AgentMail MCP Secure

Secure AgentMail MCP server with whitelist protection and auto-read functionality.

Features

• Smart Auto-Pagination: Automatically handles large threads (>10 messages) with no try-fail-retry
• Selective Mark-as-Read: Only marks messages you actually read, respects pagination bounds
• Per-Message Unread Tracking: See exactly which messages are unread at thread and message level
• File-Based Attachments: All attachments save to ~/agentmail-attachments/, no token limits
• Markdown to HTML: Automatically converts markdown email bodies to both text and HTML versions
• Attachment Support: Send and receive email attachments
• Whitelist Protection: Blocks email sends to non-whitelisted addresses
• Domain Wildcards: Support for *@domain.com patterns
• Bulk Operations: Mark all unread emails as read in one operation
• Audit Logging: Logs all send attempts (successful and blocked)
• Clear Error Messages: Informative errors when sends are blocked

Installation

npm install @joserilla/agentmail-mcp-secure

Configuration

Create a whitelist configuration file at ~/.agentmail/email-whitelist.json:

{
  "allowed_recipients": [
    "[email protected]",
    "*@example.com",
    "*@yourdomain.com"
  ],
  "audit_log": "/home/user/.agentmail/logs/email-audit.log"
}

MCP Tools

agentmail_list_threads

List email threads with filtering.

Parameters:

• filter (optional): "all", "unread", or "sent"

agentmail_read_email

Read email thread with smart auto-pagination. Only marks returned messages as read.

Parameters:

• thread_id (required): Thread ID to read
• limit (optional): Maximum number of messages to return
• offset (optional): Number of messages to skip (for pagination)

Smart Behavior:

• Threads ≤10 messages: Returns all messages
• Threads >10 messages: Automatically returns first 10 with clear "use offset: 10" message
• No try-fail-retry needed - just works!

Selective Mark-as-Read:

• Only marks the messages actually returned (respects pagination)
• Shows [UNREAD] indicator on each unread message
• Example: Reading page 1 of 3 only marks page 1 as read, pages 2-3 stay unread

Pagination Example:

{
  "thread_id": "abc123",
  "limit": 5,
  "offset": 0
}

Returns messages 1-5, marks only those as read. Use offset: 5 for next 5.

agentmail_list_messages

List messages in a thread (metadata only, without full content). Does NOT mark messages as read.

Parameters:

• thread_id (required): Thread ID to list messages from

Returns:

• Thread metadata with unread count
• List of messages with ID, from, date, and preview
• [UNREAD] indicator on each unread message
• Attachment count per message

Use case: Preview a large thread to see which messages are unread before reading them.

agentmail_read_message

Read a single message by ID. Optionally marks as read (default: true).

Parameters:

• message_id (required): Message ID to read
• mark_as_read (optional): Mark message as read (default: true)

Returns:

• Complete message content
• Attachments with download instructions

Use case: Read specific messages from a large thread without loading the entire thread.

Example workflow for large threads:

1. Simple approach: Just call agentmail_read_email - it auto-paginates!
2. Advanced approach: Use agentmail_list_messages to see all unread messages, then read specific ones
3. Pagination: If thread has 45 messages, first call returns 1-10 with clear "use offset: 10" message

agentmail_send_email

Send email to whitelisted recipient. Validates against whitelist.

Parameters:

• to (required): Recipient email address
• subject (required): Email subject
• body (required): Email body in markdown format (automatically converted to text + HTML)
• html (optional): Raw HTML override (if provided, body is used as plain text and html is used as-is)
• attachments (optional): Array of attachments (see Attachments section below)

Markdown Support: The MCP automatically converts markdown in the body parameter to:

• Plain text (with markdown formatting stripped)
• HTML (with email-safe inline styles)

Example:

## Welcome

This is **bold** and this is *italic*.

- Feature one
- Feature two

Check out [our docs](https://example.com)

agentmail_reply_to_thread

Reply to existing thread. Validates recipient against whitelist.

Parameters:

• thread_id (required): Thread ID to reply to
• body (required): Reply body in markdown format (automatically converted to text + HTML)
• html (optional): Raw HTML override (if provided, body is used as plain text and html is used as-is)
• attachments (optional): Array of attachments (see Attachments section below)

agentmail_mark_all_read

Mark all unread emails as read in bulk. Returns count of threads and messages processed.

Parameters:

• None required

Returns:

• Count of threads processed
• Count of messages marked as read

agentmail_get_attachment

Download attachment from a message. Always saves to ~/agentmail-attachments/ directory.

Parameters:

• message_id (required): Message ID containing the attachment
• attachment_id (required): Attachment ID to download (from read email response)
• filename (optional): Override filename (defaults to attachment's original filename)

Returns:

• File path where attachment was saved
• File size
• Metadata

Behavior:

• Automatically creates ~/agentmail-attachments/ if it doesn't exist
• Handles filename collisions by appending -1, -2, etc.
• No token limits - files of any size work perfectly
• Returns small response (~100 tokens) with file path

Usage

The MCP server can be used with any MCP-compatible client. Agents can use the tools via the MCP interface.

Markdown Email Formatting

The MCP automatically converts markdown to email-friendly HTML, making it easy for agents to send well-formatted emails without worrying about HTML generation.

How it works:

1. Agent provides email body in markdown format
2. MCP converts markdown to:
   • Plain text version (markdown stripped, readable in text-only clients)
   • HTML version (with inline CSS styles for email client compatibility)
3. Both versions are sent together (multipart email)

Why this is better:

• Consistent formatting - All agents get the same HTML output
• Token efficient - Agents just write markdown naturally
• Reliable - HTML generation is centralized and tested
• Email-safe - HTML includes inline styles that work across email clients

Advanced usage: If you need custom HTML, you can provide the html parameter to override the automatic conversion. In this case, body is used as the plain text version.

Working with Attachments

Receiving Attachments

When reading emails with agentmail_read_email, attachments are automatically listed in the response with their message IDs:

Message ID: msg_xyz789
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Date: 2025-10-09T12:00:00Z
Attachments: 2
  - report.pdf (application/pdf, 245.3 KB)
    Attachment ID: att_abc123
    Use with Message ID: msg_xyz789
  - chart.png (image/png, 89.1 KB)
    Attachment ID: att_def456 [inline]
    Use with Message ID: msg_xyz789

Important: The Message ID is displayed for each message in the thread. You need both the Message ID and Attachment ID to download an attachment.

Common Error - Thread ID vs Message ID:

• ❌ Thread ID = ID of the entire conversation (e.g., from agentmail_list_threads)
• ✅ Message ID = ID of a specific message within the thread (shown in agentmail_read_email output)
• You MUST use the Message ID, not the Thread ID, to download attachments

To download an attachment, use agentmail_get_attachment with the message ID and attachment ID:

{
  "message_id": "msg_xyz789",
  "attachment_id": "att_abc123"
}

Result:

✓ Attachment saved successfully
Filename: report.pdf
Size: 91.2 KB
Saved to: /home/user/agentmail-attachments/report.pdf

You can now read this file using the Read tool.

That's it! All attachments are automatically saved to disk - no token limits, no complexity.

Sending Attachments

To send attachments with agentmail_send_email or agentmail_reply_to_thread, include an attachments array:

{
  "to": "[email protected]",
  "subject": "Report",
  "body": "Please find the report attached.",
  "attachments": [
    {
      "filename": "report.pdf",
      "content_type": "application/pdf",
      "content": "JVBERi0xLjQKJeLjz9MKMSAwIG9iago8PC9DcmVhdG9yKC..."
    }
  ]
}

Attachment object properties:

• filename (optional): Name for the attachment file
• content_type (optional): MIME type (e.g., application/pdf, image/png, text/plain)
• content (required): Base64 encoded file content

Common MIME types:

• PDF: application/pdf
• PNG: image/png
• JPEG: image/jpeg
• Text: text/plain
• CSV: text/csv
• JSON: application/json
• ZIP: application/zip

Whitelist Patterns

• Exact match: [email protected] - Only matches this exact address
• Domain wildcard: *@example.com - Matches any address at this domain

Note: The whitelist system automatically extracts email addresses from display name formats like "John Doe" <[email protected]>, so you only need to whitelist the email address itself.

Security

This MCP server prevents accidental data leaks by:

1. Blocking sends to non-whitelisted recipients
2. Logging all send attempts for audit purposes
3. Providing clear error messages when sends are blocked

License

MIT