mail-mcp

MCP server that gives Claude (and other MCP hosts) full access to Mail.app on macOS — search, read, send, reply, flag, move, and more — across every account configured in Mail.app (iCloud, Exchange, IMAP, etc.).

Prerequisites

macOS (Mail.app required)
Node.js 20+
An MCP host: Claude Desktop, Amazon Quick, or any stdio MCP client

Installation

Claude Desktop — one-click install (recommended)

Download mail-mcp.mcpb from the latest release
Double-click the .mcpb file — Claude Desktop installs it automatically
Grant the required macOS permissions (see below)

Manual / Amazon Quick / other hosts

Terminal

npx @p-l-ta/mail-mcp

Or install globally:

Terminal

npm install -g @p-l-ta/mail-mcp
mail-mcp

Point your MCP host at the mail-mcp binary (stdio transport). Example config:

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mail-app": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@p-l-ta/mail-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Required macOS permissions

Grant these to the application that runs the MCP host (Claude Desktop, Amazon Quick, etc.):

Permission	Where to grant
Full Disk Access	System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access
Automation → Mail	System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation

The MCP server process inherits permissions from the host application that launches it.

Tools

Tool	Description
`search_emails`	Search messages via the Envelope Index database with rich filters
`read_email`	Read the full body of a message by its RFC message-id
`list_accounts_and_mailboxes`	List all configured accounts and mailboxes with unread counts
`list_recent`	List recent messages in a specific mailbox
`list_senders`	Grouped summary of senders with message and unread counts
`send_email`	Send a new email from one of the configured accounts
`reply_to_email`	Reply to an existing message by RFC message-id
`set_message_flags`	Set read and/or flagged status on a message
`move_email`	Move a message to a different mailbox
`trash_email`	Move a message to Deleted Messages
`create_mailbox`	Create a new mailbox/folder in an account
`bulk_mark_read`	Mark all messages in a mailbox and/or from a sender as read
`get_unsubscribe_link`	Extract unsubscribe URLs from a message's headers and body
`empty_mailbox`	Delete every message in a mailbox at once (Junk, Trash, etc.)

How it works

Search & read — queries Mail's own Envelope Index SQLite database directly for fast, structured results across all accounts
Actions (send, reply, flag, move, trash) — driven by AppleScript automation against Mail.app, so they work even for accounts where messages aren't stored as local files

Development

Terminal

npm install
npm run dev          # tsx watch — live reload
npm test             # vitest unit tests
npm run build        # compile TypeScript → dist/
npm run mcpb         # build Claude Desktop extension → build/mail-mcp.mcpb

Interactive MCP testing:

Terminal

npm run build
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/server.js

Privacy Policy

mail-mcp is a local MCP server that runs entirely on your Mac. It has no backend, no telemetry, and makes no network requests of its own.

What it accesses:

Mail.app's Envelope Index database (~/Library/Mail/) — read-only, used for search queries
Mail.app via AppleScript — to read message bodies, send mail, flag, move, and trash messages

What it does NOT do:

Collect, store, or transmit any data outside your Mac
Connect to any external server or API
Log message content anywhere

All email data stays on your device and is only passed to the MCP host (Claude Desktop or another client) as part of normal tool responses. You control exactly which tools Claude can invoke.

License

MIT