Gmail AutoAuth 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.

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)
• Comprehensive label management with ability to create, update, delete and list labels
• 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
• Batch operations for efficiently processing multiple emails at once
• 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

Installing via Smithery

To install Gmail AutoAuth for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @raghavared/gmail-mcp --client claude

Installing Manually

1. Create a Google Cloud Project and obtain credentials:

a. Create a Google Cloud Project:

b. Create OAuth 2.0 Credentials:

2. Run Authentication:

You can authenticate in two ways:

a. Global Authentication (Recommended):

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

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

b. Local Authentication:

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

The authentication process will:

> 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/v2/auth/google/callback` to your authorized redirect URIs

3. Configure in Claude Desktop:

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

Docker Support

If you prefer using Docker:

1. Authentication:

docker run -i --rm \
  --mount type=bind,source=/path/to/token.json,target=/token.json \
  -v gmail-mcp:/gmail-server \
  -e GMAIL_OAUTH_PATH=/token.json \
  -e "GMAIL_CREDENTIALS_PATH=/gmail-server/credentials.json" \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  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",
        "gmail-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Cloud Server Authentication

For cloud server environments (like n8n), you can specify a custom callback URL during authentication:

npx @raghavared/gmail-mcp auth {domain}/v2/auth/google/callback

Setup Instructions for Cloud Environment

1. Configure Reverse Proxy:

2. DNS Configuration:

3. Google Cloud Platform Setup:

4. Run Authentication:

npx @raghavared/gmail-mcp auth https://domain.com/v2/auth/google/callback

5. Configure in your application:

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

This approach allows authentication flows to work properly in environments where localhost isn't accessible, such as containerized applications or cloud servers.

Available Tools

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

1. Send Email (`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 (`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 (`read_email`)

Retrieves the content of a specific email by its ID.

{
  "messageId": "182ab45cd67ef"
}

4. Search Emails (`search_emails`)

Searches for emails using Gmail search syntax.

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

5. Modify Email (`modify_email`)

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

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

6. Delete Email (`delete_email`)

Permanently deletes an email.

{
  "messageId": "182ab45cd67ef"
}

7. List Email Labels (`list_email_labels`)

Retrieves all available Gmail labels.

{}

8. Create Label (`create_label`)

Creates a new Gmail label.

{
  "name": "Important Projects",
  "messageListVisibility": "show",
  "labelListVisibility": "labelShow"
}

9. Update Label (`update_label`)

Updates an existing Gmail label.

{
  "id": "Label_1234567890",
  "name": "Urgent Projects",
  "messageListVisibility": "show",
  "labelListVisibility": "labelShow"
}

10. Delete Label (`delete_label`)

Deletes a Gmail label.

{
  "id": "Label_1234567890"
}

11. Get or Create Label (`get_or_create_label`)

Gets an existing label by name or creates it if it doesn't exist.

{
  "name": "Project XYZ",
  "messageListVisibility": "show",
  "labelListVisibility": "labelShow"
}

12. Batch Modify Emails (`batch_modify_emails`)

Modifies labels for multiple emails in efficient batches.

{
  "messageIds": ["182ab45cd67ef", "182ab45cd67eg", "182ab45cd67eh"],
  "addLabelIds": ["IMPORTANT"],
  "removeLabelIds": ["INBOX"],
  "batchSize": 50
}

13. Batch Delete Emails (`batch_delete_emails`)

Permanently deletes multiple emails in efficient batches.

{
  "messageIds": ["182ab45cd67ef", "182ab45cd67eg", "182ab45cd67eh"],
  "batchSize": 50
}

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

Comprehensive Label Management

The server provides a complete set of tools for managing Gmail labels:

• Create Labels: Create new labels with customizable visibility settings
• Update Labels: Rename labels or change their visibility settings
• Delete Labels: Remove user-created labels (system labels are protected)
• Find or Create: Get a label by name or automatically create it if not found
• List All Labels: View all system and user labels with detailed information
• Label Visibility Options: Control how labels appear in message and label lists

Label visibility settings include:

• `messageListVisibility`: Controls whether the label appears in the message list (`show` or `hide`)
• `labelListVisibility`: Controls how the label appears in the label list (`labelShow`, `labelShowIfUnread`, or `labelHide`)

These label management features enable sophisticated organization of emails directly through Claude, without needing to switch to the Gmail interface.

Batch Operations

The server includes efficient batch processing capabilities:

• Process up to 50 emails at once (configurable batch size)
• Automatic chunking of large email sets to avoid API limits
• Detailed success/failure reporting for each operation
• Graceful error handling with individual retries
• Perfect for bulk inbox management and organization tasks

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

2. Invalid Credentials Format

3. Port Already in Use

4. Batch Operation Failures

Contributing

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

License

MIT

Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions, please file an issue on the GitHub repository.