Connect Claude Desktop to your emails

Why connect Claude Desktop to your emails?

Managing your inbox manually takes up a significant part of your day. Between reading messages, sorting them, drafting replies and following up on conversations, email eats into the time you could spend on meaningful work. As a developer or power user, you already rely on Claude Desktop for coding assistance, writing and analysis — so why not extend it to your mailbox?

With MailMCP connected to Claude Desktop, you can read your inbox, search for specific emails, draft replies, send messages, schedule emails for later and organize your folders — all through natural language, directly from the Claude interface. No need to switch between apps or lose your train of thought.

MailMCP makes this possible via the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It connects any IMAP/SMTP mailbox to Claude Desktop in under 2 minutes. No code to write, no server to deploy — just a simple JSON configuration and you are ready to go.

Connect Claude Desktop to MailMCP

Claude Desktop natively supports the MCP protocol. Configuration is done via a JSON file.

Open the configuration file

In Claude Desktop, go to Settings then Developer then click on Edit Config. This opens the file:

Windows

%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

macOS

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add the MailMCP configuration

Add or edit the mcpServers block with your credentials:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mailmcp": {
      "url": "https://mailmcp.io/mcp/VOTRE_CLIENT_ID",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer VOTRE_CLIENT_SECRET"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop

Close and reopen Claude Desktop. You will see an MCP tools icon at the bottom of the input area. Click on it to verify that mailmcp is properly connected.

Test it!

Try a command:

« Summarize my latest unread emails »

Why use MailMCP with Claude Desktop?

Native MCP support

Claude Desktop supports MCP natively — no plugin or extension required.

Natural language commands

Ask Claude to read, reply, search or organize your emails in plain language.

Works with any mailbox

Gmail, Outlook, OVH, your own domain — any IMAP/SMTP account is compatible.

No email data stored

MailMCP acts as a secure proxy. Your emails are never stored or indexed on our servers.

Setup in 2 minutes

One JSON file to edit, restart Claude Desktop, and you are connected.

MailMCP offers a free plan to get started. For unlimited mailboxes and full sending capabilities, Pro plans start at 1.99 EUR/month.

Frequently asked questions

Does Claude Desktop support MCP email access?

Yes. Claude Desktop has built-in support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which means it can connect to external tools like MailMCP without any plugin or extension. Simply add your MailMCP server URL and API key to the Claude Desktop configuration file, and email tools become available in your conversations.

Can Claude Desktop read and send emails?

With MailMCP connected, Claude Desktop can read your inbox, search for specific messages, compose replies, and send emails on your behalf. You control everything through natural language — just ask Claude to handle your email tasks as you would ask a human assistant.

Is Claude Desktop MCP email connection secure?

Absolutely. MailMCP uses TLS encryption for all connections and never stores your email content on its servers. Your IMAP/SMTP credentials are encrypted at rest with AES-256, and the service is hosted in France on GDPR-compliant infrastructure. MailMCP acts as a secure proxy between Claude Desktop and your mail server.

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