iCloud Mail MCP server: what works without an Apple one

An iCloud Mail MCP server lets an AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT search, read and sometimes send your iCloud email. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the standard way these assistants connect to other apps. If your mail is @icloud.com, @me.com or @mac.com, Apple offers no server of its own. ChatGPT added an iCloud Mail plugin on 27 October 2026; beyond that, you find a long list of small GitHub projects.

This article covers the ChatGPT plugin, the two ways those projects reach your mail, what each lets an agent do, and how to pick one safely. For other providers, see email MCP servers compared.

iCloud Mail MCP options compared

Checked on 27 October 2026, from Apple Support, OpenAI's release notes and the GitHub projects.

? = not documented (the ChatGPT plugin has no help page yet). Apple has no official option. What a generic IMAP server can do depends on the server; some can be limited to reading. MailTag only moves an email from one category to another; it never deletes it or takes it out of the mailbox.

Is there an official iCloud Mail MCP server?

No. At WWDC 2026, Apple talked about MCP only in Xcode, for coding agents (Apple Developer). In macOS 27, apps reach Siri through App Intents, and Apple's notes don't mention MCP (Apple Developer). There is no server for iCloud Mail or for the Mail app. If Apple adds something, we'll update this page.

ChatGPT's iCloud Mail plugin

On 27 October 2026, OpenAI added iCloud Mail and Calendar plugins to ChatGPT. They let it find emails and catch you up on your inbox, on every ChatGPT plan, on the web, the desktop app and iOS (OpenAI release notes). It's ChatGPT's own feature, not Apple's. OpenAI hasn't yet said how it signs in, whether it can send or delete, or whether it works in the EU. Claude's built-in mail connectors are still only Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

Route 1: IMAP with an app-specific password

iCloud Mail speaks IMAP, the standard protocol mail apps use to reach a mailbox. Apps other than Apple's need an app-specific password, a separate password for one app (Apple Support). You create one at account.apple.com under Sign-In and Security → App-Specific Passwords. Your Apple Account needs two-factor authentication, you can have up to 25 active, and changing your main password revokes all of them (Apple Support). More in iCloud app password.

Any IMAP MCP server works with iCloud: the iCloud-specific ones only fill in the settings for you. The upside is that it runs anywhere, including a server. The downside: an app-specific password isn't limited to reading. Whoever holds it can also move and delete any message, and the MCP server offers whatever actions its author wrote.

Route 2: the Mail app on your Mac

Other servers don't touch iCloud directly. They drive the Mail app on your Mac through Apple's automation (AppleScript), so there's no password to store. macOS asks you to allow it the first time. icloud-mcp works this way by default and can switch to IMAP. The best-known one, apple-mcp, is no longer maintained.

The limits: your Mac must be on and the Mail app set up. It only works with apps on the same Mac, such as Claude Desktop or Claude Code. And the agent reaches every account in Apple Mail, not only iCloud.

How to pick one

• Look at what it can do. If it can delete or move mail and you only want answers, look for a read-only mode or another server.
• Check where the password goes. Prefer servers that keep it in the macOS Keychain over a plain text file.
• Check activity. Many iCloud projects have no releases and few users. A generic IMAP server with more users and a read-only mode may be the safer bet.
• One app password per tool. Then you can revoke the MCP server alone without breaking your other mail apps.

For developers

• iCloud IMAP: imap.mail.me.com, port 993, SSL. SMTP: smtp.mail.me.com, port 587, with your full address as username (Apple Support).
• icloud-mail-mcp: IMAP and SMTP; its tools include move_messages, delete_messages and delete_mailbox.
• icloud-mcp: AppleScript by default, IMAP and SMTP in cloud mode (set-mode switches at runtime). Its email tools list, read, search, mark as read and send; none deletes or moves. The .mcpb bundle keeps the password in the macOS Keychain; a manual install reads it from .env.
• apple-mcp: archived; its Mail tools read, search and send.
• In any server's tools list, look for delete and move.
• A safer generic choice: imap-mcp-server, with a read-only switch.

iCloud Mail with MailTag's MCP server

MailTag connects to iCloud Mail with an app-specific password and sorts each new email into folders named after your own categories. Important mail can stay in the inbox. It runs on its servers in the EU without storing email content.

Its MCP server at https://mailtag.app/mcp is a hosted alternative to running an IMAP server yourself. Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor sign in with your MailTag account, so the agent never sees your app password. What each agent gets is up to you:

• What it sees: which mailboxes, categories or saved views, how far back, and whether it gets the sender, the subject, the email's text and attachments.
• What it changes: moving an email to another category, and editing your categories and saved views, each only if you allow it.
• What it writes: drafts, saved in your iCloud Drafts folder for you to send. Sending is a separate switch: replies only or new email too, only to people you've already replied to or to anyone, up to 10, 50 or 200 a day.

It can never delete email or move it out of your mailbox. It only sees email MailTag labeled in the last 30 days, not your whole iCloud archive. See the MCP docs.

FAQ

Does Apple have an MCP server for iCloud Mail?

No. Apple hadn't released one by 27 October 2026. ChatGPT's iCloud Mail plugin is OpenAI's, not Apple's.

Can I connect iCloud Mail to ChatGPT?

Yes. Since 27 October 2026 ChatGPT has an iCloud Mail plugin, on every plan, that finds and reads email. OpenAI hasn't published yet whether it sends, how it signs in or if it's available in the EU.

What are the iCloud IMAP settings for an MCP server?

Server imap.mail.me.com, port 993, SSL. The username is usually the part of your address before @icloud.com (try the full address if that fails), and the password is an app-specific password.

Can I use my normal Apple Account password?

No. iCloud Mail asks other apps for an app-specific password, which needs two-factor authentication on your Apple Account.

Can an iCloud MCP server delete my email?

If it has a delete action, yes: an app-specific password allows everything. Check what the server can do and use a read-only mode if there is one.

Does a Mac-based MCP server send my mail anywhere?

The server runs on your Mac, but whatever it returns goes into the agent's conversation, and the agent's provider sees it.