Mcp Email Server

What is Mcp Email Server about?

Enables email communication for MCP clients by exposing IMAP (mail retrieval) and SMTP (mail sending) functionality over the Model Context Protocol.

How to use Mcp Email Server?

• Manual installation: Recommended with uv. Run uvx mcp-email-server@latest ui to launch the configuration UI, then add the following to your MCP client configuration:

  {
    "mcpServers": {
      "zerolib-email": {
        "command": "uvx",
        "args": ["mcp-email-server@latest", "stdio"]
      }
    }
  }
  

• pip: pip install mcp-email-server and start with mcp-email-server ui.
• Environment variables: Set variables such as MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_EMAIL_ADDRESS, MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_PASSWORD, MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_IMAP_HOST, etc., to configure without the UI (useful for CI/CD).
• Docker: Run the image ghcr.io/ai-zerolab/mcp-email-server:latest and configure the client to execute docker run -it ghcr.io/ai-zerolab/mcp-email-server:latest.
• Smithery: Auto‑install for Claude Desktop with npx -y @smithery/cli install @ai-zerolab/mcp-email-server --client claude.

Key Features

• IMAP and SMTP support via MCP.
• Configuration through UI (TOML) or environment variables (environment takes precedence).
• SSL/TLS and optional STARTTLS for secure connections.
• Separate credential sets for IMAP and SMTP.
• Cross‑platform deployment: native Python, Docker, or Smithery integration.

Use Cases

• Allow Claude Desktop or other AI agents to read incoming mail and respond automatically.
• Automate email notifications within AI‑driven workflows.
• Integrate email capabilities into custom MCP‑based tools or bots.

FAQ

• What are the default ports? IMAP defaults to 993, SMTP defaults to 465.
• How do I provide credentials? Either via the UI/TOML file or by setting the appropriate MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_* environment variables.
• Can I run the server in Docker? Yes, the official Docker image is available on GitHub Container Registry.
• Is STARTTLS supported? Yes, enable it with MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SMTP_START_SSL=true.
• What if I need different usernames for IMAP and SMTP? Use MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_IMAP_USER_NAME / MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_IMAP_PASSWORD and MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SMTP_USER_NAME / MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SMTP_PASSWORD.

mcp-email-server

IMAP and SMTP via MCP Server

• Github repository: https://github.com/ai-zerolab/mcp-email-server/
• Documentation https://ai-zerolab.github.io/mcp-email-server/

Installation

Manual Installation

We recommend using uv to manage your environment.

Try uvx mcp-email-server@latest ui to config, and use following configuration for mcp client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zerolib-email": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-email-server@latest", "stdio"]
    }
  }
}

This package is available on PyPI, so you can install it using pip install mcp-email-server

After that, configure your email server using the ui: mcp-email-server ui

Environment Variable Configuration

You can also configure the email server using environment variables, which is particularly useful for CI/CD environments like Jenkins. zerolib-email supports both UI configuration (via TOML file) and environment variables, with environment variables taking precedence.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zerolib-email": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-email-server@latest", "stdio"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_ACCOUNT_NAME": "work",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_FULL_NAME": "John Doe",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_EMAIL_ADDRESS": "john@example.com",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_USER_NAME": "john@example.com",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_PASSWORD": "your_password",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_IMAP_HOST": "imap.gmail.com",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_IMAP_PORT": "993",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SMTP_HOST": "smtp.gmail.com",
        "MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SMTP_PORT": "465"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default	Required
MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_ACCOUNT_NAME	Account identifier	"default"	No
MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_FULL_NAME	Display name	Email prefix	No
MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_EMAIL_ADDRESS	Email address	-	Yes
MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_USER_NAME	Login username	Same as email	No
MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_PASSWORD	Email password	-	Yes
MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_IMAP_HOST	IMAP server host	-	Yes
MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_IMAP_PORT	IMAP server port	993	No
MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_IMAP_SSL	Enable IMAP SSL	true	No
MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SMTP_HOST	SMTP server host	-	Yes
MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SMTP_PORT	SMTP server port	465	No
MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SMTP_SSL	Enable SMTP SSL	true	No
MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SMTP_START_SSL	Enable STARTTLS	false	No

For separate IMAP/SMTP credentials, you can also use:

• MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_IMAP_USER_NAME / MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_IMAP_PASSWORD
• MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SMTP_USER_NAME / MCP_EMAIL_SERVER_SMTP_PASSWORD

Then you can try it in Claude Desktop. If you want to intergrate it with other mcp client, run $which mcp-email-server for the path and configure it in your client like:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zerolib-email": {
      "command": "{{ ENTRYPOINT }}",
      "args": ["stdio"]
    }
  }
}

If docker is avaliable, you can try use docker image, but you may need to config it in your client using tools via MCP. The default config path is ~/.config/zerolib/mcp_email_server/config.toml

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zerolib-email": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-it", "ghcr.io/ai-zerolab/mcp-email-server:latest"]
    }
  }
}

Installing via Smithery

To install Email Server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @ai-zerolab/mcp-email-server --client claude

Development

This project is managed using uv.

Try make install to install the virtual environment and install the pre-commit hooks.

Use uv run mcp-email-server for local development.

Releasing a new version

• Create an API Token on PyPI.
• Add the API Token to your projects secrets with the name PYPI_TOKEN by visiting this page.
• Create a new release on Github.
• Create a new tag in the form *.*.*.

For more details, see here.