IMAP mailbox MCP Server

io.github.ni-c/imap-mcp

Repository Registry

What is the IMAP mailbox MCP server?

Read, search and organise any IMAP mailbox, with writes off by default

How to install IMAP mailbox

Copy-paste configuration for popular MCP clients.

transport: stdio

Config generated by PluginBench — verify against the source before use.

Environment / auth

IMAP_HOST
required
Hostname of the IMAP server, e.g. imap.example.net
IMAP_USER
required
Mailbox user name
IMAP_PASSWORD
required
secret
Mailbox password or app password
IMAP_PORT
Defaults to 993 with implicit TLS, 143 otherwise
IMAP_TLS
implicit (default), starttls or none
IMAP_MAILBOX
Default mailbox to work in (default: INBOX)
IMAP_SEEN_KEYWORD
IMAP keyword marking what the assistant has already seen (default: AiSeen)
IMAP_READ_ONLY
Set to false to register the mailbox write tools; defaults to true
IMAP_ALLOW_TOOLS
Comma-separated tool names or list_* prefixes to register; 'essential' selects a curated preset (default: all tools)
IMAP_DENY_TOOLS
Comma-separated tool names or list_* prefixes to remove from whatever IMAP_ALLOW_TOOLS left
IMAP_DOWNLOAD_DIR
Directory attachments may be written to; unset means the server never touches the filesystem
IMAP_INSECURE_TLS
Set to true to accept self-signed certificates, scoped to this connection
IMAP_DRAFTS_MAILBOX
Drafts folder to save into; by default the one flagged \Drafts is used
IMAP_MAX_MESSAGES
Default number of messages a listing returns (default: 100)
IMAP_MAX_ATTACHMENT_BYTES
Ceiling for returning an attachment inline (default: 1048576)
IMAP_MAX_DOWNLOAD_BYTES
Ceiling for writing an attachment to disk (default: 26214400)
IMAP_MAX_EXTRACT_BYTES
Ceiling for reading a document's text with mode=text (default: 10485760, maximum: 67108864)
IMAP_ATTACHMENT_TYPES
Comma-separated content-type allowlist for attachments
IMAP_TRUSTED_AUTHSERV_ID
authserv-id your provider stamps into Authentication-Results; without it every verdict is reported as forgeable

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "imap-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@ni-c/imap-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "IMAP_HOST": "<YOUR_IMAP_HOST>",
        "IMAP_USER": "<YOUR_IMAP_USER>",
        "IMAP_PASSWORD": "<YOUR_IMAP_PASSWORD>",
        "IMAP_PORT": "<YOUR_IMAP_PORT>",
        "IMAP_TLS": "<YOUR_IMAP_TLS>",
        "IMAP_MAILBOX": "<YOUR_IMAP_MAILBOX>",
        "IMAP_SEEN_KEYWORD": "<YOUR_IMAP_SEEN_KEYWORD>",
        "IMAP_READ_ONLY": "<YOUR_IMAP_READ_ONLY>",
        "IMAP_ALLOW_TOOLS": "<YOUR_IMAP_ALLOW_TOOLS>",
        "IMAP_DENY_TOOLS": "<YOUR_IMAP_DENY_TOOLS>",
        "IMAP_DOWNLOAD_DIR": "<YOUR_IMAP_DOWNLOAD_DIR>",
        "IMAP_INSECURE_TLS": "<YOUR_IMAP_INSECURE_TLS>",
        "IMAP_DRAFTS_MAILBOX": "<YOUR_IMAP_DRAFTS_MAILBOX>",
        "IMAP_MAX_MESSAGES": "<YOUR_IMAP_MAX_MESSAGES>",
        "IMAP_MAX_ATTACHMENT_BYTES": "<YOUR_IMAP_MAX_ATTACHMENT_BYTES>",
        "IMAP_MAX_DOWNLOAD_BYTES": "<YOUR_IMAP_MAX_DOWNLOAD_BYTES>",
        "IMAP_MAX_EXTRACT_BYTES": "<YOUR_IMAP_MAX_EXTRACT_BYTES>",
        "IMAP_ATTACHMENT_TYPES": "<YOUR_IMAP_ATTACHMENT_TYPES>",
        "IMAP_TRUSTED_AUTHSERV_ID": "<YOUR_IMAP_TRUSTED_AUTHSERV_ID>"
      }
    }
  }
}