How to connect
Add an MCP Client module to the scenario — or an MCP tool from an AI Agent’s configuration — create a connection and set the server URL to https://nilyo.com/mcp with OAuth authentication. A browser window opens to authorize, the same Nilyo sign-in ChatGPT and Claude use, with no Make-specific account to create.
When the built-in apps are enough
One mailbox, one provider, a simple watch-and-forward scenario: the native apps do that well. Nilyo pays off when several mailboxes and providers share a scenario, when the box is on a custom domain, or when the email modules sit beside LinkedIn, WhatsApp or a calendar on one connection.
Identifiers, not display names
IMAP folder and message identifiers are server-specific and move when a message is filed; a Gmail label is not an IMAP folder. Resolve them from a listing module and reuse what comes back. A scenario that hardcodes a folder name breaks the day someone renames it, and it breaks silently.
Drafts are the safe half
Creating a draft leaves the message in the mailbox’s own drafts, where a human sends it. Sending is an external action: put it behind a router or an approval and turn off automatic error retries — a retried send is a duplicate in the recipient’s inbox, and Make retries are easy to leave on by default.
A realistic scenario
A new email arrives in the support box; the scenario reads the whole thread, pulls the client’s last LinkedIn message for context through the same connection, drafts an answer and files it in drafts with a notification. Two accounts, one connection, nothing sent automatically.
Trigger on arrival rather than on a timer
A scenario that lists a mailbox every five minutes spends most of its runs finding nothing, and still answers five minutes late. A realtime destination delivers each new email to the scenario as it arrives, carrying the identifiers to read the full thread, so the branch that drafts an answer starts from the whole exchange rather than from the last message.
“When an email arrives in the support box, read the thread and draft a reply.”
“Pull the client’s last LinkedIn message for context before answering.”
Common questions
Does it work with a custom-domain mailbox?
Yes, generic IMAP is a first-class provider, which is the gap the Gmail and Outlook apps leave.
Can one scenario use several mailboxes?
Yes. Each module names the mailbox it runs on, so it can read one and send from another.
How do I stop duplicate sends?
Disable automatic retries on send modules and read the state back instead; the tools do not retry an ambiguous write either.
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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