Apple-Mail-MCP-Server

Apple Mail MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables AI assistants like Claude to read, send, search, and manage emails in Apple Mail on macOS.

⚠️ Work in Progress - This project is in early development. Many features are stubbed out and not yet implemented.

What is This?

This server acts as a bridge between AI assistants and Apple Mail. Once configured, you can ask Claude (or any MCP-compatible AI) to:

• "Check my inbox for unread messages"
• "Find emails from john@example.com"
• "Send an email to the team about the meeting"
• "Move old newsletters to the Archive folder"
• "What emails do I have flagged?"

The AI assistant communicates with this server, which then uses AppleScript to interact with the Mail app on your Mac. All data stays local on your machine.

Quick Start

Manual Installation

1. Clone and build:

git clone https://github.com/sweetrb/apple-mail-mcp.git
cd apple-mail-mcp
npm install
npm run build

2. Add to Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-mail": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/apple-mail-mcp/build/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop and start using natural language:

"Show me my unread emails"

On first use, macOS will ask for permission to automate Mail.app. Click "OK" to allow.

Requirements

• macOS - Apple Mail and AppleScript are macOS-only
• Node.js 20+ - Required for the MCP server
• Apple Mail - Must have at least one account configured

Features (Planned)

Feature	Status	Description
List Messages	🚧 Stub	List messages in a mailbox
Search Messages	🚧 Stub	Find emails by sender, subject, content
Read Messages	🚧 Stub	Get full email content
Send Email	🚧 Stub	Compose and send new emails
Mark Read/Unread	🚧 Stub	Change read status
Flag Messages	🚧 Stub	Flag/unflag messages
Delete Messages	🚧 Stub	Move messages to trash
Move Messages	🚧 Stub	Organize into mailboxes
List Mailboxes	🚧 Stub	Show all folders
List Accounts	✅ Done	Show configured accounts
Health Check	✅ Done	Verify Mail.app connectivity
Statistics	🚧 Stub	Unread counts, totals

Tool Reference

Message Operations

search-messages

Search for messages matching criteria.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
query	string	No	Text to search for
from	string	No	Filter by sender
subject	string	No	Filter by subject
mailbox	string	No	Mailbox to search in
account	string	No	Account to search in
isRead	boolean	No	Filter by read status
isFlagged	boolean	No	Filter by flagged status
limit	number	No	Max results (default: 50)

get-message

Get the full content of a message.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
id	string	Yes	Message ID

list-messages

List messages in a mailbox.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
mailbox	string	No	Mailbox name (default: INBOX)
account	string	No	Account name
limit	number	No	Max messages (default: 50)
unreadOnly	boolean	No	Only unread messages

send-email

Send a new email.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
to	string[]	Yes	Recipient addresses
subject	string	Yes	Email subject
body	string	Yes	Email body
cc	string[]	No	CC recipients
bcc	string[]	No	BCC recipients
account	string	No	Send from account

mark-as-read / mark-as-unread

Change read status of a message.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
id	string	Yes	Message ID

flag-message

Flag a message.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
id	string	Yes	Message ID

delete-message

Delete a message (move to trash).

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
id	string	Yes	Message ID

move-message

Move a message to a different mailbox.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
id	string	Yes	Message ID
mailbox	string	Yes	Destination mailbox
account	string	No	Account containing mailbox

Mailbox Operations

list-mailboxes

List all mailboxes.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
account	string	No	Account to list from

get-unread-count

Get unread message count.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
mailbox	string	No	Mailbox to check
account	string	No	Account to check

Account Operations

list-accounts

List all configured Mail accounts.

Parameters: None

Diagnostics

health-check

Verify Mail.app connectivity and permissions.

Parameters: None

get-mail-stats

Get mail statistics (total messages, unread counts).

Parameters: None

Security and Privacy

• Local only - All operations happen locally via AppleScript
• Permission required - macOS will prompt for automation permission
• No credential storage - The server doesn't store any passwords

Development

npm install      # Install dependencies
npm run build    # Compile TypeScript
npm test         # Run test suite
npm run lint     # Check code style
npm run format   # Format code

Author

Rob Sweet - President, Superior Technologies Research

• Email: rob@superiortech.io
• GitHub: @sweetrb

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Related Projects

• apple-notes-mcp - MCP server for Apple Notes