Add the connector
In Claude, open settings, go to connectors and add a custom connector with the URL https://nilyo.com/mcp, choosing OAuth. Claude registers itself and opens a browser once so you sign in and authorize the accounts it may reach. The same connected account is then available on claude.ai, in the desktop app and in Claude Code.
Any mailbox, not only Gmail
Google and Microsoft connect with their own hosted sign-in. A mailbox on OVH, Infomaniak, Ionos or a company server connects over IMAP, usually with nothing but the address and the password since the servers are detected. After that the tools are identical, which is what lets one question cross a personal box and a work one.
Ask about the thread, not the message
What did we commit to, who is waiting on me, what changed since last week: these need the whole exchange read in order, and they are the questions a mail client answers badly. Attachments come back as files, so a contract or an invoice is read rather than named.
“What did we commit to with this client, in writing?”
“Which threads am I holding up, and what does each one need?”
Drafts in your own drafts folder
Claude drafting and you sending is the right split on email: it is good at reading fourteen messages and proposing an answer, you are the one who knows what you can promise. The draft waits in the mailbox’s own drafts folder, so you send it from your normal client if you prefer.
Put your rules in a Project
A Claude Project keeps instructions across conversations: which mailbox is professional, the tone of a reply to a client versus a supplier, never commit to a date without asking. The tools stay the same; the judgement becomes yours instead of being restated in every chat.
Why the password is sometimes refused
On an IMAP connection with two-factor authentication, the host expects an application-specific password generated in its own settings rather than your account password. It fails exactly like a wrong password, which is why people retype the correct one repeatedly. The Google and Microsoft sign-ins avoid the question.
Common questions
Can Claude read my email?
Yes, once a mailbox is connected. It lists, searches and reads whole threads, and drafts or sends when you ask.
Does it work with a custom-domain mailbox?
Yes, generic IMAP is a first-class provider, which is the gap most email integrations leave.
Will it send without asking?
Sending is an explicit action, and creating a draft in your own drafts folder is the safer default while you calibrate how it writes.
Can it handle several mailboxes?
Yes, each action names the mailbox it runs on, so one question can cross a personal box, a shared one and a client’s.
How Email works with Nilyo
Connection. Gmail and Microsoft 365/Outlook through their official sign-in (the “Unipile” name appears on the consent screen: Unipile SAS operates the connection). Any other mailbox through IMAP/SMTP: OVH, Zoho, iCloud, IONOS, Infomaniak, Fastmail, Yahoo, GMX and self-hosted servers.
What your agent can do. Folders and labels, listing and searching messages, reading with attachments, drafts, sending and true replies, moving and labelling, contacts on Gmail and Microsoft.
Pacing and safety. No local budget; provider limits apply. IMAP mailboxes are read live, so listings are paged (50 messages max per page).
- “How many emails today” uses the folder counts of the mailbox; “today” is a date filter, never a guess.
- On IMAP a message id changes after a move; Nilyo returns the new id so the agent keeps working on the right message.
All Email guides
Related guides
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