Apple Mail MCP Server

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An MCP server that gives AI assistants full access to Apple Mail -- read, search, compose, organize, and analyze emails via natural language. Built with FastMCP.

Quick Install

Prerequisites: macOS with Apple Mail configured, Python 3.10+

Claude Code Plugin (Recommended)

Two commands — gets you the MCP server, /email-management slash command, and the Email Management Expert skill:

claude plugin marketplace add patrickfreyer/apple-mail-mcp
claude plugin install apple-mail@apple-mail-mcp

Then restart Claude Code.

Other Install Methods

claude mcp add apple-mail -- uvx mcp-apple-mail

Or for Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

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

pip install mcp-apple-mail
claude mcp add apple-mail -- mcp-apple-mail

1. Download the latest apple-mail-mcp-vX.Y.Z.mcpb from Releases
2. Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → MCP Servers → Install from file
3. Select the .mcpb file and grant Mail.app permissions

git clone https://github.com/patrickfreyer/apple-mail-mcp.git
cd apple-mail-mcp/plugin
python3 -m venv venv
venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt

claude mcp add apple-mail -- /bin/bash $(pwd)/start_mcp.sh

Tools (22)

Reading & Search

Organization

Composition

Attachments

Smart Inbox

Analytics & Export

Configuration

Read-Only Mode

Pass --read-only to disable tools that send email (compose_email, reply_to_email, forward_email). Draft management remains available (list, create, delete) but sending a draft via manage_drafts is blocked.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-mail": {
      "command": "/path/to/venv/bin/python3",
      "args": ["/path/to/apple_mail_mcp.py", "--read-only"]
    }
  }
}

User Preferences (Optional)

Set the USER_EMAIL_PREFERENCES environment variable to give the assistant context about your workflow:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-mail": {
      "command": "/path/to/venv/bin/python3",
      "args": ["/path/to/apple_mail_mcp.py"],
      "env": {
        "USER_EMAIL_PREFERENCES": "Default to BCG account, show max 50 emails, prefer Archive and Projects folders"
      }
    }
  }
}

For .mcpb installs, configure this in Claude Desktop under Developer > MCP Servers > Apple Mail MCP.

Safety Limits

Batch operations have conservative defaults to prevent accidental bulk actions:

Override via function parameters when needed.

Usage Examples

Show me an overview of my inbox
Search for emails about "project update" in my Gmail
Reply to the email about "Domain name" with "Thanks for the update!"
Move emails with "invoice" in the subject to my Archive folder
Show me email statistics for the last 30 days
Create a rich HTML draft for a weekly update and open it in Mail

Rich HTML Drafts

Use create_rich_email_draft when you need a visually formatted email, newsletter, or leadership update.

• It generates an unsent .eml file with multipart plain-text + HTML bodies
• It can open the draft directly in Mail for editing
• It can optionally ask Mail to save the opened compose window into Drafts
• It accepts partial details, so you can start with just an account and subject and fill in the rest later

This is more reliable than injecting raw HTML into AppleScript content, which Mail often stores as literal markup.

Email Management Skill

A companion Claude Code Skill is included that teaches Claude expert email workflows (Inbox Zero, daily triage, folder organization). When installed as a plugin, the skill is loaded automatically. For standalone MCP installs, copy it manually:

cp -r plugin/skills/email-management ~/.claude/skills/email-management

Requirements

• macOS with Apple Mail configured
• Python 3.7+
• fastmcp (+ optional mcp-ui-server for dashboard)
• Claude Desktop or any MCP-compatible client
• Mail.app permissions: Automation + Mail Data Access (grant in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Automation)

Troubleshooting

Project Structure

apple-mail-mcp/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── marketplace.json       # Marketplace manifest (for plugin distribution)
├── plugin/                    # Claude Code plugin
│   ├── .claude-plugin/
│   │   └── plugin.json        # Plugin manifest
│   ├── commands/              # /email-management slash command
│   ├── skills/                # Email Management Expert skill
│   ├── apple_mail_mcp/        # Python MCP server package (24 tools)
│   ├── apple_mail_mcp.py      # Entry point
│   ├── start_mcp.sh           # Startup wrapper (auto-creates venv)
│   └── requirements.txt
├── apple-mail-mcpb/           # MCPB build files (Claude Desktop)
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/my-feature)
3. Commit and push
4. Open a Pull Request

Releasing

Follow these steps when cutting a new release to keep all version strings in sync:

1. Bump __version__ in plugin/apple_mail_mcp/__init__.py to the new version.
2. Update apple-mail-mcpb/manifest.json ("version" field) to match.
3. Update pyproject.toml (version = ... under [project]) to match.
4. Update both version fields in server.json ("version" and "packages"[0]["version"]) to match.
5. Run python3 scripts/check_versions.py — it must print OK before you proceed.
6. C