Gmail MCP Server

A privacy-first Model Context Protocol server that gives Claude controlled, read-only access to your Gmail inbox. You define exactly which emails Claude can see — nothing else is exposed.

Why this is different

Most Gmail MCP servers give Claude unrestricted access to your entire inbox. This one doesn't.

Feature	gmail-mcp	Others
Filter by sender domain	Yes	No
Filter by label, date, subject, size	Yes	No
Block specific subject keywords	Yes	No
Per-request body privacy control	Yes	No
Access log (no email content)	Yes	No
Read-only OAuth scope	Yes	Some

Your config/filters.yaml acts as a firewall — Claude's query is always ANDed with your rules, and it cannot be bypassed even if Claude tries to access a specific message ID directly.

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Prerequisites

1. Google API credentials

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project (or select an existing one)
3. Enable the Gmail API: APIs & Services → Enable APIs → search "Gmail API" → Enable
4. Create OAuth credentials: APIs & Services → Credentials → Create Credentials → OAuth Client ID
   • Application type: Desktop app
   • Download the JSON file
5. Save it to ~/.gmail_mcp/credentials.json

2. Configure your filters

Edit config/filters.yaml to control which emails Claude can access. The file is heavily commented — every option is explained inline.

filters:
  from_addresses: ["trusted@example.com"]   # Only emails from these senders
  labels: ["INBOX"]                          # Only emails with these labels
  unread_only: false                         # Set true for unread only
  date_after: "2025-01-01"                   # Ignore older emails
  subject_exclude: ["unsubscribe"]           # Skip marketing emails
  max_results: 50                            # Cap per request

privacy:
  allow_full_body: false                     # Keep false unless you need it

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Option A — Claude Desktop (local, no tunnel needed)

Best for: everyday use with the Claude Desktop app on Mac or Windows.

The server runs as a local subprocess over stdio — no port, no URL, no Docker required.

Install:

git clone https://github.com/dhagash2310/gmail-mcp.git
cd gmail-mcp
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate   # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e .

First run (OAuth login):

gmail-mcp

A browser window opens. Log in and grant access. Your token is saved to ~/.gmail_mcp/token.json.

Add to Claude Desktop:

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (Mac) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gmail": {
      "command": "/path/to/gmail-mcp/.venv/bin/gmail-mcp",
      "env": {
        "GMAIL_CREDENTIALS_PATH": "/Users/you/.gmail_mcp/credentials.json",
        "GMAIL_FILTER_CONFIG_PATH": "/path/to/gmail-mcp/config/filters.yaml"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The Gmail tools will appear automatically.

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Option B — Docker + ngrok (Claude.ai browser version)

Best for: using the server with Claude.ai in your browser, or any other MCP-compatible web client (ChatGPT, etc.).

Claude.ai is a cloud app and cannot reach localhost directly, so you run the server in HTTP mode and use ngrok to give it a public HTTPS URL.

Step 1 — Complete OAuth login (first time only)

The container handles headless auth — it prints a URL for you to open in your browser and paste the code back.

mkdir -p ~/.gmail_mcp
cp /path/to/your/credentials.json ~/.gmail_mcp/credentials.json

docker compose run --rm gmail-mcp
# Opens a URL — open it in your browser, approve access, paste the code back
# Token is saved to ~/.gmail_mcp/token.json

Step 2 — Start the server

docker compose up -d
# Server runs at http://localhost:8000/mcp

Step 3 — Expose with ngrok

# Install ngrok: https://ngrok.com/download  or  brew install ngrok
ngrok http 8000
# You'll see a public URL like: https://abc123.ngrok-free.app

Step 4 — Connect Claude.ai

1. Go to claude.ai → Settings → Connectors
2. Click Add custom connector
3. Enter your ngrok URL with the /mcp path:

   https://abc123.ngrok-free.app/mcp
   

4. Save — the Gmail tools will appear in your next conversation.

Note: The ngrok URL changes each time you restart ngrok (on the free plan). You'll need to update the connector URL in Claude.ai when that happens. A paid ngrok plan gives you a stable domain.

Updating filters without restarting

The config/filters.yaml file is mounted into the container. Edit it on your host machine and call the apply_filters tool in Claude to reload it — no restart needed.

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Available Tools

Tool	Description
preview_filters	Show active filter rules without fetching any email
apply_filters	Reload and display the current filter configuration
fetch_emails	Fetch emails matching your filter config
search_emails	Search emails — your query is ANDed with the active filters
get_email_metadata	Get details for a specific email (filter-verified)

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Privacy & Security

• Read-only access: Only gmail.readonly scope is requested — Claude cannot send, delete, or modify emails
• Filter enforcement: Every tool call enforces your filters.yaml rules before returning data
• No body by default: Only metadata and 200-character snippets are returned unless you enable allow_full_body in filters.yaml
• Access logging: Every tool call is logged to ~/.gmail_mcp/access.log (no email content in the log)
• Local only: No data is sent to any third-party service — the server runs entirely on your machine