MCP Gmail Server

A server that uses model context protocol[https://modelcontextprotocol.io/] to read and create drafts of emails from Gmail.

Project setup

Create Oauth client and add secrets:

Create a Google Cloud Project

Go to https://console.cloud.google.com/
In the top-left, open the project dropdown and click New Project
Give your project a name (e.g., Gmail API Demo)
Click Create Your project is now created; make sure it’s selected in the project dropdown.

Enable the Gmail API

Go to the API Library: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/library
Search for Gmail API
Click it → Enable

Configure OAuth 2.0 Credentials

Navigate to: APIs & Services → Credentials
You’ll be prompted to configure the OAuth Consent Screen (if first time creating OAuth credentials)
Choose External if users outside your Google Workspace will use it
Fill in details
Add test users (email addresses allowed to authorize during development)
Save the configuration
Click Create Credentials → OAuth client ID
Choose the application type: Desktop app (for testing/dev)
Name it
Click Create

You will now receive:

Client ID
Client Secret Download them as JSON for use in your code.

Save the JSON as "client_secret_oauth_gcp.json" in the root of this project. (note this should be stored securely and not commited to github.)

Install and run app

Install uv: https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/

Install dependencies with uv: uv sync

Start server: uv run -m src.mcp_server_gmail

Claude desktop

Install Claude Desktop

Set claude_desktop_config.json file to:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gmail": {
      "command": "/Users/myname/Documents/Coding/fac-mcp-gmail-server/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": [
        "-m",
        "mcp_server_gmail"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PYTHONPATH": "/Users/myname/Documents/Coding/fac-mcp-gmail-server/src"
      },
      "cwd": "/Users/myname/Documents/Coding/fac-mcp-gmail-server"
    }
  }
}

Ensuring the directory paths are replaced appropriately with your local directory paths.

Test (manual)

Go to claude desktop

Try the following: "Get last 3 unread emails" "Create draft emails for these"

See /docs/working_examples, for examples screenshots of the mcp server

Features

Gmail Oauth set up
MCP server for read and drafting emails on gmail