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Imap MCP Server

Manage IMAP mailboxes and SMTP email from AI assistants, including search, organization, reading, sending, and replies.

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Install Imap MCP Server

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-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "imap-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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

Automated check passed— started and listed 40 tools correctly (5d ago).

Overview

The imap-mcp-server MCP server connects AI assistants to IMAP mailboxes and SMTP accounts for email management. It stores account settings in an encrypted local file, supports multiple accounts, and uses connection pooling for IMAP access. Reach for it when an assistant needs to search, read, organize, send, reply to, or forward email through supported providers.

Use cases

  • Search mailbox messages by content or account
  • Read and summarize incoming email
  • Organize messages into folders
  • Send replies and forward messages
  • Monitor unread counts across accounts

Key features

  • IMAP search and message reading
  • SMTP send, reply, and forward actions
  • Folder and unread-count management
  • Encrypted multi-account configuration
  • Connection pooling
  • Optional read-only tool exposure

Tools40

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

Verified live~12.0k 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.

5/5 checks healthy over the last 39d

What it can do

From the 40 tools this server returned when we ran it.

Can delete or modify data · 9Writes files · 3Handles credentials · 1Makes network requests · 2Read-only tools · 28
Network at startup3 connections
Files written at startup1
Install scriptsNone
npm provenanceSigned build
Package age137 days
Maintainers1

Observed 2026-10-17 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 11d ago via OSV.dev · imap-mcp-server (npm)

Adoption & maintenance

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

GitHub stars111Stargazers on the source repository.
npm downloads6.3kPackage downloads in the last 30 days.
Last commit1d 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 exposed40Callable tools this server registers over MCP.
Directory activity7 viewsConfig copies, upvotes, and views on AllMCPs.

How Imap MCP Server works

What imap-mcp-server MCP server does

The imap-mcp-server MCP server gives an MCP-compatible assistant access to mailbox and email actions through IMAP and SMTP. It supports searching and reading messages, moving or deleting them, marking messages, and performing bulk deletion. Mailbox functions also include listing folders, checking folder status, and retrieving unread counts.

SMTP capabilities cover sending new messages, replying, and forwarding. Multiple accounts can be configured and managed at the same time, which makes the server suitable for assistants that work with separate personal, work, or service mailboxes.

How it works

The server runs as a Node.js process and communicates with the MCP client over its configured local process connection. It can be started with npx or from a locally cloned and built project. Node.js 22.12 or newer is required.

Account data is stored in ~/.imap-mcp/accounts.json. Credentials in that file are protected with AES-256 encryption. IMAP connections are managed through a connection pool rather than opening an unrelated connection for every operation.

The setup wizard provides presets for Gmail and Google Workspace, Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo Mail, Apple iCloud Mail, GMX, WEB.DE, IONOS, ProtonMail with Bridge, Fastmail, Zoho Mail, AOL Mail, mailbox.org, Posteo, and custom IMAP servers. SMTP settings can be filled automatically from the selected IMAP provider.

Setup and configuration

Install by running the published package with npx, using the provided macOS/Linux or Windows installer, or cloning the repository and running npm install followed by npm run build. The web setup wizard can be launched with npm run setup, the global imap-setup command, or npx -p imap-mcp-server imap-setup. It starts a local web server and opens the configuration interface in a browser.

The imap-mcp-server MCP server can also add an account through the imap_add_account tool after it has been connected to an assistant. Account records are shared across npx, global, and local run modes, so an account normally needs to be configured only once.

Credential values may be supplied at runtime instead of being saved in the account file. For an account named Work Gmail, the supported variables use its normalized name: IMAP_MCP_ACCOUNT_WORK_GMAIL_IMAP_USERNAME, IMAP_MCP_ACCOUNT_WORK_GMAIL_IMAP_PASSWORD, IMAP_MCP_ACCOUNT_WORK_GMAIL_SMTP_USERNAME, and IMAP_MCP_ACCOUNT_WORK_GMAIL_SMTP_PASSWORD. These overrides apply only to existing accounts, are read at startup, and require a restart after changes.

Tools and capabilities

The available operations cover:

  • Searching and reading email
  • Moving, marking, deleting, and bulk-deleting messages
  • Sending, replying to, and forwarding messages through SMTP
  • Listing folders and checking folder status
  • Checking unread counts
  • Managing multiple mail accounts
  • Adding or updating account configuration
  • Restricting exposure to read-only tools with IMAP_MCP_READ_ONLY

When read-only mode is enabled with a truthy value such as 1, true, yes, or on, the server registers safe read operations, including search, message reading, folder listing, unread counts, and spam analysis. Sending mail and message-changing operations are excluded in that mode.

Limitations and notes

The server requires Node.js 22.12 or newer. SMTP credential overrides work only when the account already has SMTP configuration. Environment-managed credentials are captured when the process starts; setting a variable after launch has no effect until restart.

If an account expects an environment-managed credential and the corresponding variable is absent, the server refuses the connection rather than attempting authentication with a blank value. The setup wizard can test credentials without saving them and displays the variable name needed for later runtime injection.

Provider presets cover the listed services, but custom IMAP servers can also be configured. ProtonMail support depends on ProtonMail Bridge. The supplied configuration examples document Claude Desktop and Claude Code; other clients need a compatible MCP stdio configuration.

Read the full README View source on GitHub

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Frequently Asked Questions about Imap MCP Server

imap-mcp-server is an MCP server that connects AI assistants to IMAP mailboxes and SMTP accounts. Its main tools support searching, reading, moving, marking, deleting, and bulk-deleting messages, plus listing folders, checking unread counts, sending email, replying, forwarding, and managing multiple accounts.

Install it with `npx -y imap-mcp-server`, use the repository installer, or clone and build the project. The server requires Node.js 22.12 or newer. Accounts can then be configured with the `imap-setup` web wizard or through the account management tool.

Configure accounts with the local web wizard or the `imap_add_account` tool. The wizard stores encrypted account data in `~/.imap-mcp/accounts.json`, offers provider presets, and can infer SMTP settings from the selected IMAP provider.

Yes. Set `IMAP_MCP_READ_ONLY` to `1`, `true`, `yes`, or `on` in the MCP configuration. The server then exposes read-oriented operations such as searching, reading, folder listing, unread counts, and spam analysis, while excluding sending and message-changing tools.

Yes. Claude Desktop is documented as a supported client. Add an `mcpServers` entry that launches `npx -y imap-mcp-server`, or point the configuration at the built `dist/index.js` file from a local clone.

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