Mailbox vs Gmail
A side-by-side look at the Mailbox and Gmail MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Mailbox for communication work; choose Gmail for communication as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Gmail when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Communication domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID, GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET, AUTH_MODE, GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILE, REDIRECT_URI, TOKEN_STORE_URI, DCR_STORE_URI.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | M Mailbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Communication | Communication |
| Quality signal | 37/100 · Fair | 47/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Not confirmed yet | Confirmed |
| Transport | — | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | GOOGLE_CLIENT_IDGOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRETAUTH_MODEGOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILEREDIRECT_URITOKEN_STORE_URIDCR_STORE_URI |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | — | 5 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 5 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Mailbox | View Gmail |
Tools & capabilities
Mailbox tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Gmail tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Mailbox
No confirmed install command for Mailbox yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
Gmail
{
"mcpServers": {
"gmail-3": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@mcp-z/cli"
],
"env": {
"GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID": "YOUR_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID_HERE",
"GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET": "YOUR_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET_HERE",
"AUTH_MODE": "YOUR_AUTH_MODE_HERE",
"GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILE": "YOUR_GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILE_HERE",
"REDIRECT_URI": "YOUR_REDIRECT_URI_HERE",
"TOKEN_STORE_URI": "YOUR_TOKEN_STORE_URI_HERE",
"DCR_STORE_URI": "YOUR_DCR_STORE_URI_HERE"
}
}
}
}