IMAP MCP server: connect any mailbox to Claude and ChatGPT

Hosted or local?

Open-source IMAP MCP servers run on your computer: you install them, write the mailbox password in a configuration file, and they only work in desktop apps that can launch local servers.

A hosted server like Fezola is added by URL. Your assistant signs in with OAuth and you approve it on a consent screen: the mailbox password never goes through your assistant's settings, and the connector also works in web apps.

Which mailboxes work

• OVH (MX Plan), IONOS and Gandi: the servers are filled in, use your mailbox password.
• OVH Email Pro and other OVH offers: choose Other and enter the servers OVH gives you (for example pro1.mail.ovh.net).
• Fastmail: choose Other, enter imap.fastmail.com and smtp.fastmail.com, and use an app password created in Fastmail's settings.
• Your own domain or any other host: choose Other and enter the IMAP server (port 993 with TLS or 143 with STARTTLS) and the SMTP server (465 or 587).
• Gmail and iCloud work too, each with its own sign-in (see the other guides).

Step by step

1. 1

   Gather your mailbox settings

   You need the email address, its password (or an app password if your provider requires one) and, for providers Fezola does not list, the IMAP and SMTP servers from your provider's help pages.

2. 2

   Create a Fezola account

   Sign up for free. The Free plan includes 2 sources, enough to try with two mailboxes.

3. 3

   Add the mailbox

   In Sources, add a mailbox, pick your provider or Other, and fill in the address and password. Give it a short name (Work, Shop) that your assistant will use. Click Test the connection: Fezola checks incoming (IMAP) and outgoing (SMTP) mail.

4. 4

   Add Fezola to your assistant

   In Claude: Settings, Connectors, Add custom connector, name it Fezola and paste https://api.fezola.com/mcp. In ChatGPT (paid plans): Settings, Apps & Connectors, Advanced settings, turn on Developer mode, then Create a connector with the same URL and OAuth.

5. 5

   Approve access

   Your assistant opens a Fezola sign-in and consent screen listing the sources it will access. Once you accept, the tools are available in your conversations.

6. 6

   Ask

   Try: “Search all my mailboxes for the contract from Dupont” or “Draft a reply to the last email from my accountant, from my work address.”

Why Fezola

• Nothing to install or maintain: one URL and an OAuth sign-in.
• Every mailbox in one connector: IMAP from any provider, Gmail and iCloud, plus Google Chat and Telegram (read-only).
• Drafts only: Fezola never sends email on its own, you review and send.
• Messages are read live and never stored; passwords are encrypted at rest.

Questions

Sources

• Model Context Protocol (modelcontextprotocol.io)

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