office-outlook-mcp

MCP server for Outlook / Microsoft 365 — mail, folders, calendar, contacts and tasks, with confirmation-gated sending.

This project was developed and is maintained by AI (Claude Code). Use at your own discretion.

How it authenticates

Outlook Web holds its access token in memory and sends it as Authorization: Bearer …. This server snapshots that header from your signed-in browser tab through the fetchproxy bridge, then talks to https://outlook.office.com/api/v2.0 with ordinary server-side requests.

The browser is needed only to mint the token (~25h), never to make a call. That is the whole design: no Azure app registration, no admin consent, and no browser on the request path.

Tokens are cached at ~/.office-outlook-mcp/token.json (0600), so a restart does not re-capture.

Install

npm i -g @chrischall/office-outlook-mcp

Requires the ContextMint Bridge browser extension, installed from its releases: in Chrome, unzip the chrome build and load it unpacked (chrome://extensions → Developer mode → Load unpacked). Safari is not available yet — it will ship inside the ContextMint app, which has no public download — so use Chrome for now.

ContextMint Bridge is the fetchproxy browser extension under its new name, from the same maintainer — fetchproxy's own README (#extension) points to it. Its source is public at nullnet-app/contextmint-bridge: build it yourself, or check a release zip against the .sha256 file published beside it (shasum -a 256 -c contextmint-bridge-chrome-<version>.zip.sha256).

The extension, fpx and this server are compatible by fetchproxy protocol number (currently protocol 4), not by matching package versions. Keep the bridge and fpx current — a mismatch fails with an error naming both protocol numbers. Also install @fetchproxy/cli:

npm i -g @fetchproxy/cli

The first capture prints a 6-digit pair code to approve in the ContextMint Bridge popup; the grant persists.

Install in opencode

opencode reads MCP servers from opencode.json (project) or ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json (global):

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "outlook": {
        "type": "local",
        "command": ["npx", "-y", "@chrischall/office-outlook-mcp"]
      }
    }
  }
}

That one file serves opencode 2 and current opencode 1 — verified live on 2.0.11, 1.18.31 and 1.18.28, which all connect from it.

Two things worth knowing, both measured rather than assumed:

• Never carry both config shapes in one file. Older opencode 1 wants the servers directly under mcp ("mcp": { "outlook": { … } }), and the temptation is to write both so either version finds one. Do not: given a sibling key beside servers, opencode 2 parses the file — it still shows up in opencode debug config — and then reports "No MCP servers configured". No error, no warning, every server silently gone.
• An opencode 1 old enough to reject servers says so loudly (Configuration is invalid at …), so if you see that, switch that machine to the flat shape rather than combining them.

opencode 2 talks to a background service, so opencode reload before opencode mcp list after editing config.

Configuration

Everything is optional — with nothing set, the server captures from the browser.

| variable | purpose | | --- | --- | | OUTLOOK_ACCESS_TOKEN | Pre-obtained bearer token. Overrides the bridge. Power users / CI only; expires in ~25h and cannot be auto-refreshed. | | OUTLOOK_DISABLE_FETCHPROXY | 1 to disable browser capture, requiring OUTLOOK_ACCESS_TOKEN. | | OUTLOOK_API_BASE | Override the REST base URL. Defaults to https://outlook.office.com/api/v2.0. | | OUTLOOK_WS_PORT | fetchproxy concentrator port. Defaults to 37149, the fleet-wide shared port. | | OUTLOOK_CAPTURE_TIMEOUT | Seconds to wait for the tab to make a readable request. Bounds the WHOLE capture, both declared hosts included. Defaults to 30. | | OUTLOOK_TOKEN_CACHE | false to stop caching the token between runs. | | OUTLOOK_TOKEN_FILE | Path to the cached token. Defaults to ~/.office-outlook-mcp/token.json. | | OUTLOOK_OUTPUT_DIR | Absolute directory outlook_export_messages and outlook_export_events write into. Defaults to ~/Downloads/office-outlook-mcp. When set, a per-call dest must be inside it. See Bulk export. |

Tools

Read — outlook_list_folders, outlook_list_messages, outlook_get_message, outlook_list_unread_messages, outlook_list_attachments, outlook_get_attachment, outlook_list_events, outlook_get_event, outlook_list_calendars, outlook_find_meeting_times, outlook_get_schedule, outlook_get_profile, outlook_get_mailbox_settings, outlook_list_contacts, outlook_list_people, outlook_list_categories, outlook_list_tasks

Write (ask you to confirm first — see Confirmations) — outlook_send_message, outlook_create_draft, outlook_mark_read, outlook_update_message, outlook_move_message, outlook_create_event, outlook_update_event, outlook_respond_to_invite, outlook_delete_event, outlook_reply. Some skip the confirmation because nothing reaches anyone else: outlook_create_draft (the draft stays in Drafts until you send it from Outlook), outlook_reply with draftOnly: true (the reply stays in Drafts), outlook_respond_to_invite with sendResponse: false, and outlook_delete_event on your own appointment with no attendees or on a meeting the organizer already cancelled (in each, only your calendar changes).

Meetings — outlook_find_meeting_times asks Outlook's Scheduling Assistant for slots when everyone is free, and outlook_get_schedule shows each person's busy blocks. Each suggested slot carries createEventArgs, which outlook_create_event accepts unchanged. outlook_create_event attaches a Microsoft Teams meeting by default and returns its join link; pass teamsMeeting: false to leave it off. outlook_update_event never changes how people join a meeting unless asked: pass teamsMeeting: true to add a Teams meeting to an event that lacks one, and the confirmation says so in plain words. Only the organizer can update a meeting. outlook_respond_to_invite accepts, tentatively accepts or declines an invite, by its message id or its event id. outlook_delete_event deletes an event you organize — one occurrence by the occurrence's id, or the whole series by its series master's id — and sends any attendees a cancellation; for an invite you received it refuses and points you at declining instead. outlook_list_events and outlook_get_event show what that decision needs in every view: MyResponse, ResponseRequested, IsOrganizer, IsCancelled, Type (SingleInstance, Occurrence, Exception or SeriesMaster), ShowAs and IsAllDay, plus SeriesMasterId in the full view.

Export — outlook_export_messages (mail) and outlook_export_events (calendar) write JSONL or Markdown files, optionally with attachments, and return only where they are; see Bulk export.

Diagnostics — outlook_healthcheck

Every read tool takes view: compact | full | raw, defaulting to compact. Mutating tools write nothing until you confirm (bar the cases above) — see Confirmations. The preview shows exactly what would be sent (action, method, path and body). (outlook_create_event first reads the mailbox time zone, so its preview can name the zone it would book in; that is the one read a preview makes.)

Mail and event text is written by other people, so outlook_list_messages, outlook_get_message, outlook_list_unread_messages, outlook_get_attachment, outlook_list_events, outlook_get_event, outlook_find_meeting_times, outlook_get_schedule, outlook_export_messages and outlook_export_events wrap every result (all views) in an untrusted-content envelope — untrusted_content: true plus a note telling the model to treat the text as data, never instructions (a view: raw record that carries its own untrusted_content/note key is nested under data, so it cannot overwrite the envelope). outlook_reply returns a sent reply's subject — the original sender's text — inside the same envelope. On a client that cannot show a confirmation prompt, the confirmToken is still something the model passes back itself, so keep MCP_CONFIRM_MODE=ask-user (the default) and approve each preview in chat — or use a client that asks you before running non-read-only tools — as the real guard on outbound sends.

Triage loop

An agent can work through new mail end to end without opening Outlook:

1. Read the batch — outlook_list_unread_messages returns the unread messages in a folder (default inbox), newest first, each with its plain-text body, in one call. It does not mark anything read. Each item has a kind: mail, meetingRequest, meetingCancelled or meetingResponse; requests and cancellations also carry the linked event (time, organizer, your current response) — or, when the meeting is no longer on your calendar (already declined, cancelled or deleted), a hint saying there is nothing to respond to. to and cc list at most 20 addresses, with toCount/ccCount when there are more.
2. Act on each item —
   • an invite: outlook_respond_to_invite with the message id and accept, tentative or decline (and an optional comment). Once you respond, Outlook moves the invite message to Deleted Items under a new id, so an answered invite is already filed — skip steps 3 and 4 for it (its old id would 404);
   • a message that needs an answer: outlook_reply (reply, replyAll or forward), or draftOnly: true to leave it in Drafts for you to review;
   • a request for a meeting: outlook_find_meeting_times for the attendees, then pass the chosen slot's createEventArgs to outlook_create_event;
   • an attachment to read: outlook_get_attachment.
3. File it — outlook_update_message flags, categorises (names from outlook_list_categories) and marks read up to 50 messages in one call; outlook_move_message moves one to another folder.
4. Mark it handled — outlook_mark_read (or isRead: true on outlook_update_message) on the plain mail you handled, so the next outlook_list_unread_messages returns only what is still new. Answered invites are already out of the inbox (see step 2).

Replies, forwards, invite responses and new meetings reach other people, so each asks you to confirm first — except a reply saved with draftOnly: true (it stays in Drafts until you send it) and an invite response with sendResponse: false (only your calendar changes; the organizer is not told).

Paging from a time

outlook_list_unread_messages and outlook_list_messages also page oldest first from a point in time: pass from as an ISO 8601 UTC time (2026-10-01T00:00:00Z). The result carries next_from — pass it back unchanged as from for the next page — and has_more. To backfill, start from an old time and keep passing next_from until has_more is false; then keep polling with the last next_from to pick up new mail (an empty page returns the same position). Messages that share a timestamp are never skipped or repeated across pages, and marking mail read between pages loses nothing. from cannot be combined with nextLink, sinceHours, search or skip.

Bulk export

outlook_export_messages exports mail and outlook_export_events exports the calendar in bulk, thousands of records at a time, and none of their text enters the conversation. The server pages the mailbox (or calendar) and writes the records to files. The tool returns only a small manifest: where the files are, their sizes, the record and attachment counts, the date span, and has_more plus a cursor. Have the agent read the files with shell tools (jq, grep, rg, head) rather than opening them whole.

• Mail arguments: folder (a well-known name such as inbox or sentitems, or a folder id; all exports the whole mailbox; default inbox), since and until (ISO 8601), search (full-text, spans the mailbox). Mail is exported oldest first.
• Event arguments: since and until (ISO 8601, both required, at most two years apart) and calendar (a calendar id; default, the default calendar). Events come from the calendar view, so a recurring series is expanded into its individual occurrences. Times are wall-clock times in the mailbox's time zone, named on each record as time_zone.
• Both: format (jsonl, the default, or markdown), attachments (default false), dest, cursor, max_items (default 5000, max 50000) and budget_seconds (default 90, max 600).
• Files: part-0001.jsonl holds one JSON record per message (id, conversation id, subject, from, to/cc/bcc, dates, flags, categories, web link and the full plain-text body). Its first line is an _export header that names the source, account, arguments and an untrusted-content note. An event record carries the id, iCal UID, type and series id, subject, start, end, time zone, location, organizer, attendees with their responses, your response, show-as, categories, the join link and the full plain-text body. format: "markdown" writes part-0001.md, a readable transcript (one section per message or event), instead. manifest.json lists the counts and any errors, and the files: on disk every part's files (it is rewritten as each part finishes); in a blob zip the files in that zip.
• Attachments: with attachments: true, each file attachment of up to 50 MB is saved as attachments/<short id>/<name> (the name sanitized), and the record lists its attachments, each with its relative path, or with skipped and the reason. Attached Outlook items (a forwarded email or event), cloud-file links (OneDrive/SharePoint), larger files and failed downloads are skipped. One bad attachment never fails the export.
• Resuming: each call stops at max_items or budget_seconds, whichever comes first. While has_more is true, pass cursor back unchanged. The next call continues the same export as part-0002, part-0003 and so on. With attachments on, the budget is checked between small groups of records, so a stop can fall inside a page; the cursor resumes at the next record. If Outlook refuses the credential (including while downloading an attachment), or keeps returning 429 after three Retry-After waits, the call keeps what it already wrote and returns the cursor. Re-authenticate, then resume.

Where the files go depends on how the server runs:

| mode | when | location in the result | | --- | --- | --- | | disk | any local (stdio) install, the default | an absolute local directory, <dir>/outlook-mail-<YYYYMMDD-HHmmss>/ (or outlook-events-…); each file entry carries its absolute path | | blob | hosted on mcp-host, which sets both MCP_BLOB_BASE_URL and MCP_BLOB_SIGNING_KEY | a signed download link to one zip per call (part-NNNN.zip, which includes manifest.json), valid for 1 hour (url_expires_at) |

On disk, <dir> is the per-call dest, else OUTLOOK_OUTPUT_DIR, else ~/Downloads/office-outlook-mcp. A dest must be inside OUTLOOK_OUTPUT_DIR when that is set. Otherwise it must be inside ~/Downloads, ~/Documents or ~/Desktop. A resumed cursor's directory is checked against the same roots again.

Confirmations

Every write asks you to confirm before anything is sent or changed (except a new draft, a draft-only reply and a silent invite response — see Tools). A client that can show a confirmation prompt (Claude Code) shows one. On a client that cannot, the first call does nothing and returns a confirmation-required preview plus a confirmToken; only a repeat call with that token performs the write. The token is single-use, expires, and is bound to the exact arguments — change anything between the two calls and it is refused (DRAFT_CHANGED) with a fresh preview.

| variable | default | | |---|---|---| | MCP_CONFIRM_MODE | ask-user | What a write does on a client that cannot show a confirmation prompt (claude.ai, Claude Desktop). ask-user: two steps — the first call does nothing and returns a preview plus a token, and the model must get your approval in chat before calling again with it. auto: the same two steps, but the model may use the token after reviewing the preview itself. refuse: writes are refused on such clients. A client that can show prompts (Claude Code) always gets the real prompt, unless MCP_CONFIRM_ELICITATION=off. An unrecognised value is treated as refuse. | | MCP_CONFIRM_ELICITATION | on | off never shows a confirmation prompt, so every client gets the MCP_CONFIRM_MODE behaviour. Set it for a client that says it can show prompts but never does (the write hangs — opencode 2.0.x). Any other value is treated as on, with a warning on stderr. | | MCP_CONFIRM_TTL_SECONDS | 600 | How long a token stays valid. | | MCP_CONFIRM_SECRET | random per process | Signing key; set it only if tokens must survive a server restart. On mcp-host the host supplies a stable per-child key (MCP_HOST_CONFIRM_SECRET) and spent tokens are recorded under MCP_DATA_DIR, so an approval survives an idle restart. |

Things worth knowing

• Fields are PascalCase (ReceivedDateTime, IsRead). This is the Outlook REST API, not Graph — a Graph snippet silently returns nothing.
• outlook_get_message returns a plain-text body by default, measured 9.4× smaller than the HTML; pass html: true for the original.
• outlook_list_events uses the calendar view, which expands recurring series. /me/events does not, which is why it is not exposed as-is.
• Time zones are Windows names (Eastern Standard Time), not IANA.
• search and unreadOnly cannot be combined; the API rejects $search alongside $filter, so the tool refuses before making a doomed request.
• Moving a message assigns it a new id.
• outlook_list_events returns times in the mailbox's own time zone unless timeZone overrides it. The API itself defaults to UTC, which silently reads as a four-hour error on an Eastern mailbox.
• Contact phone fields are MobilePhone1, not Graph's MobilePhone. The v2.0 Contact type rejects the Graph name with a 400.

The lightweight alternative

If you only need Outlook access from Claude Code on this machine, the skills/outlook-fpx access skill in this repo does the same reads with fpx + curl and no server at all. The MCP earns its keep when you want typed tools, confirmation-gated writes, or reach from claude.ai.

Development

npm install
npm run build
npm test              # typecheck + suite
npm run test:coverage # CI's gate

Request shapes are pinned in docs/OUTLOOK-API.md, all verified against a live mailbox.

License

MIT