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Imap Email MCP

Connects AI assistants to IMAP and SMTP for reading, searching, drafting, sending, and managing email.

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Install Imap Email MCP

Pick your client, then add it in one click or paste the config.

STDIONode.js
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imap-email-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "imap-email-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "IMAP_USER": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE",
        "IMAP_PASSWORD": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE",
        "IMAP_HOST": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Settings → Developer → Edit Config, merge this into mcpServers, then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop.

Values are written into the snippet above so you can paste it as is. They never leave your browser.

Automated check passed— started and listed 10 tools correctly (Today).

Overview

imap-email-mcp connects Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible tools to an IMAP/SMTP mailbox. It exposes tools for listing folders, reading and searching messages, managing drafts, sending mail, and deleting emails. Configuration uses email credentials and server settings supplied through environment variables, with support for standard providers such as Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, Fastmail, and iCloud. Reach for it when an assistant needs direct access to an existing mailbox without a provider-specific API.

Use cases

  • Check unread messages across mailbox folders
  • Search email by sender, subject, or body
  • Create and revise drafts before sending
  • Send messages through an SMTP account
  • Delete messages by email UID

Key features

  • IMAP mailbox and folder access
  • Email search by subject, sender, or body
  • Draft creation, retrieval, updating, and deletion
  • SMTP email sending
  • Support for standard IMAP providers
  • Configurable IMAP and SMTP security settings

Tools10

What Imap Email MCP lets your agent do. Expand a tool for its parameters.

Verified live~843 tokens of context

Security & health

What it can reach and how reliably it runs — from our own checks, not the maintainer’s claims.

ActiveLast checked Today

Recent health check succeeded.

What it can do

From the 10 tools this server returned when we ran it.

Can delete or modify data · 1Read-only tools · 9
Network at startup3 connections
Files written at startupNone
Install scriptsNone
npm provenanceNot published
Package age298 days
Maintainers1

Observed 2026-11-07 in an isolated sandbox. A description of reach, not a security audit.

Supply-chain signal

No high-severity advisories surfaced by our automated scan.

Critical 0High 0Medium 0Low 0

Scanned 18h ago via OSV.dev · imap-email-mcp (npm)

Adoption & maintenance

Factual signals from GitHub, npm, and our automated checks — not a rating.

GitHub stars11Stargazers on the source repository.
npm downloads1.1kPackage downloads in the last 30 days.
Last commit9mo agoMost recent push to the default branch.
Availability100%Our rolling endpoint + install checks that succeeded.
Install checkPassedOur sandbox started it and listed its tools.
Tools exposed10Callable tools this server registers over MCP.
Directory activity1 viewsConfig copies, upvotes, and views on AllMCPs.

How Imap Email MCP works

What imap-email-mcp does

imap-email-mcp gives MCP-compatible AI assistants access to email accounts through standard IMAP and SMTP connections. It can inspect mailboxes, retrieve complete messages, search by subject, sender, or body text, and work across folders rather than only the inbox.

The server also supports outbound email workflows. Assistants can create, inspect, modify, and remove drafts, or send a message through SMTP. Messages can be deleted by UID. This makes the server suitable for inbox review, mailbox search, draft preparation, and controlled sending from an existing email account.

Provider support is based on standard IMAP and SMTP settings. Examples include Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, Fastmail, and iCloud, as well as other providers that expose compatible services.

How it works

The package runs as an MCP process and communicates with an AI client using the server command. With npm available, clients can launch it using npx -y imap-email-mcp; it can also be installed globally or run from a local clone.

At runtime, the server uses IMAP for mailbox and message operations and SMTP for sending. Email messages are addressed by UID for retrieval, draft updates, and deletion. Folder discovery is available through list_folders, while draft operations use dedicated draft tools.

Claude Code adds the server with claude mcp add rather than an MCP configuration file. Cursor and Claude Desktop use their respective MCP settings to launch the command and provide its environment variables. Claude Code should be restarted after adding the server so its tools become available.

Setup and configuration

The required variables are:

  • IMAP_USER: email account address
  • IMAP_PASSWORD: app password for the account
  • IMAP_HOST: IMAP server hostname

The server also accepts optional connection settings. IMAP_PORT defaults to 993, and IMAP_TLS defaults to true. SMTP uses the IMAP hostname unless SMTP_HOST is set. Its default port is 465, and SMTP_SECURE defaults to true. Outlook setups can use port 587 with secure SMTP disabled.

Use an app password instead of the account’s main password, and keep credentials in environment variables. When entering a password in a shell command, quote it if it contains shell-special characters.

For Claude Code, the connection can be registered with the CLI and environment variables passed using -e. Cursor requires a command-type MCP entry with npx -y imap-email-mcp, followed by the variables in its MCP settings. Claude Desktop uses the claude_desktop_config.json file in the platform-specific application support location.

Tools and capabilities

Available tools include:

  • list_folders to enumerate mailboxes
  • list_emails to list messages with optional filtering
  • get_email to retrieve full content by UID
  • search_emails to search subject, sender, or body content
  • list_drafts and get_draft to inspect drafts
  • create_draft and update_draft to prepare or revise messages
  • send_email to send through SMTP
  • delete_email to remove a message by UID

The server can handle requests such as checking unread inbox mail, finding messages from a particular sender, creating a meeting-related draft, or viewing the drafts folder.

Limitations and notes

Mailbox folder names differ between providers. Draft discovery checks common names such as Drafts, INBOX.Drafts, and [Gmail]/Drafts, but providers may use another name. Authentication requires IMAP access to be enabled and a valid app password. Network access to the configured IMAP and SMTP ports must also be available.

Because send_email sends directly, review messages with create_draft first when approval is needed. The project is distributed under the MIT license.

Read the full README View source on GitHub

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Frequently Asked Questions about Imap Email MCP

imap-email-mcp is an MCP server that connects AI assistants to IMAP and SMTP email accounts. Its main tools list folders and messages, retrieve and search email, manage drafts, send messages, and delete emails. It works with standard providers including Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, Fastmail, and iCloud.

Run it with `npx -y imap-email-mcp`, or install it globally with `npm install -g imap-email-mcp`. You can also clone the repository, run `npm install`, and start it with `node index.js`.

Set `IMAP_USER`, `IMAP_PASSWORD`, and `IMAP_HOST` as required variables. Optional settings include `IMAP_PORT`, `IMAP_TLS`, `SMTP_HOST`, `SMTP_PORT`, and `SMTP_SECURE`. Use an app password rather than the account’s main password.

Yes, imap-email-mcp works with Cursor. Add a command-type MCP server that runs `npx -y imap-email-mcp`, then provide the IMAP credentials and host in Cursor’s MCP settings.

Add it with Claude Code’s `claude mcp add` command and pass the email settings using `-e` options. Restart Claude Code afterward, then use `claude mcp list` or `claude mcp get imap-email` to verify the configuration.

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