Outlook Email MCP

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that enables sending emails via Microsoft Outlook COM interop on Windows.

Features

• 📧 Send emails through Microsoft Outlook installed on Windows
• 📎 Support for attachments (multiple files)
• 👥 CC and BCC recipients
• 🎨 HTML and plain text body formats
• ⚠️ Email importance levels (low, normal, high)
• 🏷️ Outlook categories support
• ✅ Comprehensive email validation
• 🔒 No authentication required (uses current Outlook user account)

Prerequisites

• Windows OS (7, 8, 10, 11 or Server editions)
• Microsoft Outlook (2016, 2019, 2021, or Microsoft 365) installed and configured
• Node.js 18+ (for running as MCP server)

Installation

✨ One-Click Install

Manual Install (npm)

npm install outlook-email-mcp

Or add to your .vscode/mcp.json manually:

{
  "servers": {
    "outlook-email": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "outlook-email-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Or for development:

git clone https://github.com/dwjobling/outlook-email-mcp.git
cd outlook-email-mcp
npm install
npm run build

Usage

GitHub Copilot Integration

Use this MCP server directly with GitHub Copilot in VS Code for natural language email sending:

Quick Setup:

npm install
npm run build

Then open the project in VS Code with GitHub Copilot installed. See COPILOT_SETUP.md for detailed instructions.

Example in Copilot Chat:

"Send an HTML email to [email protected] and [email protected] with CC to [email protected] about the project status, set as high priority"

Copilot will use the send_email tool to execute your request!

Setup Files for Copilot

• .vscode/settings.json - VS Code configuration
• .vscode/mcp.json - MCP server configuration for Copilot
• COPILOT_SETUP.md - Complete setup and troubleshooting guide

As an MCP Server

The package can be run as a standalone MCP server via stdio:

npm start

This will start the MCP server and listen for tool calls via standard input/output.

MCP Tool: send_email

Send an email with the following parameters:

Parameters

• to (string, required): Email recipient(s). Multiple recipients can be comma-separated

  • Example: "[email protected]" or "[email protected], [email protected]"

• subject (string, required): Email subject line

• body (string, required): Email body content

• bodyFormat (string, optional): Email body format

  • Options: "text" (default), "html"
  • Use "html" for formatted emails with CSS, tables, etc.

• cc (string, optional): Carbon copy recipient(s), comma-separated

• bcc (string, optional): Blind carbon copy recipient(s), comma-separated

• attachments (array of strings, optional): File paths to attach

  • Example: ["/path/to/file.pdf", "C:\\Users\\Name\\Document.docx"]
  • Paths must be absolute or relative to the current working directory

• importance (string, optional): Email priority level

  • Options: "low", "normal" (default), "high"

• categories (string, optional): Outlook categories, comma-separated

  • Example: "Work, Urgent"

Response

Success response:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Email sent successfully to [email protected]",
  "messageId": "[outlook-entry-id]"
}

Error response:

{
  "success": false,
  "message": "Failed to send email",
  "error": "Invalid email address: not-an-email"
}

Example Usage (via Node.js)

import { OutlookClient } from "outlook-email-mcp";

const client = new OutlookClient();

// Send a simple email
const response = await client.sendEmail({
  to: "[email protected]",
  subject: "Hello from Outlook MCP",
  body: "This is a test email.",
});

console.log(response);

// Send an HTML email with attachments
const response = await client.sendEmail({
  to: "[email protected]",
  subject: "Report",
  body: "<h1>Monthly Report</h1><p>Here is your report.</p>",
  bodyFormat: "html",
  cc: "[email protected]",
  attachments: ["./report.pdf"],
  importance: "high",
});

console.log(response);

Development

Build

npm run build

Watch Mode

npm run dev

Error Handling

The server handles various error conditions:

• Outlook not installed: Cannot create Outlook.Application COM object
• Outlook not running: May need Outlook to be open for sending
• Invalid email addresses: Email validation against standard format
• Attachment file not found: Each attachment path is verified
• COM errors: Outlook-specific errors (network issues, permission errors, etc.)

All errors return structured error responses through the MCP protocol.

Limitations

1. Windows Only: Requires Windows OS with Outlook installed via COM interop
2. Outlook Installation: Outlook must be installed and properly configured
3. Outlook Access: May require Outlook to be running or properly licensed
4. File Paths: Attachment paths must be accessible from the Node.js process
5. Security Warnings: Outlook may show security prompts for programmatic email access (depending on version)

Troubleshooting

"Failed to initialize Outlook: Cannot create Outlook.Application COM object"

• Ensure Microsoft Outlook is installed on your system
• Verify Outlook installation is not corrupted by trying to open Outlook manually
• Check that you have the necessary permissions to access COM objects

"Attachment file not found"

• Verify file paths are absolute or relative to the current working directory
• Check file permissions - the process must have read access to the file

Emails not appearing in Outlook

• Check Outlook is running (may need to be open)
• Verify the email addresses are valid and formatted correctly
• Check Outlook for any error dialogs or security prompts

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit pull requests or open issues for bugs and feature requests.