Claude Post

Claude Post

What is Claude Post about?

Claude Post provides an AI‑driven interface for email management. By leveraging Claude’s conversational capabilities, users can search, read, and compose emails using plain‑language commands without leaving the Claude Desktop environment.

How to use Claude Post?

1. Install the uv package manager and clone the repository.
2. Create a virtual environment with uv venv and activate it.
3. Install the project in editable mode: uv pip install -e ..
4. Add your email credentials to a .env file in the project root.
5. Register the MCP server in Claude Desktop’s claude_desktop_config.json (pointing to the email-client entry point).
6. Restart Claude Desktop; the server starts automatically and you can begin issuing email commands via chat.

Key features of Claude Post

• Email search by date range, keywords, sender, or folder.
• Threaded reading of full email content with context preservation.
• Daily statistics showing received and sent counts.
• Email composition with CC support and TLS‑secured delivery.
• Secure handling using app‑specific passwords and encrypted connections.
• Logging to email_client.log for debugging.

Use cases of Claude Post

• Quickly retrieve past correspondence while working on a document.
• Get daily email summaries during stand‑up meetings.
• Draft and send routine notifications (e.g., meeting confirmations) without opening an email client.
• Automate inbox triage for busy professionals or support teams.

FAQ from the Claude Post

• Do I need a Gmail account? Any IMAP/SMTP‑compatible email provider works; Gmail is used as an example.
• Is my password safe? The project expects an app‑specific password, never the main account password, and stores credentials only in the local .env file.
• Do I have to run the server manually? No, once configured in Claude Desktop the server starts and stops with the application.
• Can I customize the search criteria? Yes, the server accepts natural‑language queries that it parses into IMAP search filters.
• What logging information is available? All server activity is written to email_client.log in the project root.

ClaudePost

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides a seamless email management interface through Claude. This integration allows you to handle emails directly through natural language conversations with Claude, supporting features like searching, reading, and sending emails securely.

Features & Demo

Email Search and Reading

• 📧 Search emails by date range and keywords
• 📅 View daily email statistics
• 📝 Read full email content with threading support

Email Composition and Sending

• ✉️ Send emails with CC recipients support
• 🔒 Secure email handling with TLS

Prerequisites

• Python 3.12 or higher
• A Gmail account (or other email provider)
• If using Gmail:
  • Two-factor authentication enabled
  • App-specific password generated
• Claude Desktop application

Setup

1. Install uv:

   # MacOS/Linux
   curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
   
   # Remember to restart your terminal after installation
   

2. Clone and set up the project:

   # Clone the repository
   git clone https://github.com/ZilongXue/claude-post.git
   cd claude-post
   
   # Create and activate virtual environment
   uv venv
   source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
   
   # Install dependencies
   uv pip install -e .
   

3. Create a .env file in the project root:

   EMAIL_ADDRESS=your.email@gmail.com
   EMAIL_PASSWORD=your-app-specific-password
   IMAP_SERVER=imap.gmail.com
   SMTP_SERVER=smtp.gmail.com
   SMTP_PORT=587
   

4. Configure Claude Desktop:

   First, make sure you have Claude for Desktop installed. You can install the latest version here. If you already have Claude for Desktop, make sure it's updated to the latest version.

   Open your Claude Desktop configuration file:

   # MacOS
   ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   
   # Create the file if it doesn't exist
   mkdir -p ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude
   touch ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   

   Add the following configuration:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "email": {
         "command": "/Users/username/.local/bin/uv",
         "args": [
           "--directory",
           "/path/to/claude-post/src/email_client",
           "run",
           "email-client"
         ]
       }
     }
   }
   

   Replace /Users/username and /path/to/claude-post with your actual paths.

   After updating the configuration, restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect.

Running the Server

The server runs automatically through Claude Desktop:

• The server will start when Claude launches if configured correctly
• No manual server management needed
• Server stops when Claude is closed

Usage Through Claude

You can interact with your emails using natural language commands. Here are some examples:

Search Emails

• "Show me emails from last week"
• "Find emails with subject containing 'meeting'"
• "Search for emails from recruiting@linkedin.com between 2024-01-01 and 2024-01-07"
• "Search sent emails from last month"

Read Email Content

• "Show me the content of email #12345"
• "What's the full message of the last email from HR?"

Email Statistics

• "How many emails did I receive today?"
• "Show me daily email counts for the past week"

Send Emails

• "I want to send an email to john@example.com"
• "Send a meeting confirmation to team@company.com"

Note: For security reasons, Claude will always show you the email details for confirmation before actually sending.

Project Structure

claude-post/
├── pyproject.toml
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
├── .env                    # Not included in repo
├── .python-version        # Python version specification
└── src/
    └── email_client/
        ├── __init__.py
        ├── __main__.py
        └── server.py       # Main implementation

Security Notes

• Use app-specific passwords instead of your main account password
• For Gmail users:
  1. Enable 2-Step Verification in your Google Account
  2. Generate an App Password for this application
  3. Use the App Password in your .env file

Logging

The application logs detailed information to email_client.log. Check this file for debugging information and error messages.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.