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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.

npm version npm downloads node CI OpenSSF Scorecard platform: macOS License: MIT MCP

Apple Mail MCP — read, search, send, and organize Apple Mail from Codex, Claude, and other AI assistants

Note: This is the npm/Node.js package — install with npx or npm. There is an unrelated Python project of the same name on PyPI (imdinu/apple-mail-mcp) installed via pipx/uvx. If you're using uvx and seeing a cyclopts dependency error, you're looking for that project, not this one.

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"
  • "Create a draft email for me to review"
  • "Reply to that message"
  • "Forward this to my colleague"
  • "Move old newsletters to the Archive folder"

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

Using Claude Code (Easiest)

If you're using Claude Code (in Terminal or VS Code), just ask Claude to install it:

Install the sweetrb/apple-mail-mcp MCP server so you can help me manage my Apple Mail

Claude will handle the installation and configuration automatically.

Using the Plugin Marketplace

Install as a Claude Code plugin for automatic configuration and enhanced AI behavior:

/plugin marketplace add sweetrb/apple-mail-mcp
/plugin install apple-mail

This method also installs a skill that teaches Claude when and how to use Apple Mail effectively.

Using the Codex Marketplace

Install the same public marketplace in Codex:

codex plugin marketplace add sweetrb/apple-mail-mcp
codex plugin add apple-mail@apple-mail-mcp

The Codex package registers the same apple-mail MCP server through npx -y apple-mail-mcp and includes the Apple Mail skill guidance.

Other Hosts (Hermes, Antigravity)

Configuration for two more hosts is included — each registers the same apple-mail MCP server (npx -y apple-mail-mcp):

Manual Installation

1. Install the server:

npm install -g github:sweetrb/apple-mail-mcp

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-mail": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["apple-mail-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

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 (iCloud, Gmail, Exchange, etc.)

Features

Messages
Feature Description
List Messages List messages with pagination, sender filter, date display
Search Messages Search by sender, subject, content, date range, read/flagged status — across all accounts
Read Messages Get full email content (plain text or HTML)
Send Email Compose and send new emails (attach by file path or inline base64 content)
Send Serial Email Mail merge — send personalized emails to a list of recipients with {{placeholder}} support
Create Draft Save emails to Drafts folder (attach by file path or inline base64 content)
Reply Reply to messages (with reply-all support)
Forward Forward messages to new recipients
Get Thread Group a conversation by normalized subject (across AppleScript or IMAP)
Mark Read/Unread Change read status (single or batch)
Flag/Unflag Flag or unflag messages (single or batch)
Delete Messages Move messages to trash (single or batch)
Move Messages Organize into mailboxes (single or batch)
List Attachments View attachment metadata (name, type, size)
Save Attachment Save attachments to disk
Fetch Attachment Get an attachment's bytes as base64 (no disk write)

Read/list/get tools also return structured JSON (structuredContent) alongside the text, so agents can consume results without parsing prose.

Mailbox & Account Management
Feature Description
List Mailboxes Show all folders with message/unread counts
Create/Delete/Rename Mailbox Full mailbox lifecycle management
List Accounts Show configured accounts
Unread Count Get unread counts per mailbox
Rules, Contacts & Templates
Feature Description
List Rules View all mail rules and their enabled status
Enable/Disable Rules Toggle mail rules on or off
Create/Delete Rules Create rules with conditions + actions, or delete by name
Search Contacts Look up contacts from Contacts.app by name
Email Templates Save, list, use, and delete reusable email templates (persisted to disk across restarts)
Diagnostics
Feature Description
Health Check Verify Mail.app connectivity
Doctor Diagnose Mail permission, account state, and each IMAP/SMTP backend with actionable messages
Statistics Message and unread counts per account, recently received stats
Sync Status Check if Mail.app is actively syncing
MCP resources & prompts

Resources expose read-only context the client can attach without a tool call: mail://accounts, mail://templates, and mail://mailboxes/{account}. Prompts package common workflows: triage-inbox, compose-reply, weekly-summary.

Tool Reference

This section documents all available tools. AI agents should use these tool names and parameters exactly as specified.

Message Operations
search-messages

Search for messages matching criteria. Searches all accounts by default.

Parameter Type Required Description
query string No Text to search in subject/sender
from string No Filter by sender email address
subject string No Filter by subject line
mailbox string No Mailbox to search in (omit to search all mailboxes)
account string No Account to search in (omit to search all accounts)
isRead boolean No Filter by read status
isFlagged boolean No Filter by flagged status
dateFrom string No Start date filter (e.g., "January 1, 2026")
dateTo string No End date filter (e.g., "March 1, 2026")
limit number No Max results (default: 50)

Large mailboxes & partial results. Apple Mail's AppleScript bridge cannot search very large IMAP/Gmail mailboxes (tens of thousands of messages) before the Apple Event times out — empirically even reading the newest 20 messages of a 44k-message mailbox takes ~45s. To avoid burning minutes only to return a misleading empty result, an unscoped (all-mailboxes) search skips mailboxes whose message count exceeds a threshold (default 5000), enforces a per-account time budget, and reports anything it skipped or that timed out rather than silently returning nothing. When coverage is incomplete the result includes an explicit warning, e.g.:

⚠️  Partial results — this is NOT a confirmed "no such mail":
  - skipped mailbox(es) too large to search via AppleScript: Gmail / All Mail (44287) — scope the search with `mailbox` + a `dateFrom`/`dateTo` window to target them

To search inside a large mailbox, scope the call with mailbox (and ideally a dateFrom/dateTo window). Tune or disable the skip threshold with the APPLE_MAIL_MAX_SEARCH_MAILBOX environment variable (default 5000; set to 0 to disable the guard and attempt every mailbox regardless of size). (#24)

get-message

Get the full content of a message.

Parameter Type Required Description
id string Yes Message ID
preferHtml boolean No Return HTML source instead of plain text

Returns: Subject line and message body (plain text by default, HTML if preferHtml is true and HTML content is available).

list-messages

List messages in a mailbox.

Parameter Type Required Description
mailbox string No Mailbox name (omit to list from all mailboxes)
account string No Account name
limit number No Max messages (default: 50)
offset number No Number of messages to skip (for pagination)
from string No Filter by sender email address or name
unreadOnly boolean No Only show unread messages

Returns: List of messages with ID, date, subject, and sender.

send-email

Send a new email immediately.

Safety: Sends real mail immediately and cannot be unsent. Confirm the recipients, subject, and body with the user before calling.

Parameter Type Required Description
to string[] Yes Recipient addresses
subject string Yes Email subject
body string Yes Email body (plain text)
cc string[] No CC recipients
bcc string[] No BCC recipients
account string No Send from specific account (with transport: "smtp", overrides the From address)
attachments (string | {filename, contentBase64})[] No Up to 20 attachments: absolute file paths (e.g., "/Users/me/report.pdf") and/or inline {filename, contentBase64} objects for content not on disk
transport "applescript" | "smtp" No Send transport. If omitted, SMTP is used automatically when configured (otherwise AppleScript). Pass "smtp" to require clean MIME, or "applescript" to force the Mail.app path — see SMTP transport

Example:

{
  "to": ["colleague@company.com"],
  "subject": "Meeting Tomorrow",
  "body": "Hi, just confirming our meeting at 2pm tomorrow.",
  "account": "Work",
  "attachments": ["/Users/me/Documents/agenda.pdf"]
}
SMTP transport

On macOS 15+ (Sequoia/Tahoe), Mail.app wraps any AppleScript-injected body in <blockquote type="cite"> under the Apple-Mail-URLShareWrapperClass template, so emails sent through the default applescript transport render to recipients as if they were quoted/forwarded (Apple radar FB11734014, open since Ventura). The SMTP transport bypasses Mail.app entirely and submits clean MIME directly. Once SMTP is configured, send-email uses it automatically (no need to pass transport per call); pass transport: "applescript" to force the Mail.app path.

Two differences to know when SMTP is auto-preferred:

  • No Sent-folder copy. SMTP submission does not file the message in Mail.app's Sent mailbox (the server's own "save to Sent" may, depending on provider). Use transport: "applescript" if you need the local Sent copy.
  • account is a From override, not account selection. Over SMTP, account is used as the From address only when it is an email address; a Mail.app account label (e.g. "Work") can't select an account over SMTP, so a call that passes one is left on the AppleScript path automatically. To force account selection, pass transport: "applescript" explicitly.

Both plain-text and HTML bodies are supported — over SMTP an HTML body (CLI --html-body-file) is sent as multipart/alternative with the plain-text fallback.

Configure SMTP via environment variables on the MCP server. The password is read from the macOS Keychain by default, so no secret goes in config:

Variable Required Default Description
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_SMTP_HOST Yes — SMTP server hostname (e.g. smtp.fastmail.com)
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_SMTP_USER Yes — SMTP username
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_SMTP_PORT No 465 if secure, else 587 SMTP port
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_SMTP_SECURE No false true for implicit TLS (port 465); otherwise STARTTLS
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_SMTP_FROM No = user From address
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_SMTP_PASSWORD No — Password (if set, used instead of the Keychain)
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_SMTP_KEYCHAIN_SERVICE No = host Keychain item service/server name
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_SMTP_KEYCHAIN_ACCOUNT No = user Keychain item account

Store the password in the Keychain once (an app-specific password for Gmail/ iCloud). A generic-password item with an explicit service name keeps it from colliding with the system mail account password, and matches APPLE_MAIL_MCP_SMTP_KEYCHAIN_SERVICE:

# Fastmail (Keychain service defaults to the host)
security add-internet-password -s smtp.fastmail.com -a you@example.com -w

# Gmail / Google Workspace, using a dedicated Keychain service name:
#   APPLE_MAIL_MCP_SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
#   APPLE_MAIL_MCP_SMTP_USER=you@gmail.com
#   APPLE_MAIL_MCP_SMTP_KEYCHAIN_SERVICE=apple-mail-mcp-smtp
security add-generic-password -s apple-mail-mcp-smtp -a you@gmail.com -w

Once the env vars are set, a plain send-email (no transport) already goes out clean:

{
  "to": ["colleague@company.com"],
  "subject": "Standings",
  "body": "Plain body — no blockquote wrapping."
}
apple-mail-send CLI (no MCP server required)

The package also installs an apple-mail-send binary — a standalone CLI over the same SMTP path, for cron jobs, scheduled tasks, and scripts that can't run an MCP session. It reads the identical APPLE_MAIL_MCP_SMTP_* env + Keychain config:

apple-mail-send \
  --from you@example.com --to colleague@company.com \
  --subject "Standings" --body-file /tmp/body.txt \
  [--html-body-file /tmp/body.html] [--attach /tmp/report.pdf]

Repeatable --to/--cc/--bcc/--attach; an --html-body-file is sent as a multipart/alternative alongside the plain --body-file. Exit codes follow sysexits.h: 0 success, 64 usage error, 66 unreadable body file, 78 SMTP not configured.

IMAP backend — opt-in

For step-by-step setup (app passwords, Keychain, config methods, multi-account, upgrading, troubleshooting), see the IMAP / SMTP Setup Guide. The summary below is the reference; the guide is the walkthrough.

AppleScript runs search/list predicates client-side over the Apple Event bridge, which is slow and can time out (false-empty) on large Gmail/IMAP mailboxes (see #24), and its delete/rename mailbox and draft handlers don't work on server-side accounts at all (#42). When an account is configured for IMAP, the MCP routes to a server-side IMAP backend (#43) that is fast and correct on exactly those mailboxes. This is opt-in and additive: any account without IMAP configured behaves exactly as before (AppleScript).

What routes to IMAP when an account is IMAP-configured:

  • Read: search-messages, list-messages (server-side SEARCH, typically sub-second), and get-message.
  • Folder ops: create-mailbox, rename-mailbox, delete-mailbox — IMAP's CREATE/RENAME/DELETE succeed on the iCloud/Gmail/Workspace/Exchange mailboxes Mail.app's AppleScript bridge can't touch (#42).
  • Message mutations: mark-as-read/unread, flag-message/unflag-message, move-message, delete-message.
  • Batch mutations (2.1): batch-mark-as-read/unread, batch-flag/unflag-messages, batch-move-messages, batch-delete-messages — imap: ids are grouped by mailbox and applied as a single UID STORE/UID MOVE; numeric ids in the same batch still use AppleScript.
  • Counts & stats (2.1): get-unread-count and list-mailboxes use STATUS; get-mail-stats uses STATUS + SEARCH SINCE — authoritative and fast even on huge mailboxes. As of v2.6.0 these prefer IMAP whenever it's configured (see Read routing below), merging across accounts when no account is given.
  • Attachments (2.1): list-attachments, save-attachment, fetch-attachment use BODYSTRUCTURE + FETCH BODY[part] for imap: ids — faster and able to see MIME-embedded attachments AppleScript misses.
  • Threading (2.1): get-thread links a conversation via References/Message-ID (HEADER SEARCH) for an imap: seed, falling back to subject grouping otherwise.

Message ids are backend-tagged. The IMAP read path emits self-describing ids of the form imap:<token> (the token encodes the account, mailbox path, and UID). Pass that id back to get-message, a message mutation, a batch op, or the attachment/thread tools and it routes to IMAP automatically; bare numeric ids continue to use AppleScript. So an agent never has to know which backend a message came from — the id carries it.

Read routing (v2.6.0): reads PREFER direct IMAP whenever IMAP is configured. The read tools — search-messages, get-thread, list-messages, list-mailboxes, get-unread-count, get-mail-stats — now go to IMAP whenever any APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_* account is configured, not just when an explicit matching account is passed. There are three cases:

  • Explicit IMAP account — single-account IMAP (fast server-side path).
  • Explicit non-IMAP account — AppleScript (that account isn't on IMAP).
  • No account given — merge across all accounts: the query fans out over every configured IMAP account, and AppleScript runs only for the accounts no IMAP config covers (the account list is partitioned — accounts already served by IMAP are not re-scanned via AppleScript). If every Mail account is IMAP-configured, AppleScript is skipped entirely. The results are merged so no account is dropped. Message lists still de-duplicate as a safety net (preferring the IMAP copy, which carries the round-trippable imap: id) and sort newest-first; count tools (get-unread-count, get-mail-stats) count each account via exactly one backend so a coverage mismatch can never double- (or under-) count.
    • Default mailbox is resolved per account. When you don't pin a mailbox, a fan-out search scopes each account to its own default — Gmail/Workspace to [Gmail]/All Mail, every other IMAP host (iCloud, etc.) to INBOX (since [Gmail]/All Mail is Gmail-only and selecting it elsewhere would silently drop that account). Pin a mailbox to search a wider scope on non-Gmail accounts.

If IMAP is not configured at all, every read behaves exactly as before (pure AppleScript). The three mailbox-write ops (create-mailbox, delete-mailbox, rename-mailbox) remain conservative — they route to IMAP only for an explicitly-named IMAP account, never on an omitted account.

Variable Required Default Description
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_USER Yes — Login address; setting it enables IMAP
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_ACCOUNT No = user Mail account name to match for routing
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_HOST No imap.gmail.com IMAP server hostname
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_PORT No 993 IMAP port (993 = implicit TLS)
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_PASSWORD No — Password (if set, used instead of the Keychain)
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_KEYCHAIN_SERVICE No — Keychain item service/server name
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_KEYCHAIN_ACCOUNT No = user Keychain item account
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_ACCOUNTS No — JSON array of additional IMAP accounts for multi-account setups (see below)
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_IDLE No 0 Set 1 to enable IMAP IDLE push notifications (new-mail alerts) for every configured account
APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_IDLE_MS No 60000 Idle timeout (ms) before a pooled IMAP connection is closed

Multiple IMAP accounts (C2): set APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_ACCOUNTS to a JSON array, e.g. [{"account":"Work","user":"me@co.com","host":"imap.co.com","keychainService":"imap.co.com"}]. Each entry accepts account, user, host, port, password, keychainService, keychainAccount. Calls route to the account matching their account argument (or the decoded imap: id), and each account keeps its own pooled connection.

As with SMTP, the password is read from the macOS Keychain by default (use an app-specific password for Gmail/Workspace/iCloud), so no secret goes in config. Gmail label semantics: common names (All Mail, Sent, Trash, Spam, Important, …) map to their [Gmail]/… IMAP paths automatically.

Note: IMAP connections are pooled — one kept-alive connection per account is reused across calls (verified with a NOOP, closed after APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_IDLE_MS of inactivity), so there's no per-call connection overhead (#50).

iCloud: set APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_HOST=imap.mail.me.com, APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_USER to your iCloud address, APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_ACCOUNT to the Mail account name (e.g. iCloud), and use an app-specific password (from appleid.apple.com) stored in the Keychain.

Configuration file (when the host strips env)

Some host apps (e.g. Claude Desktop) launch the MCP server with a scrubbed environment and ignore the env block in their server config, so there's no way to pass APPLE_MAIL_MCP_* settings through it. In that case, put them in a JSON file the host doesn't manage — APPLE_MAIL_MCP_CONFIG_FILE, or by default ~/Library/Application Support/apple-mail-mcp/config.json:

{
  "APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_USER": "you@gmail.com",
  "APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_HOST": "imap.gmail.com",
  "APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_KEYCHAIN_SERVICE": "imap.gmail.com",
  "APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_KEYCHAIN_ACCOUNT": "you@gmail.com",
  "APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_IDLE": "1"
}

The server reads it at startup and merges values into the environment without overriding anything already set there (so an explicit env still wins). Store only non-secret config here — passwords belong in the Keychain, never in this file.

Push notifications (IMAP IDLE) — opt-in

When APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_IDLE=1, the server opens a dedicated, long-lived connection to each configured IMAP account and watches its INBOX for new mail. On arrival it pushes two MCP notifications to the client (no polling by the client required):

  1. notifications/message (logging) — a human-readable line, e.g. New mail in "Work": 2 new message(s) (INBOX now 1843).
  2. notifications/resources/updated — for the affected account's resource mail://mailboxes/{account}, so a client subscribed to that resource knows to re-read it.

This requires an IMAP account to be configured (single-account env or APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_ACCOUNTS); accounts that only use AppleScript aren't watched. Detection is real-time via the IMAP IDLE EXISTS event where the server pushes it, with an automatic polling fallback for servers that don't. Dropped connections reconnect with backoff, and the watchers shut down cleanly on SIGINT/SIGTERM.

Enable it in your MCP client config alongside the IMAP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-mail": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/apple-mail-mcp/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_USER": "you@gmail.com",
        "APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_KEYCHAIN_SERVICE": "imap.gmail.com",
        "APPLE_MAIL_MCP_IMAP_IDLE": "1"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: this is most useful with clients that surface MCP logging messages or subscribe to resource-update notifications. Clients that ignore notifications are unaffected — the feature is opt-in and adds no behavior unless enabled.

send-serial-email

Send individual personalized emails to a list of recipients (mail merge). Each recipient receives their own email — recipients don't see each other. Supports {{placeholder}} tokens in both subject and body.

Parameter Type Required Description
recipients object[] Yes List of recipients, max 100 (see below)
subject string Yes Email subject — use {{Key}} for placeholders
body string Yes Email body — use {{Key}} for placeholders
account string No Send from specific account
delayMs number No Delay between sends in ms (default: 500, max 10000)

Each recipient object:

Field Type Required Description
email string Yes Recipient email address
variables object Yes Key-value pairs for placeholder replacement

Example:

{
  "recipients": [
    { "email": "alice@example.com", "variables": { "Name": "Alice", "Company": "Acme" } },
    { "email": "bob@example.com", "variables": { "Name": "Bob", "Company": "Globex" } }
  ],
  "subject": "Hello {{Name}}!",
  "body": "Dear {{Name}},\n\nGreat to connect about {{Company}}.\n\nBest regards"
}

Returns: Per-recipient success/failure results with a summary count.

Safety: Sends real mail immediately to every recipient and cannot be unsent. Confirm the recipient list, subject, and body with the user before calling.

create-draft

Save an email to Drafts without sending.

Parameter Type Required Description
to string[] Yes Recipient addresses
subject string Yes Email subject
body string Yes Email body (plain text)
cc string[] No CC recipients
bcc string[] No BCC recipients
account string No Account for draft
attachments (string | {filename, contentBase64})[] No Up to 20 attachments: absolute file paths and/or inline {filename, contentBase64} objects

Returns: Confirmation that draft was created.

get-thread

Group a conversation by normalized subject (across the AppleScript or IMAP backend).

Parameter Type Required Description
id string Yes A message ID in the conversation (numeric or imap:…)
account string No Account to search (omit to search all)
mailbox string No Mailbox to search (omit to search all)
limit number No Max messages in the thread (default 50)

Returns: The conversation's messages, oldest-first.

fetch-attachment

Return an attachment's bytes as base64 (the read counterpart to inline-base64 send).

Parameter Type Required Description
id string Yes Numeric message ID
attachmentName string Yes Attachment filename (from list-attachments)

Returns: The attachment bytes, base64-encoded (also in structuredContent.contentBase64).

reply-to-message

Reply to an existing message.

Parameter Type Required Description
id string Yes Message ID to reply to
body string Yes Reply body
replyAll boolean No Reply to all recipients (default: false)
send boolean No Send immediately (default: true, false = save as draft)

Example - Reply to sender only:

{
  "id": "12345",
  "body": "Thanks for the update!"
}

Example - Reply all, save as draft:

{
  "id": "12345",
  "body": "I'll review this and get back to everyone.",
  "replyAll": true,
  "send": false
}

Transport (v2.5.0): when SMTP is configured, reply-to-message sends via clean SMTP, threading the reply with proper RFC 5322 In-Reply-To/References headers (built from the original message) so it lands in the same conversation. When SMTP is not configured (or the original lacks the headers needed to thread), it falls back to Mail.app's AppleScript reply … without opening window — same reliable-from-background-process path as before. See SMTP transport.

Safety: With the default send: true, sends real mail immediately and cannot be unsent. Confirm the recipients, subject, and body with the user before calling (or pass send: false to save a draft for review).

forward-message

Forward a message to new recipients.

Parameter Type Required Description
id string Yes Message ID to forward
to string[] Yes Recipients to forward to
body string No Message to prepend
send boolean No Send immediately (default: true, false = save as draft)

Transport (v2.5.0): when SMTP is configured, forward-message sends via clean SMTP (a fresh message with the original quoted, no threading headers — a forward starts a new conversation). When SMTP is not configured it falls back to Mail.app's AppleScript forward … without opening window. See SMTP transport.

Safety: With the default send: true, sends real mail immediately and cannot be unsent. Confirm the recipients, subject, and body with the user before calling (or pass send: false to save a draft for review).

mark-as-read / mark-as-unread

Change read status of a message.

Parameter Type Required Description
id string Yes Message ID
flag-message / unflag-message

Flag or unflag 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

Safety: Destructive. Requires explicit user confirmation; search/list first to confirm the 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
list-attachments

List attachments on a message.

Parameter Type Required Description
id string Yes Message ID

Returns: List of attachments with name, MIME type, and size.

save-attachment

Save a message attachment to disk.

Parameter Type Required Description
id string Yes Message ID
attachmentName string Yes Filename of the attachment
savePath string Yes Directory to save to
Batch Operations

All batch operations accept an array of message IDs (max 100 per batch) and return per-item success/failure results.

batch-delete-messages
Parameter Type Required Description
ids string[] Yes Message IDs to delete (max 100)

Safety: Destructive. Requires explicit user confirmation; search/list first to confirm the message ids.

batch-move-messages
Parameter Type Required Description
ids string[] Yes Message IDs to move (max 100)
mailbox string Yes Destination mailbox
account string No Account containing mailbox
batch-mark-as-read / batch-mark-as-unread
Parameter Type Required Description
ids string[] Yes Message IDs (max 100)
batch-flag-messages / batch-unflag-messages
Parameter Type Required Description
ids string[] Yes Message IDs (max 100)
Mailbox Operations
list-mailboxes

List all mailboxes for an account.

Parameter Type Required Description
account string No Account to list from

Returns: List of mailbox names with message and unread counts.

get-unread-count

Get unread message count.

Parameter Type Required Description
mailbox string No Mailbox to check (omit for total)
account string No Account to check
create-mailbox

Create a new mailbox.

Parameter Type Required Description
name string Yes Mailbox name
account string No Account to create in
delete-mailbox

Delete a mailbox.

Parameter Type Required Description
name string Yes Mailbox name
account string No Account containing mailbox

Safety: Destructive — deletes the mailbox and its contents. Requires explicit user confirmation; list mailboxes first to confirm the name.

rename-mailbox

Rename a mailbox (creates new, moves messages, deletes old).

Parameter Type Required Description
oldName string Yes Current mailbox name
newName string Yes New mailbox name
account string No Account containing mailbox
Account Operations
list-accounts

List all configured Mail accounts.

Parameters: None

Returns: List of account names and email addresses.

Rules
list-rules

List all mail rules.

Parameters: None

Returns: List of rule names and enabled status.

enable-rule / disable-rule

Enable or disable a mail rule.

Parameter Type Required Description
name string Yes Rule name
create-rule

Create a Mail rule with one or more conditions and actions.

Parameter Type Required Description
name string Yes Rule name (must be unique)
conditions object[] Yes One or more {field, operator, value} (see below)
actions object Yes At least one of markRead, markFlagged, delete, moveTo
matchAll boolean No true (default) = all conditions must match; false = any
enabled boolean No Whether the rule is enabled on creation (default true)

Each condition is { field, operator, value } where field is one of from, to, cc, subject, content and operator is one of contains, notContains, equals, beginsWith, endsWith. Actions: markRead / markFlagged / delete (booleans), moveTo (mailbox name) with optional moveToAccount.

Example:

{
  "name": "Newsletters",
  "conditions": [{ "field": "from", "operator": "contains", "value": "newsletter" }],
  "actions": { "markRead": true, "moveTo": "Reading" }
}
delete-rule

Delete a mail rule by name.

Parameter Type Required Description
name string Yes Rule name

Safety: Destructive. Requires explicit user confirmation; list rules first to confirm the name.

Contacts
search-contacts

Search contacts in Contacts.app.

Parameter Type Required Description
query string Yes Name to search for
limit number No Max results (default: 10)

Returns: List of contacts with name, email addresses, and phone numbers.

Templates

Email templates are persisted to disk so they survive server restarts, stored as JSON at APPLE_MAIL_MCP_TEMPLATES_FILE (default ~/Library/Application Support/apple-mail-mcp/templates.json).

save-template

Save or update an email template.

Parameter Type Required Description
name string Yes Template name
subject string Yes Default subject line
body string Yes Template body
to string[] No Default recipients
cc string[] No Default CC recipients
id string No Template ID (for updating)
list-templates

List all saved templates.

Parameters: None

get-template

Get a template by ID.

Parameter Type Required Description
id string Yes Template ID
delete-template

Delete a template.

Parameter Type Required Description
id string Yes Template ID

Safety: Destructive — removes the template from the on-disk store. Requires explicit user confirmation; list templates first to confirm the id.

use-template

Create a draft from a template, with optional overrides.

Parameter Type Required Description
id string Yes Template ID
to string[] No Override recipients
cc string[] No Override CC
subject string No Override subject
body string No Override body
Diagnostics
health-check

Verify Mail.app connectivity and permissions.

Parameters: None

Returns: Status of all health checks (app running, permissions, account access).

doctor

Run a full setup diagnostic: Mail.app automation permission, account state (flagging disabled accounts), and each configured IMAP/SMTP backend — each reported as ok / warn / fail with an actionable message.

Parameters: None

Returns: A per-check report (structuredContent carries the raw {healthy, checks[]}).

get-mail-stats

Get mail statistics.

Parameters: None

Returns: Total and per-account message/unread counts, plus recently received stats (24h, 7d, 30d).

get-sync-status

Check Mail.app sync activity.

Parameters: None

Returns: Whether sync is detected, pending uploads, recent activity, and seconds since last change.

Usage Patterns

Basic Workflow
User: "Check my inbox for new emails"
AI: [calls list-messages]
    "You have 12 messages. Here are the most recent..."

User: "Show me emails from Sarah"
AI: [calls search-messages with query="Sarah"]
    "Found 3 emails from Sarah across all mailboxes..."

User: "Read the first one"
AI: [calls get-message with id="..."]
    "Subject: Project Update..."
Working with Accounts

By default, operations use Mail.app's configured default send account. Search operations check all accounts when no account is specified. To work with specific accounts:

User: "What email accounts do I have?"
AI: [calls list-accounts]
    "You have 3 accounts: iCloud, Gmail, Work Exchange"

User: "Show unread emails in my Work account"
AI: [calls list-messages with account="Work Exchange", mailbox="INBOX"]
    "Your Work account has 5 unread messages..."
Sending Emails Safely
User: "Draft an email to the team about the deadline"
AI: [calls create-draft with to=["team@..."], subject="...", body="..."]
    "I've created a draft. Please review it in Mail.app before sending."

User: "Send it"
AI: [User opens Mail.app and sends manually, or AI calls send-email]
Sending Personalized Emails (Mail Merge)
User: "Send a personalized email to Alice (alice@acme.com), Bob (bob@globex.com),
       and Carol (carol@initech.com). Subject: 'Project Update for {{Company}}',
       Body: 'Hi {{Name}}, here is the latest update for {{Company}}.'"
AI: [calls send-serial-email with recipients, subject template, and body template]
    "Successfully sent 3 email(s):
      - alice@acme.com: sent
      - bob@globex.com: sent
      - carol@initech.com: sent"
Organizing Messages
User: "Move all newsletters to Archive"
AI: [calls search-messages to find newsletters]
AI: [calls move-message for each, with mailbox="Archive"]
    "Moved 8 newsletters to Archive"

Installation Options

npm (Recommended)
npm install -g github:sweetrb/apple-mail-mcp
From Source
git clone https://github.com/sweetrb/apple-mail-mcp.git
cd apple-mail-mcp
npm install
npm run build

If installed from source, use this configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-mail": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/apple-mail-mcp/build/index.js"]
    }
  }
}
Running from a clone in Claude Code (project-scope .mcp.json)

This repo ships a .mcp.json at its root so that, when you run claude from inside a clone, the server is registered automatically as a project-scope server — no manual config needed. After npm run build, just launch Claude Code from the repo directory and approve the server when prompted.

The entrypoint is written as:

"args": ["${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR:-.}/build/index.js"]

CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR is the variable Claude Code injects into a project/user-scoped server's environment, and it resolves to the repo root. You must launch claude from inside the repo for this to work — the bare . fallback is only a last resort and is not reliable, because it resolves against the launching process's working directory, not the repo.

Why not ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}? CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT is set only for marketplace plugin installs, never for a project-scope clone, so it can't drive the clone workflow. Conversely, a plugin install can't use CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR (in a plugin, that points at the user's project, not the plugin's own directory). Claude Code does not support nested defaults like ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR:-.}}, so a single entrypoint string cannot serve both contexts. The two distribution paths are therefore decoupled: the plugin carries its own MCP config in .claude-plugin/plugin.json (using ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}), while the root .mcp.json is dedicated to the clone workflow (using ${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR:-.}). Because plugin.json declares its own mcpServers, the plugin does not also auto-load the root .mcp.json, so there is no double-registration.

Heads-up on scope precedence: project-scope (.mcp.json) outranks user-scope. If you also have an apple-mail entry registered at user scope (e.g. an absolute path in ~/.claude.json), the project-scope entry wins and the user-scope one is ignored entirely. Pick one — for local development on this repo, the project-scope .mcp.json is the intended source. To pin a specific local build instead, register it at local scope (claude mcp add apple-mail -s local -- node /abs/path/build/index.js), which outranks project scope.

Security and Privacy

  • Local only - All operations happen locally via AppleScript. No data is sent to external servers.
  • Permission required - macOS will prompt for automation permission on first use.
  • No credential storage - The server doesn't store any passwords or authentication tokens.
  • Email safety - Use create-draft to review emails before sending.

Known Limitations

Limitation Reason
macOS only Apple Mail and AppleScript are macOS-specific
No sending HTML email Emails are sent as plain text; reading HTML content is supported
Attachments require absolute paths File attachments must use full absolute paths (e.g., /Users/me/file.pdf)
No smart mailboxes Cannot access Smart Mailboxes via AppleScript
Very large mailboxes not searchable via AppleScript Apple Mail's AppleScript bridge times out on mailboxes with tens of thousands of messages, so unscoped search-messages skips mailboxes above APPLE_MAIL_MAX_SEARCH_MAILBOX (default 5000) and reports them as a partial result. Scope with mailbox + a date window — or configure the IMAP backend, which searches these server-side in well under a second. (#24)
Can't delete/rename server-side mailboxes or mutate drafts via AppleScript Mail.app's AppleScript bridge can only delete/rename local "On My Mac" mailboxes and cannot delete/move drafts — it throws AppleEvent handler failed for IMAP/Gmail/Workspace/iCloud/Exchange mailboxes (the GUI can do it). Without IMAP configured, delete-mailbox/rename-mailbox/delete-message/move-message return a clear "do it in Mail.app directly" error instead of a generic failure. With the IMAP backend configured for the account, these operations run via IMAP and succeed. (#42)
In-memory templates Email templates are not persisted across server restarts
Numeric-only message IDs Message IDs must contain only digits (validated by schema)
Batch size cap Batch operations are limited to 100 messages per request
Date filter format Date filters must be valid parseable dates (e.g., "January 1, 2026" or "2026-03-15"); bare numbers or non-date strings are rejected
Attachment save path restrictions save-attachment only allows saving to home directory, /tmp, /private/tmp, and /Volumes; path traversal is blocked
Attachment count limit send-email and create-draft accept a maximum of 20 file attachments
Mail.app <blockquote> wrapping on macOS 15+ (workaround in v1.6.0)

On macOS 15+ Mail.app wraps AppleScript-injected message bodies in <blockquote type="cite"> under the Apple-Mail-URLShareWrapperClass template, so mail sent via the default applescript transport renders to recipients as quoted/forwarded content (Apple radar FB11734014, open since Ventura, no fix). Since v1.6.0, send-email accepts transport: "smtp" to bypass Mail.app and send clean MIME directly — see SMTP transport. The AppleScript path is still the default and still exhibits Apple's wrapping. (#12)

Reply / Forward from Background Processes (Fixed in v1.4.0)

Prior to v1.4.0, reply-to-message and forward-message would send messages with empty body text when the MCP server ran as a background process (e.g., spawned via execSync from Node.js, which is how Claude Code invokes it).

Root cause: The AppleScript reply msg with opening window command creates a GUI compose window asynchronously. When set content runs immediately after, the window may not be ready, and the content assignment is silently ignored. Delays (delay 1, delay 2) were unreliable — the compose window's readiness depends on system load, Mail.app state, and whether the process has GUI access.

Fix: Replaced with opening window with without opening window for both reply and forward commands. With this approach, set content works immediately and reliably from background processes. In-Reply-To and References headers are still set correctly by Mail.app, and no GUI compose window is opened.

Update (v2.5.0): when SMTP is configured, reply-to-message and forward-message now prefer clean direct SMTP instead of AppleScript — the same prefer-direct model as send-email. Replies are threaded with RFC 5322 In-Reply-To/References headers built from the original message; forwards start a new conversation. The AppleScript without opening window path above remains the fallback when SMTP is not configured (or, for replies, when the original message lacks the headers needed to thread).

See #7 for full details and the list of approaches that were tested.

Backslash Escaping (Important for AI Agents)

When sending content containing backslashes (\) to this MCP server, you must escape them as \\ in the JSON parameters.

Why: The MCP protocol uses JSON for parameter passing. In JSON, a single backslash is an escape character. To include a literal backslash in content, it must be escaped as \\.

Example - Email with file path:

{
  "to": ["colleague@company.com"],
  "subject": "File Location",
  "body": "The file is at C:\\\\Users\\\\Documents\\\\report.pdf"
}

The \\\\ in JSON becomes \\ in the actual string, which represents a single \ in the email.

Common patterns requiring escaping:

  • Windows paths: C:\Users\ → C:\\\\Users\\\\ in JSON
  • Shell escaped spaces: Mobile\ Documents → Mobile\\\\ Documents in JSON
  • Regex patterns: \d+ → \\\\d+ in JSON

If you see errors when sending emails with backslashes, double-check that backslashes are properly escaped in the JSON payload.

Troubleshooting

"Mail.app not responding"
  • Ensure Mail.app is not frozen
  • Try opening Mail.app manually
  • Restart the MCP server
"Permission denied"
  • macOS needs automation permission
  • Go to System Preferences > Privacy & Security > Automation
  • Ensure your terminal/Claude has permission to control Mail
"Message not found"
  • Message may have been deleted or moved
  • Message IDs change if the message is moved between mailboxes
  • Use search-messages to find the current message ID
search-messages says "Partial results" or skips a mailbox
  • This is expected for very large IMAP/Gmail mailboxes (e.g. Gmail's All Mail, Important): Apple Mail can't scan them via AppleScript before timing out, so they're skipped and named in the result rather than silently returning empty.
  • To search inside one, scope the call with mailbox and a dateFrom/dateTo window.
  • Raise or disable the threshold with APPLE_MAIL_MAX_SEARCH_MAILBOX (default 5000; 0 disables the guard) — note that disabling it can make a single search take minutes.
  • A Partial results warning means coverage was incomplete; it is not a confirmed "no such mail."
"Account not found"
  • Account names must match exactly (case-sensitive)
  • Use list-accounts to see exact account names
"Failed to send email"
  • Check your network connection
  • Verify Mail.app can send emails manually
  • Check if the account is configured correctly in Mail.app
apple-mail server fails to connect when run from a clone
  • The root .mcp.json resolves its entrypoint via ${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR:-.}/build/index.js. Launch claude from inside the repo directory — CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR only resolves to the repo root in that case; the bare . fallback uses the launching shell's working directory and will point at the wrong place otherwise.
  • Run npm run build first — the server is build/index.js, which doesn't exist until you build.
  • Run claude mcp list to check status. If you see a conflicting scopes warning for apple-mail, you have it registered at more than one scope; project-scope wins. See Running from a clone for how scope precedence resolves.
  • If claude mcp get apple-mail shows Pending approval, approve the project-scope server (Claude Code prompts on startup, or run it again after approving).

Development

npm install            # Install dependencies
npm run build          # Compile TypeScript
npm test               # Run unit tests
npm run test:integration  # Run integration tests (requires Mail.app)
npm run test:all       # Run all tests (unit + integration)
npm run lint           # Check code style
npm run format         # Format code

Author

Rob Sweet - President, Superior Technologies Research

A software consulting, contracting, and development company.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Related Projects

Part of a family of macOS MCP servers:

  • apple-notes-mcp — MCP server for Apple Notes (create, search, update, and export notes)
  • apple-numbers-mcp — MCP server for Apple Numbers (read and write .numbers spreadsheets)
  • apple-photos-mcp — MCP server for Apple Photos (query metadata and export originals)

Recurring macOS permission prompts

If macOS keeps re-prompting for Full Disk Access or Automation for node (often after a brew upgrade), see docs/NODE-RUNTIME-AND-TCC-PERMISSIONS.md — the fix is to run this server under the official, Developer-ID-signed Node so the grant survives Node updates.

Keywords

mcpapple-mailclaudecodexaiapplescriptmacosemailmodel-context-protocol