Connect it in two minutes
Add the Nilyo app in ChatGPT, or enable developer mode and add a connector with the URL https://nilyo.com/mcp and OAuth. Then connect the mailbox: give the address and the password and the servers are detected from the address — you normally never type a host or a port. Only if detection fails are you asked for them, and the authoritative place to copy them from is the account settings of the mail client you already use.
Use the Google sign-in, not IMAP
You can connect Gmail over IMAP, but you should not: with two-factor authentication on, Google refuses your account password and expects an app password, which you then have to maintain and which gives broader access than needed. The hosted Google sign-in avoids all of it — you authorize once on Google’s own page, nothing is typed, and you revoke it from your Google account whenever you want. The IMAP route stays available for the rare case where a Workspace policy blocks the sign-in.
What it is actually good for here
Gmail’s own search is good at finding a message and poor at answering a question about a thread. That is where the assistant fits: read the whole exchange in order, quote what was agreed, list who is waiting on you. Attachments come back as files, and a draft lands in your own Gmail drafts where you send it yourself.
“What arrived since yesterday that needs an answer from me?”
“Find the thread where we agreed the delivery date and quote the message.”
Labels are not folders
Gmail organizes by labels and a message can carry several, which is why an assistant that treats labels as folders reports the same email three times. Identifiers are resolved from the listing rather than guessed from a display name, and date filtering is exact rather than rounded to the day, so a request for the last twelve hours really covers twelve hours.
When it stops working
Two causes cover nearly everything. The password is refused after it worked: an application password was revoked, or the mailbox password was changed — generate or update it and reconnect the same mailbox rather than adding a second one. The agent suddenly sees nothing: the session expired, and the card in the answer carries the reconnection link. A mailbox that moved host is reconnected with the new servers, not re-added, so anything referring to it keeps working.
Common questions
Can ChatGPT read my Gmail?
Yes, once connected. Use the Google sign-in rather than IMAP: nothing to type, nothing to renew, and you revoke it from your Google account.
Do I need a Google Cloud project or an API key?
No. That is what self-hosted Gmail MCP servers require. Here the sign-in is hosted and there is no client secret anywhere.
Why would my Gmail password be refused?
Only on the IMAP route, when two-factor is on: Google then expects an app password. The sign-in route avoids the question.
Does it work with Google Workspace?
Yes, like a personal Gmail, unless an administrator policy blocks third-party access — in which case the IMAP route with an app password remains.
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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