What is Mail IMAP MCP Server?
Mail IMAP MCP Server enables AI assistants and applications to interact with email via the IMAP protocol through a consistent, type-safe MCP interface. It communicates over stdio and provides 10 specialized tools for comprehensive email operations—from listing mailboxes to searching messages, parsing content, and performing write operations.Key features
Secure by default
TLS-only connections with certificate verification. Passwords stored as secrets and never logged or returned in responses.
Cursor-based pagination
Efficiently navigate large mailboxes with cursor-based pagination. Search results include continuation tokens for seamless browsing.
Multi-account support
Configure multiple IMAP accounts via environment variables. Switch between personal, work, and other accounts seamlessly.
Message parsing
Extract text, headers, and attachments with automatic sanitization. Optional PDF text extraction from attachments.
Structured output
Consistent tool response envelope with summaries, metadata, and execution timing for all operations.
Write operations
Copy, move, flag, and delete operations require explicit opt-in for safety. Delete requires confirmation parameter.
Rust-powered
Fast, memory-safe async/await implementation with Tokio runtime for high performance.
10 MCP tools
Comprehensive email operations: list accounts, verify connectivity, search messages, get details, and modify mailboxes.
Use cases
- AI email assistants: Enable AI to read, search, and manage email on behalf of users
- Email automation: Build workflows that process incoming messages and take actions
- Multi-account management: Monitor and interact with multiple email accounts from a single interface
- Email analytics: Extract insights from mailbox contents with structured data access
- Customer support: Build tools that help agents search and retrieve customer correspondence
Architecture
Mail IMAP MCP Server is built with:- Language: Rust (edition 2024)
- Runtime: Tokio async runtime
- Protocol: Model Context Protocol (MCP) via stdio
- IMAP library: async-imap with rustls for TLS
- Message parsing: mailparse with ammonia HTML sanitization
Next steps
Installation
Install via npm, curl, Docker, or build from source
Quick start
Configure your first IMAP account and start using the server
Configuration
Learn about account setup and environment variables
API Reference
Explore all 10 MCP tools and their parameters