@monsoft/mcp-gmail v0.4.0

Gmail MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Gmail integration in Claude Desktop with auto authentication support. This server enables AI assistants to manage Gmail through natural language interactions.

This package is maintained by Monsoft Solutions, a software development company specializing in AI-powered solutions and developer tools. This is a fork and enhancement of the original work by @gongrzhe.

Features

• Send emails with subject, content, attachments, and recipients
• Full support for international characters in subject lines and email content
• Read email messages by ID with advanced MIME structure handling
• View email attachments information (filenames, types, sizes)
• Search emails with various criteria (subject, sender, date range)
• List all available Gmail labels (system and user-defined)
• List emails in inbox, sent, or custom labels
• Mark emails as read/unread
• Move emails to different labels/folders
• Delete emails
• Full integration with Gmail API
• Simple OAuth2 authentication flow with auto browser launch
• Support for both Desktop and Web application credentials
• Global credential storage for convenience

Installation & Authentication

Prerequisites

1. Create a Google Cloud Project and obtain credentials:

   a. Create a Google Cloud Project:

   • Go to Google Cloud Console
   • Create a new project or select an existing one
   • Enable the Gmail API for your project

   b. Create OAuth 2.0 Credentials:

   • Go to "APIs & Services" > "Credentials"
   • Click "Create Credentials" > "OAuth client ID"
   • Choose either "Desktop app" or "Web application" as application type
   • Give it a name and click "Create"
   • For Web application, add http://localhost:3000/oauth2callback to the authorized redirect URIs
   • Download the JSON file of your client's OAuth keys
   • Rename the key file to gcp-oauth.keys.json

Authentication Setup

You can authenticate in two ways:

1. Global Authentication (Recommended):

# First time: Place gcp-oauth.keys.json in your home directory's .gmail-mcp folder
mkdir -p ~/.gmail-mcp
mv gcp-oauth.keys.json ~/.gmail-mcp/

# Run authentication from anywhere
npx @monsoft/mcp-gmail auth

2. Local Authentication:

# Place gcp-oauth.keys.json in your current directory
# The file will be automatically copied to global config
npx @monsoft/mcp-gmail auth

The authentication process will:

• Look for gcp-oauth.keys.json in the current directory or ~/.gmail-mcp/
• If found in current directory, copy it to ~/.gmail-mcp/
• Open your default browser for Google authentication
• Save credentials as ~/.gmail-mcp/credentials.json

Note:

• After successful authentication, credentials are stored globally in ~/.gmail-mcp/ and can be used from any directory
• Both Desktop app and Web application credentials are supported
• For Web application credentials, make sure to add http://localhost:3000/oauth2callback to your authorized redirect URIs

Configure in Claude Desktop

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "gmail": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": ["@monsoft/mcp-gmail"]
        }
    }
}

Docker Support

If you prefer using Docker:

1. Authentication:

docker run -i --rm \
  --mount type=bind,source=/path/to/gcp-oauth.keys.json,target=/gcp-oauth.keys.json \
  -v mcp-gmail:/gmail-server \
  -e GMAIL_OAUTH_PATH=/gcp-oauth.keys.json \
  -e "GMAIL_CREDENTIALS_PATH=/gmail-server/credentials.json" \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  monsoft/mcp-gmail auth

2. Usage:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "gmail": {
            "command": "docker",
            "args": [
                "run",
                "-i",
                "--rm",
                "-v",
                "mcp-gmail:/gmail-server",
                "-e",
                "GMAIL_CREDENTIALS_PATH=/gmail-server/credentials.json",
                "monsoft/mcp-gmail"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Available Tools

The server provides the following tools that can be used through Claude Desktop:

1. Send Email (gmail_send_email)

Sends a new email immediately.

{
    "to": ["recipient@example.com"],
    "subject": "Meeting Tomorrow",
    "body": "Hi,\n\nJust a reminder about our meeting tomorrow at 10 AM.\n\nBest regards",
    "cc": ["cc@example.com"],
    "bcc": ["bcc@example.com"]
}

2. Draft Email (gmail_draft_email)

Creates a draft email without sending it.

{
    "to": ["recipient@example.com"],
    "subject": "Draft Report",
    "body": "Here's the draft report for your review.",
    "cc": ["manager@example.com"]
}

3. Read Email (gmail_read_email)

Retrieves the content of a specific email by its ID.

{
    "messageId": "182ab45cd67ef"
}

4. Search Emails (gmail_list_emails)

Searches for emails using Gmail search syntax.

{
    "query": "from:sender@example.com after:2024/01/01 has:attachment",
    "maxResults": 10
}

5. Modify Email (gmail_modify_email)

Adds or removes labels from emails (move to different folders, archive, etc.).

{
    "messageId": "182ab45cd67ef",
    "addLabelIds": ["IMPORTANT"],
    "removeLabelIds": ["INBOX"]
}

6. Delete Email (gmail_delete_email)

Permanently deletes an email.

{
    "messageId": "182ab45cd67ef"
}

7. List Email Labels (gmail_list_email_labels)

Retrieves all available Gmail labels.

{}

8. Advanced Search Emails (gmail_list_emails_with_advanced_filters)

Searches for emails using structured filtering options instead of raw Gmail query syntax.

{
    "from": "john@example.com",
    "afterDate": "2024/01/01",
    "beforeDate": "2024/03/31",
    "hasAttachment": true,
    "isRead": false,
    "subject": "report",
    "maxResults": 20
}

Key filter parameters:

• from - Filter by sender email address
• to - Filter by recipient email address
• subject - Search for text in the subject line
• afterDate and beforeDate - Date range filters (format: YYYY/MM/DD)
• hasAttachment - Filter emails with attachments
• isRead - Filter by read/unread status
• isStarred - Filter starred emails
• inFolder - Filter by folder location (inbox, sent, trash, etc.)
• hasWords - Filter emails containing specific words
• doesNotHaveWords - Exclude emails containing specific words
• minSize and maxSize - Filter by email size (in MB)
• labels - Filter by specific Gmail labels
• maxResults - Maximum number of results to return

9. Mark as Read (gmail_mark_as_read)

Marks an email as read.

{
    "messageId": "182ab45cd67ef"
}

10. Mark as Unread (gmail_mark_as_unread)

Marks an email as unread.

{
    "messageId": "182ab45cd67ef"
}

11. Archive Email (gmail_archive_email)

Moves an email out of the inbox (archives it).

{
    "messageId": "182ab45cd67ef"
}

12. Move to Trash (gmail_move_to_trash)

Moves an email to the trash.

{
    "messageId": "182ab45cd67ef"
}

13. Recover from Trash (gmail_recover_from_trash)

Restores an email from the trash.

{
    "messageId": "182ab45cd67ef"
}

14. Get Vacation Responder (gmail_get_vacation_responder)

Gets the current auto-reply (out-of-office) settings.

{}

15. Set Vacation Responder (gmail_set_vacation_responder)

Configures auto-reply (out-of-office) settings.

{
    "enableAutoReply": true,
    "responseSubject": "Out of Office",
    "responseBodyPlainText": "I'm currently out of the office and will return on Monday.",
    "startTime": "2024-07-01T08:00:00Z",
    "endTime": "2024-07-15T17:00:00Z",
    "restrictToContacts": true
}

16. Get Forwarding (gmail_get_forwarding)

Gets the current email forwarding settings.

{}

17. Update Forwarding (gmail_update_forwarding)

Modifies email forwarding settings.

{
    "forwardingEmail": "external@example.com",
    "enabled": true,
    "disposition": "archive"
}

Batch Email Operations

• gmail_batch_delete - Delete multiple emails in a single operation
• gmail_batch_modify - Apply or remove labels from multiple emails at once
• gmail_batch_mark_as_read - Mark multiple emails as read in a single operation
• gmail_batch_mark_as_unread - Mark multiple emails as unread in a single operation
• gmail_batch_archive - Archive multiple emails in a single operation
• gmail_batch_move_to_trash - Move multiple emails to trash in a single operation

Batch Operations

Gmail MCP Server provides powerful batch operations for managing multiple emails simultaneously:

1. Batch Delete Emails (gmail_batch_delete)

Delete multiple emails in a single operation.

{
    "messageIds": ["182ab45cd67ef", "182ab45cd68ab"]
}

2. Batch Modify Emails (gmail_batch_modify)

Apply or remove labels from multiple emails at once.

{
    "messageIds": ["182ab45cd67ef", "182ab45cd68ab"],
    "addLabelIds": ["IMPORTANT"],
    "removeLabelIds": ["INBOX"]
}

3. Batch Mark as Read (gmail_batch_mark_as_read)

Mark multiple emails as read in a single operation.

{
    "messageIds": ["182ab45cd67ef", "182ab45cd68ab"]
}

4. Batch Mark as Unread (gmail_batch_mark_as_unread)

Mark multiple emails as unread in a single operation.

{
    "messageIds": ["182ab45cd67ef", "182ab45cd68ab"]
}

5. Batch Archive Emails (gmail_batch_archive)

Archive multiple emails in a single operation.

{
    "messageIds": ["182ab45cd67ef", "182ab45cd68ab"]
}

6. Batch Move to Trash (gmail_batch_move_to_trash)

Move multiple emails to trash in a single operation.

{
    "messageIds": ["182ab45cd67ef", "182ab45cd68ab"]
}

Advanced Search Syntax

The search_emails tool supports Gmail's powerful search operators:

You can combine multiple operators: from:john@example.com after:2024/01/01 has:attachment

Advanced Features

Email Content Extraction

The server intelligently extracts email content from complex MIME structures:

• Prioritizes plain text content when available
• Falls back to HTML content if plain text is not available
• Handles multi-part MIME messages with nested parts
• Processes attachments information (filename, type, size)
• Preserves original email headers (From, To, Subject, Date)

International Character Support

The server fully supports non-ASCII characters in email subjects and content, including:

• Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other non-Latin alphabets
• Special characters and symbols
• Proper encoding ensures correct display in email clients

Security Notes

• OAuth credentials are stored securely in your local environment (~/.gmail-mcp/)
• The server uses offline access to maintain persistent authentication
• Never share or commit your credentials to version control
• Regularly review and revoke unused access in your Google Account settings
• Credentials are stored globally but are only accessible by the current user

Troubleshooting

1. OAuth Keys Not Found

   • Make sure gcp-oauth.keys.json is in either your current directory or ~/.gmail-mcp/
   • Check file permissions

2. Invalid Credentials Format

   • Ensure your OAuth keys file contains either web or installed credentials
   • For web applications, verify the redirect URI is correctly configured

3. Port Already in Use

   • If port 3000 is already in use, please free it up before running authentication
   • You can find and stop the process using that port

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Support

For support, feature requests, or bug reports, please open an issue on our GitHub repository.

About Monsoft Solutions

Monsoft Solutions is a software development company that specializes in creating AI-powered solutions and developer tools. We focus on building robust, scalable, and user-friendly applications that help developers and businesses leverage the power of artificial intelligence.

TODO: Additional Gmail Tools

The following Gmail API tools are planned for future implementation:

Attachment Management

• download_attachment - Download email attachments
• upload_attachment - Add attachments to draft emails

Thread Management

• get_thread - Retrieve an entire email conversation thread
• modify_thread - Apply labels or actions to all emails in a thread

Draft Management

• update_draft - Modify an existing draft email
• delete_draft - Remove a draft email
• list_drafts - Get all saved draft emails

Label Management

• ✅ create_label - Create a new Gmail label
• ✅ update_label - Modify an existing label
• ✅ delete_label - Remove a custom label

Settings Management

• ✅ gmail_get_vacation_responder - Get auto-reply settings
• ✅ gmail_set_vacation_responder - Configure out-of-office responses
• ✅ gmail_get_forwarding - Get email forwarding settings
• ✅ gmail_update_forwarding - Modify email forwarding settings

Message Actions

• ✅ mark_as_read - Mark messages as read
• ✅ mark_as_unread - Mark messages as unread
• ✅ archive_email - Move messages to archive
• ✅ move_to_trash - Move messages to trash
• ✅ recover_from_trash - Restore messages from trash

Advanced Search

• ✅ search_with_filters - Search with complex criteria (date ranges, attachments, etc.)

Batch Email Operations

• ✅ batch_delete - Delete multiple emails in a single operation
• ✅ batch_modify - Apply or remove labels from multiple emails at once
• ✅ batch_mark_as_read - Mark multiple emails as read in a single operation
• ✅ batch_mark_as_unread - Mark multiple emails as unread in a single operation
• ✅ batch_archive - Archive multiple emails in a single operation
• ✅ batch_move_to_trash - Move multiple emails to trash in a single operation