Zoho Mail MCP

A tiny MCP server that lets an AI assistant read, search, send, and reply to mail on a Zoho mailbox over standard IMAP/SMTP. No OAuth — it authenticates with a Zoho application-specific password.

MCP is an open standard, so this works with any MCP-compatible client — Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, Continue, and others. Setup is the same everywhere: point your client at .venv/bin/python server.py and pass the two env vars. Client-specific examples are in §5 Register with an MCP client.

Tools

Tool	What it does
search_emails	Search/list a folder, newest first (free-text + unread filter)
read_email	Read one message's full plain-text body by UID
send_email	Send a new message (to / cc / bcc)
reply_email	Reply to a message, preserving subject + threading headers

1. Generate a Zoho app-specific password

1. Sign in at https://accounts.zoho.com → Security.
2. Enable Two-Factor Authentication if it isn't already (required for app passwords).
3. Under App Passwords, click Generate New Password, name it zoho-mcp, and copy the password Zoho shows you.

Use this generated password — not your normal login password. IMAP/SMTP access must also be enabled in Zoho Mail → Settings → Mail Accounts.

2. Install

git clone https://github.com/yangboy91/zoho-mail-mcp.git
cd zoho-mail-mcp
python3 -m venv .venv
./.venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Set credentials

The server reads these env vars:

Var	Required	Default
ZOHO_EMAIL	yes	—
ZOHO_APP_PASSWORD	yes	—
ZOHO_IMAP_HOST	no	imap.zoho.com
ZOHO_SMTP_HOST	no	smtp.zoho.com
ZOHO_SMTP_PORT	no	465

Non‑.com data centers: use imap.zoho.eu / smtp.zoho.eu, imap.zoho.in / smtp.zoho.in, etc.

4. Test the connection

ZOHO_EMAIL="you@example.com" \
ZOHO_APP_PASSWORD="xxxx-xxxx-xxxx" \
./.venv/bin/python test_connection.py

You should see your 5 most recent inbox subjects and SMTP ... ok.

5. Register with an MCP client

Every client needs the same three things: the command (.venv/bin/python), the server path (server.py), and the two env vars. Use absolute paths — most clients don't run from the repo directory.

Claude Code

Run from the cloned repo directory:

claude mcp add zoho-mail \
  --env ZOHO_EMAIL="you@example.com" \
  --env ZOHO_APP_PASSWORD="xxxx-xxxx-xxxx" \
  -- "$(pwd)/.venv/bin/python" "$(pwd)/server.py"

Then restart Claude Code and ask: "search my Zoho inbox for invoices".

Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json under mcpServers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zoho-mail": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/zoho-mail-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/zoho-mail-mcp/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "ZOHO_EMAIL": "you@example.com",
        "ZOHO_APP_PASSWORD": "xxxx-xxxx-xxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (per-project) — the block is identical to Claude Desktop's:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zoho-mail": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/zoho-mail-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/zoho-mail-mcp/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "ZOHO_EMAIL": "you@example.com",
        "ZOHO_APP_PASSWORD": "xxxx-xxxx-xxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Any other MCP client (Cline, Continue, custom, …)

This is a standard stdio MCP server. Whatever the client's config format, give it these values:

Field	Value
Transport	stdio
Command	/absolute/path/to/zoho-mail-mcp/.venv/bin/python
Args	["/absolute/path/to/zoho-mail-mcp/server.py"]
Env	ZOHO_EMAIL, ZOHO_APP_PASSWORD (+ optional host overrides)