Email for Claude Desktop, Cursor & Windsurf

Give Claude (or any MCP client) a real email inbox and SMS. Install in 30 seconds — no cloning required.

Your AI agent can:

• Read email — list threads, search by topic, get full message history
• Send email — reply in existing threads, compose fresh messages, attach files
• Manage inboxes — create programmatic inboxes, set up custom domains, triage with tags and status
• Track delivery — get delivery stats, suppression lists, bounce and complaint events
• Send and receive SMS — provision phone numbers, send messages, search SMS history

Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, or any MCP client.

Install via Smithery

Commune is published on Smithery. One-line install for any supported client:

# Install Smithery CLI (once)
npm install -g @smithery/cli@latest

# Add Commune to your client
npx @smithery/cli install commune-dev/commune --client claude      # Claude Desktop
npx @smithery/cli install commune-dev/commune --client cursor      # Cursor
npx @smithery/cli install commune-dev/commune --client windsurf    # Windsurf
npx @smithery/cli install commune-dev/commune --client vscode      # VS Code
npx @smithery/cli install commune-dev/commune --client claude-code # Claude Code
npx @smithery/cli install commune-dev/commune --client cline       # Cline
npx @smithery/cli install commune-dev/commune --client roo-cline   # Roo Code
npx @smithery/cli install commune-dev/commune --client goose       # Goose

Or connect via the Smithery API for agent-to-agent use:

https://commune--commune-dev.run.tools

Example prompts

Once configured, you can give your AI assistant natural language instructions for email and SMS:

Reading email:

• "Check my support inbox for new emails"
• "Show me all unread threads in the billing inbox"
• "Find emails from customers asking about refunds this week"
• "Search for all threads about the payment issue from last month"
• "What's the full conversation history for thread conv_abc123?"
• "Show me all threads that haven't been replied to"

Sending email:

• "Reply to John's email saying we'll process his refund within 48 hours"
• "Send an email to alice@example.com with subject 'Meeting tomorrow' and tell her the meeting is moved to 3pm"
• "Reply to the last message in the support thread about the broken login, staying in thread"
• "Send a follow-up to all leads from last week who didn't respond"

Organizing and triaging:

• "Tag this thread as urgent and assign it to the billing team"
• "Mark all threads older than 30 days with no reply as closed"
• "Show me the deliverability stats for the past 7 days"
• "List all suppressed email addresses in the support inbox"

SMS:

• "Provision a phone number for my agent"
• "Send an SMS to +14155551234 saying 'Your order has shipped'"
• "Show me all my SMS conversations"
• "Search my SMS messages for anything about delivery issues"

Domain and inbox management:

• "Create a new inbox called 'billing' under example.com"
• "What DNS records do I need to add to verify example.com?"
• "Show me all my verified domains"

Setup

1. Get your API key

Create an API key from your Commune dashboard. It starts with comm_.

2. Add to your MCP client

Pick your client and add the Commune server. No local files needed — uvx fetches the package automatically.

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "commune": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["commune-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "COMMUNE_API_KEY": "comm_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Open Settings → MCP → Add Server:

{
  "commune": {
    "command": "uvx",
    "args": ["commune-mcp"],
    "env": {
      "COMMUNE_API_KEY": "comm_your_key_here"
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Open Settings → MCP, same format as Cursor.

Alternative: pip install

If you prefer pip over uvx:

pip install commune-mcp

Then use commune-mcp as the command:

{
  "commune": {
    "command": "commune-mcp",
    "env": {
      "COMMUNE_API_KEY": "comm_your_key_here"
    }
  }
}

How It Works

Once configured, your AI agent can use Commune tools in natural conversation:

You: Check my support inbox for new emails

Agent: (calls list_domains → list_inboxes → list_threads) You have 3 new threads in support@example.com:

1. "Order not received" — 4 messages, last activity 2h ago
2. "Billing question" — 1 message, received today
3. "Feature request" — 2 messages, last activity yesterday

You: What's the order issue about?

Agent: (calls get_thread_messages) Customer john@gmail.com says their order #4521 shipped 5 days ago but hasn't arrived. They've followed up twice asking for tracking info.

You: Reply that we're checking with shipping and will update within 24h

Agent: (calls send_email with thread_id) Done — reply sent to john@gmail.com in the existing thread.

The agent decides which tools to call based on your request. You don't need to specify tool names.

How email flows through Commune MCP

Inbound (you receive email):

  User sends email
       |
       v
  Commune receives at your inbox (support@yourdomain.com)
       |
       v
  Commune fires webhook to your app (8 retries, HMAC signed)
       |
       v
  Your MCP client reads thread via list_threads / get_thread_messages
       |
       v
  You ask Claude: "Reply to John saying we're on it"
       |
       v
  Claude calls send_email with thread_id --> reply appears in John's email thread

Outbound (you send email):

  You: "Send an update email to all VIP customers"
       |
       v
  Claude calls list_threads --> get_thread_messages --> send_email (per thread)
       |
       v
  Commune delivers via DKIM-signed SMTP
       |
       v
  Delivery events tracked: sent --> delivered / bounced / complained

Tools Reference

Domain Tools

These manage your email domains. Domains must be verified via DNS before you can send/receive.

list_domains

List all email domains in your account.

Parameters: None

Output:

[
  {
    "id": "d_abc123",
    "name": "example.com",
    "status": "verified",
    "region": "us-east-1"
  }
]

create_domain

Create a new custom domain. After creating, use get_domain_records to see required DNS entries, then verify_domain to check.

Output: The created domain object with its ID and status.

get_domain_records

Get DNS records you need to add at your registrar before verification passes.

Output:

[
  { "type": "MX", "name": "example.com", "value": "inbound-smtp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com", "status": "pending" },
  { "type": "TXT", "name": "example.com", "value": "v=spf1 include:amazonses.com ~all", "status": "pending" }
]

verify_domain

Trigger DNS verification. Call after adding records at your registrar.

Inbox Tools

Inboxes are mailboxes under a domain. support under example.com → support@example.com.

list_inboxes

List inboxes. Without domain_id, lists all inboxes across all domains.

Output:

[
  {
    "id": "i_xyz789",
    "localPart": "support",
    "address": "support@example.com",
    "webhook": { "endpoint": "https://..." }
  }
]

create_inbox

Create a new inbox. Domain is auto-resolved if not provided — no DNS setup needed.

delete_inbox

Delete an inbox permanently.