OpenMail

Email for AI assistants

Connect any email inbox to your AI assistant

Read-only by default. Sending is opt-in per mailbox, and your assistant asks you before every email.

Get started freeHow it works
  • Any IMAP provider
  • Read-only by default
  • No email stored

How it works

Three steps, about two minutes.

  1. Create an account

    Sign up with an email and password. No credit card.

  2. Add your mailboxes

    Pick a preset or enter any IMAP server. OpenMail tests the connection before saving, then encrypts the password.

  3. Connect your assistant

    Add the OpenMail URL and sign in to approve access (read-only unless you allow sending), or use an API key for Grok Bot.

Connect your assistant

First sign up and add a mailbox. Then pick the option your assistant supports.

Option 1: Sign in with OpenMail (Claude, ChatGPT and other MCP clients with sign-in)

  1. In your assistant, add a custom or remote MCP connector with just this URL. No key or header needed.
MCP URL
https://mcp.openmail.tools/mcp
  1. Your assistant opens OpenMail. Log in, check the list of mailboxes, and click Allow. Access is read-only unless the app asks to send and you tick the box that also allows sending.
  2. Disconnect it any time under Connected apps on your dashboard.

Option 2: API key (Grok Bot and clients that send a header)

  1. Create an API key on your dashboard. Copy it: it is shown only once.
  2. In Grok Bot, add a custom MCP connector (streamable HTTP) with:
MCP URL
https://mcp.openmail.tools/mcp
Header
Authorization: Bearer <your key>
  1. Ask something about your email. Revoke the key any time from your dashboard.

What you can ask

Ask your assistant in plain language. It picks the right tools.

  • “Find invoices from last month”
  • “Summarize unread emails from today”
  • “Show the thread with Acme about the contract”

Tools

Five read tools, plus send when you turn it on.

list_accounts

Lists the mailboxes you added: name, address, provider and host. Never passwords.

list_folders

Folders with total and unread counts.

search_messages

Search by sender, recipient, subject, text, date, unread or attachments. Newest first, paged.

read_message

Headers, plain-text body and attachment names and sizes. Does not mark the message as read.

read_thread

The whole conversation, oldest first.

send_message

Sends one email after you have seen it and said to send it. Off unless you turn sending on for that mailbox.

Security & privacy

Built to be safe to connect to an inbox.

  • Read-only by default

    Agents can list, search and read. Sending is off until you turn it on for a mailbox and allow it for that connection. They cannot delete, move or flag mail.

  • Never marks mail as read

    Messages are opened read-only and fetched with BODY.PEEK, so unread stays unread.

  • No email stored

    Messages are fetched from your provider on request and passed straight to your assistant.

  • Encrypted passwords

    Mailbox passwords are encrypted with AES-256-GCM using a key unique to your account.

  • Hashed, revocable access

    API keys and sign-in tokens are stored only as SHA-256 hashes. Revoke a key or disconnect an app and it stops working at once.

  • TLS always verified

    Connections to mail servers use TLS with certificate checks that cannot be switched off.

  • Email is untrusted content

    Tool results tell the assistant that email text is data, never instructions to follow.

  • MIT licensed

    OpenMail is MIT-licensed software. The source code is on GitHub.

Works with

  • Migadu
  • Fastmail
  • Zoho Mail
  • iCloud Mail
  • Any IMAP server

FAQ

Is my mail stored?

No. OpenMail fetches messages from your provider when your assistant asks and does not keep them. It stores only your account details, encrypted mailbox passwords, and hashed API keys and sign-in tokens. See the privacy policy.

Can it send or delete email?

It can send only from a mailbox where you turned sending on, and only after your assistant shows you the email and you confirm it. It cannot delete, move or flag mail, and reading never marks a message as read.

Which providers work?

Any mailbox with IMAP and SMTP. Migadu, Fastmail, Zoho, iCloud and Gmail have presets; for anything else, enter the servers yourself. Use an app-specific password where your provider offers one. Gmail needs an App Password.

Which assistants can I use?

Any assistant that supports remote MCP servers. Clients that support MCP sign-in (OAuth), such as Claude custom connectors, Claude Code, ChatGPT and MCP Inspector, only need the URL: you log in to OpenMail and approve access, which is read-only unless you also allow sending. Grok Bot and clients that send a fixed header use an API key from your dashboard.

How do I revoke access?

Open your dashboard and disconnect the app under Connected apps, revoke the API key, or remove the mailbox. Each takes effect immediately.

Is it free?

Yes, OpenMail is free while in beta.

Can I self-host?

Yes, OpenMail runs as a single Docker Compose stack. See the deploy guide on GitHub.

Give your assistant your inbox, safely

Get started freeReviewer guide