Connect your inbox to ChatGPT
as a custom MCP connector
Turn on developer mode, create a connector pointing at one URL, and ChatGPT can read, search, send, reply, forward, schedule and organize your real mail.
In ChatGPT, turn on developer mode under Settings, Apps and Connectors, Advanced settings. Create a connector, paste https://mcpemails.com/api/mcp as the connector URL, choose OAuth, and authorize with MCPEmails. Developer mode works on chatgpt.com with Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu, and in each chat you switch it on from the + menu.
How ChatGPT connects: OAuth, no API key
ChatGPT runs the standard MCP OAuth flow against this server. It registers itself with RFC 7591 dynamic client registration, so there is no client ID to create, and authorizes with authorization code plus PKCE using S256. No client secret is ever transmitted, and the token carries only the scopes you approve on our consent screen. The access token it receives lasts an hour and refreshes itself; it is listed in Dashboard, API Keys as OAuth: followed by the client name, which is where you revoke the connection.
The one value you need
Everything on this page is a way of getting this URL into ChatGPT.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| MCP server URL | https://mcpemails.com/api/mcp |
| Transport | Streamable HTTP (MCP 2025-06-18) |
| Authentication | OAuth 2.1, authorization code with PKCE. No API key. |
How to connect ChatGPT to your inbox
Four steps. The first two are the same for every client, the rest are specific to this one.
Create a free account and connect a mailbox
Sign up at mcpemails.com, no card required, then go to Dashboard, Inboxes, Connect Inbox. Outlook and Microsoft 365 connect with Sign in with Microsoft; Gmail, iCloud, Fastmail, Yahoo, Zoho and Yandex take an app-specific password; anything else connects over plain IMAP and SMTP. The free plan holds one inbox, forever.
Turn on developer mode
Open Settings, Apps and Connectors, Advanced settings, and turn on Developer mode.
Create the connector
Back in Apps and Connectors, click Create. Enter a name and paste https://mcpemails.com/api/mcp as the Connector URL.
Choose OAuth and authorize
Pick OAuth, click Create, then authorize with MCPEmails and approve the scopes you want the connector to hold.
Switch it on in each chat
Open a new chat on chatgpt.com, click +, choose Developer mode and select the MCPEmails app. ChatGPT only sees the tools in a chat where you have done this, so repeat it in every new conversation. The connector stays listed under Apps and Connectors in between.
Official ChatGPT documentation for remote MCP servers: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/12584461
Prefer a full walkthrough? How to connect ChatGPT to your email
Wondering which mailbox to connect first? See the provider compatibility matrix
What trips people up in ChatGPT
Developer mode needs a paid plan, the web, and a switch in every chat
Custom MCP connectors are available on chatgpt.com to Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts. Free and Go accounts cannot add one, and the mobile and desktop apps do not offer developer mode. On Business and Enterprise an admin may have to allow developer mode for the workspace first. The step people miss is the last one: the connector does nothing until you pick Developer mode and the MCPEmails app from the + menu in the chat you are using.
Pick OAuth, not no-authentication, when you create the connector
The connector form asks how to authenticate. This server refuses anonymous calls: an unauthenticated request gets a 401 carrying an OAuth discovery pointer, which is what a compliant client follows to start the flow. Choosing no authentication produces a connector that fails on its first tool call rather than at setup, which is the confusing way round.
Read-only is a real option and often the right first one
The consent screen lets you hand ChatGPT read:email and search:email alone. That is enough for triage, summarising and finding things, and it removes every irreversible action from the table while you decide how much further you want to go.
Limits worth knowing
- Requests are rate limited to 100 per minute, 1,000 per hour and 10,000 per day per key, plus your plan ceiling on billable actions.
- The server is request and response only. There are no webhooks and no server-initiated events, so new mail never wakes your agent by itself. To react to arriving mail, poll on a schedule.
- Mail is fetched live from your provider on every call and never stored. Only the encrypted OAuth token or app password is kept, so a revoked token or a changed mailbox password ends access immediately.
ChatGPT and email, answered
Can ChatGPT read and send my email?
Through a custom MCP connector, yes. ChatGPT cannot reach a mailbox on its own; pointing a connector at MCPEmails gives it tools for reading, searching, sending, replying, forwarding, organizing and scheduling mail, limited to the scopes you approve during setup.
Why can I not create a connector in my ChatGPT account?
Developer mode needs ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu, on the web. Free and Go accounts cannot add custom connectors, and the mobile and desktop apps do not show the option. On a Business or Enterprise workspace, ask an admin to allow developer mode. If the connector is created but ChatGPT ignores it, open the + menu in the chat and select Developer mode and the MCPEmails app.
Do I need an API key for ChatGPT?
No. Pick OAuth when creating the connector and ChatGPT registers itself and completes an authorization code plus PKCE flow. API keys are for clients that cannot do that, and for scripts.
Which mailboxes can ChatGPT reach this way?
Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 over Sign in with Microsoft, where a work account may need an IT admin to approve the app once; Gmail, iCloud, Fastmail, Yahoo, Zoho and Yandex with an app-specific password; and any other mailbox that speaks IMAP and SMTP on the standard ports. The client sees them all through the same connection: your agent calls inbox_list first to discover every connected mailbox and its id, so there are no UUIDs to paste anywhere.
Can ChatGPT send email without me seeing it?
Only if you let it. Sending is gated on the send:email scope, so a key or a token without that scope cannot send at all. On top of that, an inbox owner can require human approval in the dashboard, which holds every send, reply, forward, draft send and scheduled send until a person releases it.
Is my email stored on your servers?
No. Every message is fetched live from your provider for the request that asked for it and handed straight to your client. Only the encrypted OAuth token or app password is kept, so future calls can authenticate. Deleting the inbox in the dashboard, or revoking access at your provider, ends the connection at once.
Give ChatGPT a real inbox
One connector, every mailbox you have connected. One inbox free forever.