The Gmail MCP server
for Claude, Cursor and ChatGPT
Give your AI agent a real Gmail inbox in minutes. Read, search, send, reply, schedule and organize mail using a Google app password, and use the same inbox in every MCP client, not just one.
Claude cannot reach Gmail on its own. mcpemails is a hosted MCP server that sits between them: you create a Google app password once, paste one URL into your MCP client, and Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT can then read, search, send, reply to and schedule your Gmail. One inbox is free, forever.
How Gmail connects: a Google app password
Gmail connects with a Google app password over IMAP and SMTP. Google only offers app passwords on accounts with 2-Step Verification switched on, so turn that on first, then create one at myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. It is 16 lowercase letters in four groups, and you paste it in place of your normal Google password, which will not work. Revoke it anytime from the same Google page, or delete the inbox in mcpemails.
Company mailbox on Google Workspace, on your own domain? Connect Google Workspace, and the admin settings that decide it
Google shows an unverified app screen
Google reviews apps that request Gmail access, and mcpemails.com has not been through that review. You will see an unverified app screen during sign-in, with the steps to continue. The connection itself is not time-limited: once connected, an inbox stays connected until you revoke it.
A Gmail inbox your agent can actually use
Seventeen action-based MCP tools: send, reply, forward, schedule, and organize. Your agent finishes the job inside Gmail.
- 01Read
Read & search mail
List, read and search across folders to find that invoice, summarize a thread, or pull the latest from a sender.
- 02Send
Send, reply & forward
Compose and send real messages, reply in-thread, and forward, directly from your mailbox, not as a draft you finish by hand.
- 03Schedule
Schedule for later
Queue a message to go out at the right time, so your agent can draft now and send on schedule.
- 04Organize
Move, copy, flag, archive, delete
Keep the inbox tidy: file mail into folders, flag what matters, archive the rest, or delete on request.
Connect Gmail in four steps
From sign-up to first AI email in a couple of minutes.
Create a free account
Sign up for mcpemails, no card required. The free plan connects one inbox, forever.
Create a Google app password
Switch on 2-Step Verification in your Google account if it is not already on, then go to myaccount.google.com/apppasswords and create one. Paste the 16 characters into mcpemails with your full Gmail address. Spaces in the code do not matter.
Paste the MCP URL into your AI
Drop https://mcpemails.com/api/mcp into Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT, authorize, and your agent has the inbox.
Prefer a walkthrough with screenshots? How to connect Gmail to Claude
Comparing providers first? See the email provider compatibility matrix
What actually goes wrong with Gmail
Google publishes its own Gmail MCP server, and for Gmail alone it is the shorter path
Google announced official MCP support for its services, including a Workspace MCP server that covers Gmail alongside Drive, Calendar and Chat. We are not going to pretend otherwise. If Gmail is the only mailbox you want an assistant to touch, and your client speaks to Google's server, use it. The reason to point mcpemails at Gmail instead is that the same server also holds your iCloud, Fastmail, Zoho, Yahoo or company IMAP mailbox, exposes every one of them through one MCP URL, and behaves the same way in Claude, Cursor and ChatGPT. One connector per provider, each with its own auth and its own tool names, is the thing this avoids.
On a work Gmail, the Google sign-in option can be blocked by your Workspace administrator
This applies only to the Google sign-in option, not to an app password. Google Workspace administrators control third-party API access under Security, then API controls, then App access control. An admin can block all third-party apps outright, or allow an app only for named OAuth scopes. Where that is switched on, Google refuses at its own consent screen with Error 400: admin_policy_enforced, and the request never reaches us. Nothing on our side can override it: an administrator has to allow the app for the Gmail scopes. Personal accounts ending in @gmail.com have no such policy and are unaffected.
Gmail has labels, not folders, so a move is not a move
Gmail stores labels, not folders. Over IMAP every label appears as a folder, and the Google sign-in option works on the labels directly, so either way a message can carry several labels at once and show up in several folders. Moving it means adding one label and removing another, and archiving is simply removing INBOX. Delete puts the message in Gmail's Trash rather than erasing it. If you ask an agent to file mail into a folder that does not exist yet, the label has to be created first, and it will then appear in Gmail on every device.
A Google Workspace admin can switch app passwords off
On a personal Google account the only prerequisite is 2-Step Verification. On a Google Workspace account an administrator can disable app passwords for the whole domain, in which case myaccount.google.com/apppasswords is simply unavailable to you and there is nothing you can do from inside the mailbox. Ask your admin, or connect a different mailbox.
Known limits with Gmail
- Either way, mcpemails reaches mail only: an app password is used for IMAP and SMTP alone, and the Google sign-in option requests only the Gmail read, send, modify and basic settings scopes. Drive, Calendar, Chat and Docs are not reached.
- A Google Workspace administrator can close either route from the Admin console: app passwords can be switched off for the domain, and third-party API access can be blocked for the Google sign-in option. Only an administrator can change either decision.
- Delete moves a message into Gmail's Trash. Permanently erasing mail is done in Gmail itself.
Gmail and AI: common questions
Does Claude work with Gmail?
Yes, once something stands between them that speaks Gmail on Claude's behalf. mcpemails is one such thing: you create a Google app password, paste one MCP URL, and Claude can read, search, send, reply, forward and schedule mail. Google also publishes an official Workspace MCP server covering Gmail. The practical difference is that mcpemails is not Google-only, so the same URL serves your other mailboxes too.
Is there an official Gmail MCP server from Google?
Yes. Google announced official MCP support for its services, with a Workspace MCP server spanning Gmail, Drive, Calendar and Chat. Use it when Gmail is the only mailbox involved and your client supports it. Choose a third-party server such as mcpemails when you want several providers behind a single MCP URL, or when you want identical behaviour across Claude, Cursor and ChatGPT.
Do I need an app password for Gmail?
Yes. Gmail connects over IMAP and SMTP with a Google app password, not your normal Google password. Google only shows app passwords on accounts with 2-Step Verification enabled, so switch that on first, then create one at myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. It takes about a minute. Google sign-in is still offered as an alternative, but it shows an unverified-app warning you have to click past.
Why does Google refuse the Google sign-in option on my work account?
Almost always an administrator policy. Google Workspace admins restrict which third-party applications may use Gmail scopes under Security, API controls, App access control. When the app is not allowed, Google stops the flow with Error 400: admin_policy_enforced before anything reaches us. Your administrator has to permit the app, or you can connect with an app password instead, if your domain allows those. A personal Gmail account will not hit this.
Does it work with a Google Workspace custom domain?
Yes. A Workspace mailbox on your own domain connects with an app password exactly like a gmail.com address and behaves identically afterwards. The one condition is administrator policy: the domain has to allow app passwords, or, if you use the Google sign-in option, third-party API access has to be permitted for the account, otherwise Google blocks the consent screen.
Is my Gmail stored on your servers?
No. Messages are fetched live from Google for each request and handed to your AI client. Your app password, or the OAuth token if you use Google sign-in, is encrypted at rest and message bodies are not retained. Revoking the app password or the access in your Google Account, or deleting the inbox in mcpemails, ends the connection straight away.
Give your AI a Gmail inbox
Connect Gmail in minutes. One inbox free forever, no card required.