Gmail MCP server

This MCP server integrates with Gmail APIs to list, delete, summarize, and send emails and labels.

Prerequisites

• Node.js & npm: Ensure you have Node.js (v18 or higher recommended) and npm installed. Download Node.js
• Docker (for RAG/Chroma DB): If you want to use RAG features, install Docker: Get Docker

Getting started

Setup Google cloud project

• Create a Google Cloud project
• Enable the Gmail API
• Configure an OAuth consent screen
• If have workspace account then make it private
• Otherwise set some test users (emails against which want to test) to test before app is verified.
• Create an OAuth Client ID for application type “Web App”
• Download the JSON file of your client’s OAuth keys
• Rename the key file to gcp-oauth-keys.json and place into the root of the repo.

Install dependencies

• Run npm install from the root directory to install all required dependencies.

How to Run

1. Build the project:
   • Run npm run build from the root repo directory.
2. Authenticate:
   • Run node dist/mcp.js auth
   • This will open an authentication flow in your system browser
   • Note down the token generated is only valid for 1 hr so relogin if get any error like Error: No refresh token is set.
   • Credentials will be saved in the root of this repo with file name gmail-server-credentials.json

MCP Server Configuration Examples

VS Code settings.json

To use this server in VS Code, add the following to your settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gmail-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "node",
      "args": [""],
      "env": {
        "GMAIL_OAUTH_PATH": "",
        "ENABLE_RAG": "false" // mark as true if want to use rag
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop claude_desktop_config.json

To use this server in Claude Desktop, add the following to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gmail-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "node",
      "args": [""],
      "env": {
        "GMAIL_OAUTH_PATH": "",
        "ENABLE_RAG": "false" // mark as true if want to use rag
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace the placeholders (``) with the actual full paths on your system for clarity and reliability.

Environment Variables

• GMAIL_OAUTH_PATH: Absolute path to your Gmail OAuth credentials JSON file (e.g., gmail-server-credentials.json).