bytemail
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Email MCP server, built into bytemail

One MCP for every inbox.

Claude, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and LM Studio can search, read and tidy every mail account on your Mac through bytemail — and write the replies for you to send. Your mail never touches our servers.

Connect your AI app Try bytemail free
Gmail iCloud Outlook Microsoft 365 Yahoo Fastmail any IMAP server
Just ask

Your inbox, in plain words.

What it can do

Everything you do in your inbox, through one MCP server.

27 tools, all in every plan. Developers will recognise the names on the right; everyone else just asks.

Find and read
Search every account, back to your oldest mail search_messages
Read whole conversations get_thread
Find attachments, like last week's invoices find_attachments
Find someone's address find_contacts
List To Reply, Flagged, Snoozed or any folder list_threads
Write
Draft replies and new mail, with files attached create_draft
Edit or delete drafts it wrote update_draft
Send from any of your addresses create_draft
Tidy up
Archive, move, flag and mark read archive
Snooze, mute, clear To Reply snooze
Remind you if nobody answers remind_if_no_reply
Create folders create_folder
Asks you first, in bytemail
Send now or later send_draft
Add a mail rule create_rule
Remove a label remove_label
Unsubscribe, block a sender unsubscribe
You stay in charge

The AI does the busywork. You make the calls.

bytemail asking before an AI app sends: Claude wants to send an email to Elin Lindqvist, with the text, a Trust these recipients for this session switch, and Don't Send, Edit in bytemail and Send.
Sending asks you in bytemail, with the message in front of you.
Settings › AI in bytemail: Turn on bytemail MCP and Hide one-time codes switched on, and a switch for each account.
Off until you turn it on, and then only for the accounts you pick.
Big changes wait for you Sending, sending later, a new rule, removing a label, unsubscribing or blocking: bytemail shows you exactly what's proposed and asks — in bytemail, not in the AI app.
Everything else can be undone Settings › AI › Activity lists what each AI app did, with Undo. Anything touching more than 25 conversations at once asks first.
Only the accounts you pick Share your work account and keep your personal one to yourself. Spam and Trash are never visible, and AI apps can't delete mail.
Codes stay hidden One-time codes and the links in sign-in and password-reset mail are blanked out before an AI app reads a message.
Drafts, clearly marked Replies an AI app writes open in bytemail tagged "Drafted by" that app, ready for you to edit and send.
Email is treated as data bytemail hands messages over marked as other people's words and tells the AI never to follow instructions found inside them.
Why through bytemail

Most email MCPs give an AI one account, from someone's cloud.

bytemail's runs on your Mac, across every account you already have in it. When an AI app reads your mail, it goes to that app and its provider — never to us. Run a local model, in LM Studio for example, and nothing leaves your Mac at all.

bytemail Typical email MCP or connector
Accounts Gmail, iCloud, Outlook, Yahoo, Fastmail and any IMAP server — all at once Usually one provider, often one account at a time
Where it runs On your Mac. Your mail never passes through our servers On the vendor's cloud, which holds access to your mailbox
Signing in Nothing new: it uses the accounts already in bytemail A separate sign-in or API key for each service
Search bytemail's index on your Mac, plus your mail servers for older mail The provider's search API
Undo Every change listed in bytemail, with Undo Rarely
Price Included in every plan, free trial too Often a higher tier
How it works

Three steps, a minute or two.

1 Turn it on In bytemail, open Settings › AI, switch on Turn on bytemail MCP and choose which accounts to share. It stays off until you do.
2 Connect your AI app Add to Claude installs the bytemail extension in one click. Claude Code and Codex get a single command; Cursor, LM Studio and other MCP apps a config snippet.
3 Ask Your AI app talks to bytemail's MCP server on your Mac. Every change shows up in bytemail as if you had made it — with Undo.
Set up

Connect your AI app.

First turn on Settings › AI › Turn on bytemail MCP and pick your accounts. The same pane has everything below, with the right path for your copy of bytemail filled in.

Claude

Click Add to Claude in Settings › AI. Claude's desktop app opens the bytemail extension; confirm the install there.

Claude Code

Run once in Terminal:

claude mcp add --scope user bytemail -- \
  /Applications/ByteMail.app/Contents/MacOS/ByteMail --mcp
Codex

Run once in Terminal — the Codex app, CLI and editor extension all pick it up:

codex mcp add bytemail -- \
  /Applications/ByteMail.app/Contents/MacOS/ByteMail --mcp
Cursor, LM Studio and others

Add to the app's MCP settings (mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bytemail": {
      "command": "/Applications/ByteMail.app/Contents/MacOS/ByteMail",
      "args": ["--mcp"]
    }
  }
}
Questions

Good to know

What is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol is the open standard AI apps use to talk to other software. bytemail includes an MCP server, so any app that speaks MCP can work with your mail through it.

Does it cost extra?

No. It is part of bytemail on every plan, the free trial included — every tool, not just reading.

Which AI apps work?

Any app on your Mac that speaks MCP: Claude, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, LM Studio and more. ChatGPT itself only connects to MCP servers on the internet, so it can't reach bytemail on your Mac.

Does my mail go to bytemail's servers?

No — that hasn't changed. What an AI app reads goes to that app, and to its provider if the model runs in the cloud. Use a local model, in LM Studio for example, and nothing leaves your Mac.

Can it send email without me?

Not unless you say so. Every send asks you in bytemail first; the only exception is addresses you chose to trust for that session.

Can it delete my mail?

No. AI apps can archive, move, mark, flag, snooze and mute — never delete, and never touch Spam or Trash. Removing a label moves its mail back to your inbox; only if you ask does it go to Trash, where you can restore it.

Does bytemail have to be open?

Searching and reading work any time. Changes — drafts, archiving and the rest — are carried out by the bytemail app, so they wait until it's open, and the AI app is told so.

Can bytemail's own summaries and replies use Claude?

Yes. In Settings › AI › AI model, pick Claude, OpenAI or OpenRouter, paste your own API key and choose the model, or point it at LM Studio or Ollama on your Mac. Summaries, suggested replies and Rewrite then use that model instead of Apple Intelligence, which also brings them to Macs without Apple Intelligence. The key stays in your Keychain and the text goes straight to the provider.

Does it work on my iPhone or on claude.ai?

Not yet: the MCP server runs on your Mac, next to bytemail, so it works with AI apps on that Mac.

Bring your AI to every inbox.

Try bytemail free for 7 days — the MCP server included — then $3.99 a month, or pay once and keep it.

Choose a plan

Mac + iPhone, one licencebytemail for iPhone is in App Store review, coming soon. Included free.

  • 5 devices, one licence
  • Cancel anytime
  • No charge for 7 days
  • Instant key delivery

Claude and Claude Code are trademarks of Anthropic. Codex is a trademark of OpenAI. Cursor and LM Studio are trademarks of their owners. bytemail isn't affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.