotmail.com, live.com).

Environment variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
`EMAIL_CONFIG_FILE`	Yes*	—	Path to JSON config file
`EMAIL_ACCOUNTS`	Yes*	—	JSON array of account configs (inline)
`EMAIL_DEFAULT_ACCOUNT`	No	First account	Default account ID
`EMAIL_IMAP_TIMEOUT_MS`	No	`30000`	IMAP operation timeout (ms)
`EMAIL_SMTP_TIMEOUT_MS`	No	`30000`	SMTP operation timeout (ms)
`EMAIL_IMAP_RATE_LIMIT`	No	`60`	IMAP requests/minute/account
`EMAIL_SMTP_RATE_LIMIT`	No	`100`	SMTP sends/hour/account
`MAX_ATTACHMENT_SIZE_MB`	No	`18`	Max size per attachment (MB)
`MAX_TOTAL_ATTACHMENT_SIZE_MB`	No	`18`	Max total attachment size per message (MB)
`MAX_DOWNLOAD_SIZE_MB`	No	`25`	Max attachment download size (MB)
`EMAIL_POOL_CLOSE_TIMEOUT_MS`	No	`5000`	Pool close timeout (ms)
`EMAIL_DEBUG`	No	`false`	Debug logging to stderr
`LOG_LEVEL`	No	`info`	Log level: `debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error`
`LOG_FORMAT`	No	`json`	Log format: `json` or `text`

*One of EMAIL_CONFIG_FILE or EMAIL_ACCOUNTS is required.

Config file permissions

The config file contains account passwords. Always restrict access:

chmod 600 ~/.config/mcp-email/accounts.json

Tools (22)

Account & folder tools

Tool	Description	Key params
`email_accounts`	List configured accounts with connection status	—
`email_folders`	List all folders with unread/total counts	`account?`
`email_folder_create`	Create new folder	`name`, `account?`

Message listing

Tool	Description	Key params
`email_list`	List messages in folder	`folder?`, `limit?`, `offset?`, `includeBody?`, `account?`
`email_unread`	List unread messages	`folder?`, `limit?`, `includeBody?`, `account?`
`email_search`	Search subject and body	`query`, `from?`, `to?`, `since?`, `before?`, `folder?`, `limit?`, `includeBody?`, `account?`

Message operations

Tool	Description	Key params
`email_get`	Get full message by ID	`id`
`email_read_body`	Read email body with pagination	`id`, `offset?`, `limit?`, `format?`
`email_move`	Move message to folder	`id`, `destination`
`email_copy`	Copy message to folder	`id`, `destination`
`email_delete`	Delete message (trash or permanent expunge)	`id`, `permanent?`
`email_mark_read`	Mark as read/unread	`id`, `read`
`email_flag`	Flag/unflag message	`id`, `flagged`
`email_reply`	Reply to a message (sets In-Reply-To, References, quotes body)	`id`, `body`, `all?`, `cc?`, `bcc?`, `isHtml?`, `account?`
`email_forward`	Forward a message (re-attaches original attachments)	`id`, `to`, `body?`, `cc?`, `bcc?`, `isHtml?`, `account?`
`email_batch`	Batch operations on multiple messages	`action`, `ids`, `destination?`, `permanent?`, `read?`, `flagged?`

Attachments & threads

Tool	Description	Key params
`email_attachment_list`	List attachments on a message	`id`
`email_attachment_get`	Download attachment by index	`id`, `index`, `saveTo?`
`email_thread`	Get conversation thread (searches across INBOX, Sent, Archive, and All Mail)	`id`

Send & drafts

Tool	Description	Key params
`email_send`	Send via SMTP with optional attachments	`to`, `subject`, `body`, `cc?`, `bcc?`, `replyTo?`, `isHtml?`, `attachments?`, `account?`
`email_draft_create`	Save draft with optional attachments	`to?`, `subject?`, `body?`, `cc?`, `bcc?`, `isHtml?`, `attachments?`, `account?`
`email_draft_send`	Send existing draft	`id`

All optional account params default to the configured default account.

Search

email_search searches both subject and body using IMAP SEARCH OR (SUBJECT "q") (BODY "q").

Optional filters narrow the candidate set server-side before body scanning:

Filter	Format	Example
`from`	Email address or name	`"[email protected]"`
`to`	Email address or name	`"[email protected]"`
`since`	`YYYY-MM-DD`	`"2026-01-01"`
`before`	`YYYY-MM-DD`	`"2026-02-01"`

The existing operation timeout (default 30s) prevents hung body searches on large mailboxes.

Attachments

email_send and email_draft_create accept an attachments parameter — an array of file references on the server host:

{
  "attachments": [
    {"path": "/tmp/report.pdf"},
    {"path": "/tmp/data.csv", "filename": "Q1-data.csv", "content_type": "text/csv"}
  ]
}

Parameter	Required	Description
`path`	Yes	Absolute file path on the server host
`filename`	No	Override display filename (defaults to basename of `path`)
`content_type`	No	MIME type (auto-detected from file extension if omitted)

Limits (defaults): 18 MB per file, 18 MB total (pre-base64 encoding; stays under 25 MB SMTP cap after encoding). Configurable via MAX_ATTACHMENT_SIZE_MB and MAX_TOTAL_ATTACHMENT_SIZE_MB environment variables.

Download limit: Attachment downloads (email_attachment_get) are capped at 25 MB by default, configurable via MAX_DOWNLOAD_SIZE_MB.

Validation failures (missing file, non-absolute path, size exceeded) return INVALID_ARGUMENT.

Message IDs

Message IDs are composite strings encoding account, mailbox, and UID:

{account}:{mailbox}:{uid}

Example: hello:INBOX:12345

All CRUD tools (email_get, email_move, email_copy, email_delete, email_mark_read, email_flag, email_draft_send) extract the account and folder from the ID — no separate params needed.

Error Codes

All errors are returned as MCP tool errors with a structured code prefix:

Code	Meaning
`AUTH_FAILED`	IMAP/SMTP authentication failed
`CONNECTION_FAILED`	Cannot connect to server
`ACCOUNT_NOT_FOUND`	Unknown account ID
`FOLDER_NOT_FOUND`	Mailbox doesn't exist
`MESSAGE_NOT_FOUND`	UID not found in mailbox
`INVALID_ARGUMENT`	Missing/invalid parameter (including attachment validation)
`TIMEOUT`	Operation timed out
`INTERNAL`	Unexpected server error

Resources

URI	Description
`email://status`	Server version, account connection state, rate limit configuration

Comparison with apple-bridge

This server and apple-bridge share an Email model and parameter semantics (limit, includeBody, folder, query) so LLMs can work with both interchangeably. Key differences:

Aspect	mcp-server-email	apple-bridge
Transport	IMAP/SMTP (remote)	Mail.app (local)
Tool prefix	`email_*`	`mail_*`
Message ID	`{account}:{mailbox}:{uid}`	RFC 5322 Message-ID
Folder create	Supported	Not supported (Mail.app requires UI)
Copy message	Supported	Not supported
Draft send	Supported	Not supported (Mail.app uses compose UI)
Attachments (send)	File path on server host	Not yet supported

Development

Prerequisites

Go 1.24+
golangci-lint
Docker (for integration tests only)

Build

go build ./...

Unit tests

make test
# or: go test -race -count=1 ./...

Unit tests use mock implementations of the imap.Operations and smtp.Operations interfaces — no live mail server needed.

Benchmarks

go test -bench=. -benchmem ./...

Benchmark	Package	What it measures
`BenchmarkPoolGetRelease`	`imap`	Connection pool acquire/release cycle
`BenchmarkExtractAttachments`	`imap`	MIME attachment extraction
`BenchmarkHtmlToText`	`tools`	HTML-to-plain-text conversion
`BenchmarkLimiterAllow`	`retry`	Rate limiter (sequential)
`BenchmarkLimiterAllow_Parallel`	`retry`	Rate limiter (concurrent)

Fuzz testing

Fuzz targets ship with seed corpora in testdata/fuzz/ directories. Run a specific target:

go test -fuzz=FuzzParseMessageID ./internal/models/ -fuzztime=30s

Target	Package	What it fuzzes
`FuzzBuildSearchCriteria`	`imap`	IMAP search query builder
`FuzzExtractAttachmentByIndex`	`imap`	Attachment index boundary handling
`FuzzExtractContentType`	`imap`	MIME content-type parser
`FuzzParseMessageID`	`models`	Composite message ID codec
`FuzzHtmlToText`	`tools`	HTML-to-text sanitizer
`FuzzSplitAddresses`	`tools`	Email address list splitter

Lint

make lint
# or: golangci-lint run ./...

Integration tests

Integration tests exercise the full IMAP/SMTP stack against a real mail server. They are isolated behind the integration build tag and never run during go test ./....

Mail server: Greenmail

Tests use Greenmail, a lightweight Java mail server packaged as a Docker image. Key details that affect how you run it:

Setting	Value	Why it matters
IMAPS port	3993	Greenmail's SSL IMAP port (not 993). The code auto-detects TLS from port number, so tests explicitly set `UseStartTLS=false` to force implicit TLS on this non-standard port.
SMTPS port	3465	Greenmail's SSL SMTP port (not 465). Same `UseStartTLS=false` override.
Bind address	`0.0.0.0`	Greenmail defaults to `127.0.0.1` inside the container, which makes Docker port-mapping silently fail (connections get EOF). You must pass `-Dgreenmail.hostname=0.0.0.0`.
Username	`test`	Greenmail uses the local part only (before `@`) as the login username — not the full email address. If the user is `[email protected]`, the IMAP/SMTP username is `test`.
TLS certificates	Self-signed	Greenmail generates self-signed certs. Tests set `InsecureSkipVerify: true` in the account config to accept them.

Quick start (one command)

make test-integration

This starts a Greenmail container, runs all integration tests, then tears down the container — regardless of pass/fail.

Manual step-by-step

If you need to iterate on tests without restarting the container each time:

Start Greenmail

docker run -d --name greenmail \
  -p 3465:3465 -p 3993:3993 \
  -e "GREENMAIL_OPTS=-Dgreenmail.setup.test.all -Dgreenmail.users=test:[email protected] -Dgreenmail.hostname=0.0.0.0" \
  greenmail/standalone:2.1.0

Wait ~3 seconds for the JVM to start.

Run integration tests

TEST_IMAP_HOST=localhost TEST_IMAP_PORT=3993 \
TEST_SMTP_HOST=localhost TEST_SMTP_PORT=3465 \
[email protected] TEST_PASSWORD=password \
  go test -tags=integration -race -v ./...

Tear down when done

docker stop greenmail && docker rm greenmail

Test environment variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
`TEST_IMAP_HOST`	Yes*	—	IMAP server hostname. Tests skip if unset.
`TEST_IMAP_PORT`	No	`3993`	IMAPS port
`TEST_SMTP_HOST`	Yes*	—	SMTP server hostname. Tests skip if unset.
`TEST_SMTP_PORT`	No	`3465`	SMTPS port
`TEST_EMAIL`	No	`[email protected]`	Email address for the test account
`TEST_USERNAME`	No	Local part of `TEST_EMAIL`	IMAP/SMTP login username (Greenmail uses local part only)
`TEST_PASSWORD`	No	`password`	Account password

*If the corresponding HOST variable is unset, that test file's tests are skipped with a message (not failed).

What the tests cover

IMAP (internal/imap/integration_test.go — 7 tests):

Test	What it verifies
`ConnectAndListFolders`	TLS connection, authentication, folder listing, INBOX exists
`SendAndListMessages`	SMTP send → IMAP receive round-trip, body content match
`SearchBySubject`	IMAP SEARCH by subject string
`DeleteMessagePermanent`	Flag as deleted + expunge, verify message is gone
`MoveMessage`	IMAP MOVE to another folder (skips if server lacks MOVE extension)
`DraftWorkflow`	SaveDraft → GetDraft → DeleteDraft lifecycle (skips if no APPENDUID)
`MarkReadAndFlag`	Set read/flagged flags, verify via GetMessage

SMTP (internal/smtp/integration_test.go — 4 tests):

Test	What it verifies
`SendPlainText`	Plain-text email delivery, body content verified via IMAP
`SendHTML`	HTML email delivery, Content-Type verified as `text/html`
`SendWithAttachment`	Multipart MIME with attachment, filename verified in metadata
`RateLimitTokenConsumption`	Sending consumes a rate-limit token

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
`EOF` or `connection reset` on connect	Greenmail bound to `127.0.0.1` inside container	Add `-Dgreenmail.hostname=0.0.0.0` to `GREENMAIL_OPTS`
`TLS handshake failure` / certificate error	Self-signed certs rejected	Test configs already set `InsecureSkipVerify: true` — if writing new tests, do the same
`Invalid login/password`	Using full email as username	Greenmail expects the local part only (`test`, not `[email protected]`). Set `TEST_USERNAME` or let it default.
`STARTTLS` error on port 3993	Using STARTTLS on an implicit-TLS port	Test configs set `UseStartTLS=false`. Don't use ports 3143/3025 (plain, no TLS).
Tests skip with "not set"	`TEST_IMAP_HOST` / `TEST_SMTP_HOST` not exported	Export the env vars or use the `make test-integration` target
`MoveMessage` test skips	Greenmail may not support MOVE	Expected — test uses `t.Skip()`

CI

Integration tests run automatically in GitHub Actions via the integration job in .github/workflows/ci.yml. The job uses a Greenmail service container — no manual Docker setup needed. See the workflow file for the exact configuration.

Coverage

To generate a combined unit + integration coverage report:

# With Greenmail running (see above):
TEST_IMAP_HOST=localhost TEST_IMAP_PORT=3993 \
TEST_SMTP_HOST=localhost TEST_SMTP_PORT=3465 \
[email protected] TEST_PASSWORD=password \
  go test -tags=integration -race -coverprofile=coverage.out ./...

go tool cover -func=coverage.out | tail -1   # total percentage
go tool cover -html=coverage.out             # open in browser

Architecture

mcp-server-email/
├── cmd/mcp-server-email/     # Entry point
└── internal/
    ├── auth/                 # OAuth2 device code flow, XOAUTH2 SASL, token store
    ├── config/               # Multi-account configuration, provider auto-detection
    ├── imap/                 # IMAP client (split by concern), connection pool, Operations interface
    │   ├── client.go         # Client struct, lifecycle, shared helpers
    │   ├── client_messages.go # List, search, get, attachments
    │   ├── client_folders.go  # Folder ops, role cache
    │   ├── client_drafts.go   # Draft save/get/delete
    │   ├── client_flags.go    # Flags, move, copy, delete
    │   └── pool.go           # Connection pool with configurable close timeout
    ├── log/                  # Structured logging (slog) initialization
    ├── models/               # Email model, message ID codec, error types
    ├── resources/            # email://status resource
    ├── retry/                # Token-bucket rate limiter
    ├── smtp/                 # SMTP client, Operations interface
    └── tools/                # 22 MCP tool handlers + registration

Tool handlers are decoupled from IMAP/SMTP clients via the imap.Operations and smtp.Operations interfaces, enabling comprehensive unit testing with mocks.

Dependencies

This project uses go-imap v2 (currently v2.0.0-beta.8). The v2 API is not yet stable — breaking changes may occur before the v2.0.0 release. We pin the exact version in go.mod and will upgrade promptly when stable is released.

License

MIT