MCP Server

Overview

Maho Mail includes a built-in Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. This allows any MCP-compatible AI agent (like Claude Desktop, Cursor, or your own custom agents) to read, search, and draft emails directly from your inbox using standard stdio or SSE communication.

Why use MCP with Email?

Instead of copying and pasting text between your email client and an AI, you can connect the AI directly to your inbox.

• “Did I get an email from John about the invoice?”
• “Summarize all threads in my project folder from this week.”
• “Draft a polite reply to the latest email saying I will review it by tomorrow.”

Setup with Claude Desktop

To connect Maho Mail to Claude Desktop, you need to edit your claude_desktop_config.json file.

1. Open Claude Desktop preferences and navigate to the developer section to find your config file.
2. Add Maho Mail to the mcpServers object:

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

Note: Make sure the maho-mail binary is in your system PATH, or provide the absolute path in the command field.

3. Restart Claude Desktop. You should now see a “plug” icon indicating that the maho-mail tools are available.

Available Tools

The MCP server exposes the same underlying capabilities as the CLI:

• search_emails(query, limit)
• get_thread(thread_id)
• list_folders(account_id)
• draft_reply(thread_id, content)

Because the MCP server connects to the exact same local SQLite database as the GUI, any changes made by the AI will immediately reflect in your Desktop app without syncing delays.