Gmail MCP

Shows whether this server is connected to Google: token presence and source (env variables or a stored in-chat login), expiry, the Google account email, granted vs missing OAuth scopes, where the credentials file lives and where the OAuth client comes from. Makes no network calls and never returns the token itself. Call it first when other tools report the server is not connected.

Creates a draft email in the mailbox without sending anything. All fields are optional — an empty draft is legal — but a useful one carries to[], subject and a body. For a reply draft set thread_id, in_reply_to (headers.messageId of the message being answered, via get_message) and the original subject with "Re: ". Returns the draft id (needed by update_draft/send_draft/delete_draft) and the underlying message id/threadId. Drafting first and sending with send_draft after a human look is the safe path for consequential mail — prefer it over send_message when in doubt.

PERMANENTLY deletes a draft — drafts skip the trash, so there is no undo and no manage_trash recovery. Confirm with get_draft before deleting anything the user might still want. Returns empty on success.

Second step: confirms the browser consent finished, saves the tokens to an owner-only file and verifies the login with a read-only identity call, returning the account email and the granted scopes. After success every tool works immediately — no client restart. If the user granted only part of the requested permissions, the login is still saved and missingScopes lists what will not work. Logging in under a different Google account replaces the previous login (its refresh token is revoked best-effort) and the response carries previousAccountEmail so the change never goes unnoticed.

Fetches one draft with its message decoded like get_message: headers (to, cc, subject, ...), text body, HTML only on request, attachment metadata. Use it to show the user what send_draft would send, or to read the current content before update_draft (updates REPLACE the whole draft).

Fetches one message fully decoded: headers (from, to, cc, subject, date, messageId, inReplyTo, references — RFC 2047 words decoded), the plain-text body (base64/charset decoded), the HTML body when there is no text part or include_html=true, and attachment METADATA (filename, mimeType, sizeBytes, attachmentId — never the content; download bytes via raw_request users/me/messages/<id>/attachments/<attachmentId> if truly needed). Bodies are truncated at max_body_chars (default 50000) with textTruncated/htmlTruncated flags. metadata_only=true skips bodies entirely. To reply later, keep headers.messageId (for in_reply_to) and threadId.

Returns the authenticated mailbox's profile: emailAddress (the user's own address — useful for send-to-self checks and for recognizing the user's messages in threads), messagesTotal, threadsTotal and historyId. The cheapest way to verify that the OAuth credentials work.

Fetches a conversation with every message decoded like get_message: headers, text bodies (HTML only when a message has no text part or include_html=true), attachment metadata and truncation flags. Messages come oldest-first. To reply to the conversation, take the LAST message's threadId, headers.messageId and subject and pass them to send_message (thread_id, in_reply_to, subject with "Re: "). Long threads can be large — lower max_body_chars (it applies per message) when only the gist is needed.

Lists the mailbox's drafts: draft id plus the underlying message's id and threadId (no subjects — read one with get_draft). query filters with Gmail query syntax (e.g. subject:invoice); paginate with page_token from nextPageToken.

Without label_id: lists every label in the mailbox — system labels (INBOX, SENT, DRAFT, SPAM, TRASH, UNREAD, STARRED, IMPORTANT, CATEGORY_*) and user labels with their ids — the vocabulary that list_messages label_ids and modify_message add/remove_label_ids speak. With label_id: fetches that one label including its counts (messagesTotal, messagesUnread, threadsTotal, threadsUnread), which the plain list does not carry.

Searches the mailbox with Gmail query syntax and returns one summary per message: id, threadId, labelIds, snippet, from, to, subject, date, internalDate. Filter with query (same operators as the Gmail search box: from:, to:, subject:, is:unread, is:starred, has:attachment, label:, newer_than:7d, before:/after:) and/or label_ids (all must match). Spam and trash are excluded unless include_spam_trash=true. Paginate with page_token from nextPageToken; page_size defaults to 25 (max 100 — each summary costs one metadata read, throttled to a few at a time). A message deleted between the search and its metadata read is skipped, so a page can hold slightly fewer summaries than page_size. Set include_metadata=false to get bare ids only (cheapest). resultSizeEstimate is an estimate, not an exact count. Read a full body with get_message; read a whole conversation with get_thread.

Searches conversations (threads) with the same Gmail query syntax as list_messages and returns id, snippet (of the latest message) and historyId per thread. Use this instead of list_messages when the unit of work is a conversation — triaging an inbox, finding a discussion to reply into. Filter with query and/or label_ids; paginate with page_token from nextPageToken (page_size max 500). Read the full conversation with get_thread.

Revokes the stored token at Google (oauth2.googleapis.com/revoke) and deletes the local credentials file. Tokens supplied via env variables are NOT touched — remove them from the MCP client config manually; envTokenStillSet in the response says whether any are still in effect.

Manages user labels. action=create needs name (nest with "/", e.g. "Clients/Acme" — the parent must already exist). action=update needs label_id plus at least one of name, label_list_visibility (show | show_if_unread | hide — the label in the sidebar) or message_list_visibility (show | hide — its messages in the list); only the provided fields change. action=delete needs label_id and removes the label from EVERY message it was applied to — the messages survive, the label and its message-associations do not; this cannot be undone. System labels (INBOX, STARRED, ...) cannot be created, renamed or deleted. To apply/remove labels on mail, use modify_message or modify_thread, not this tool.

Moves a message or a whole thread to the Gmail trash, or restores it. action=trash is REVERSIBLE: Gmail keeps trashed mail for about 30 days, then deletes it permanently; action=untrash restores it before that happens. target=message (default) uses a message id, target=thread trashes/restores every message in the thread. This server intentionally has no permanent-delete tool — the trash is the safety net. Note: untrash does not re-add INBOX; follow up with modify_message archived=false if it should reappear in the inbox.

Changes a message's state via Gmail labels: read=true/false marks read/unread, starred=true/false stars/unstars, archived=true removes it from the inbox (archived=false moves it back), and add_label_ids/remove_label_ids apply or strip any labels from list_labels (e.g. a user label, or IMPORTANT). At least one change is required; applying the same change twice is harmless. This never deletes anything — use manage_trash for the trash. Returns the message's new id/labelIds.

Applies the same normalized state changes as modify_message — read/unread, starred, archived, add_label_ids/remove_label_ids — to EVERY message in a conversation at once. Use it to mark a whole conversation read or archive it in one call instead of looping over messages. At least one change is required; repeating the same change is harmless. Returns the thread's new id and message label state.

Escape hatch to call any Gmail API v1 path directly, for requests the typed tools don't cover — e.g. downloading attachment content ("gmail/v1/users/me/messages/<messageId>/attachments/<attachmentId>", returns base64url data), history.list for incremental sync ("gmail/v1/users/me/history?startHistoryId=..."), batchModify, or settings endpoints (filters, forwarding, vacation). The path may carry a query string. The Bearer token is added automatically; the method defaults to GET. CAUTION: this bypasses the typed tools' guard rails — users/me/messages/<id> DELETE is a PERMANENT delete that skips the trash (needs the full https://mail.google.com/ scope); prefer manage_trash.

Sends an existing draft exactly as it is stored, immediately and irreversibly; the draft disappears from the drafts list and becomes a sent message (returned id/threadId). Verify the content with get_draft before calling this. NEVER retried after a timeout or 5xx (a duplicate email cannot be unsent): if the outcome is unclear, check list_drafts (the draft is gone if it was sent) or list_messages in:sent before considering anything else. Daily sending limits apply (~500/day consumer, ~2000/day Workspace).

Sends an email from the authenticated mailbox, immediately and irreversibly. Requires at least one recipient across to/cc/bcc (a bcc-only send is fine — to may be omitted) and at least a subject or a body; body_text and body_html together become multipart/alternative. TO REPLY IN A THREAD: call get_message on the message being answered first, then pass its threadId as thread_id, its headers.messageId as in_reply_to, and the same subject prefixed with "Re: " — Gmail threads the reply only when all three line up. Returns the sent message's id, threadId and labelIds. NEVER retried after a timeout or 5xx (a duplicate email cannot be unsent): if the outcome is unclear, search list_messages with in:sent before considering a re-send. Everyday accounts can send ~500 emails/day (Workspace ~2000); exceeding it disables sending for hours.

Saves the OAuth client credentials from the JSON file downloaded from Google Cloud Console ('Download JSON' on a Desktop-app client). Pass the file PATH — the secret must never be pasted into the chat. The client is stored once in the shared ~/.config/mcp-google-auth/client.json (owner-only) and reused by every mcp-google-* server; tokens stay per-server. After this, call start_login.

Step-by-step checklist for connecting this server to Google: creating a Google Cloud project and a Desktop-app OAuth client, publishing the consent screen (mandatory — Testing-mode refresh tokens die after 7 days), downloading the client JSON and handing its PATH to set_client. Works without any credentials; the checklist shortens to 'enable the API + log in' when an OAuth client is already configured (one client serves the whole mcp-google-* line). Never asks the user to paste secrets into the chat.

First step of connecting from the chat, without editing config files or restarting the client. Returns authorizeUrl — show it to the user as a clickable link and ask them to open it in the browser ON THIS MACHINE, pick the Google account and approve access. A one-shot listener on 127.0.0.1 catches Google's redirect; the code is exchanged locally and never passes through the chat. Does not open the browser itself. The attempt lives 10 minutes; when the browser shows the success page, call finish_login.

REPLACES a draft's entire message — the Gmail API has no partial draft edit, so omitted fields are dropped, not kept. Read the current content with get_draft first, then pass the complete new state (recipients, subject, body, and thread_id/in_reply_to for reply drafts). The draft id stays the same; the underlying message id changes. Returns the updated draft.