poke-mail/README.md

poke-mail

An MCP server that bridges IMAP/SMTP email accounts to Poke. Provides AI agents with tools to search, read, send, and manage emails, and automatically forwards new incoming emails to the Poke inbound endpoint.

Features

• 12 MCP tools: search, read, send, draft, archive, move, mark, list/create/rename/delete folders, server info
• Send toggle: Disable send_email globally or per account — agents use create_draft instead
• IMAP IDLE watcher: Real-time monitoring of new emails, forwarded to Poke automatically
• Multi-account support: Configure multiple email accounts in a single config file
• Bearer token auth: Secure the server with MCP_API_KEY so only you can use it
• No delete tool: Emails can be archived or moved, never deleted by an agent

Setup

1. Configure accounts

cp config.example.yml config.yml

Edit config.yml with your email credentials:

webhook_url: https://poke.com/api/v1/inbound-sms/webhook
poke_api_key: your-api-key  # from https://poke.com/settings/advanced

accounts:
  - id: work
    imap_host: imap.gmail.com
    imap_port: 993
    imap_username: you@gmail.com
    imap_password: your-app-password
    smtp_host: smtp.gmail.com
    smtp_port: 587
    smtp_username: you@gmail.com
    smtp_password: your-app-password
    from_address: you@customdomain.com  # optional — override From: header (useful for iCloud with custom domains)
    watch_folders:
      - INBOX

For Gmail, use an App Password.

2. Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Run

MCP_API_KEY=your-secret-key python src/server.py

4. Test

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector

Open http://localhost:3000 and connect to http://localhost:3000/mcp using "Streamable HTTP" transport. Pass Authorization: Bearer your-secret-key header.

Authentication

Set MCP_API_KEY to secure the server. All requests must include Authorization: Bearer <MCP_API_KEY>.

If MCP_API_KEY is not set, the server runs unauthenticated (with a warning). Always set it in production.

When connecting from Poke, add the bearer token in your connection settings.

Docker

docker build -t poke-mail .

docker run -d \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -v $(pwd)/config.yml:/app/config.yml:ro \
  -e MCP_API_KEY=your-secret-key \
  poke-mail

Or use the pre-built image from GitHub Container Registry:

docker run -d \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -v $(pwd)/config.yml:/app/config.yml:ro \
  -e MCP_API_KEY=your-secret-key \
  ghcr.io/OWNER/poke-mail:main

MCP Tools

Tool	Description
search_emails	Search by from, to, subject, date range
read_email	Read full email content by UID
send_email	Send email with text/HTML, CC/BCC, reply threading (can be disabled)
create_draft	Save email as draft for review before sending
archive_email	Move email to Archive folder
move_email	Move email between folders
mark_email	Set read/unread/flagged/unflagged
list_folders	List all IMAP folders
create_folder	Create a new folder
rename_folder	Rename a folder
delete_folder	Delete a folder (protected folders blocked)
get_server_info	Server status and account connectivity

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
MCP_API_KEY	—	Required in production. Bearer token to secure the MCP server
CONFIG_PATH	config.yml	Path to config file
POKE_WEBHOOK_URL	from config	Overrides webhook URL in config
POKE_API_KEY	from config	Overrides Poke API key in config
PORT	3000	HTTP server port

Deployment

Docker (recommended)

The GitHub Actions workflow automatically builds and pushes to ghcr.io on every push to main and on tags.

1. Set repository secrets: none needed (uses GITHUB_TOKEN for GHCR)
2. Push to main or tag v* to trigger a build
3. Pull and run the image with your config.yml and MCP_API_KEY

Render

Click the Deploy to Render button above, or manually:

1. Create a Web Service on Render connected to your repo
2. Fill in IMAP_HOST, IMAP_USERNAME, IMAP_PASSWORD, POKE_WEBHOOK_URL, and POKE_API_KEY
3. MCP_API_KEY is auto-generated — copy it for your Poke connection settings

For multi-account setups, mount a config.yml as a secret file instead of using env vars.

Railway

Click the Deploy on Railway button above, then set the same environment variables as Render.

Poke Setup

Connect your MCP server to Poke at poke.com/settings/connections. Add the bearer token (MCP_API_KEY) in the connection auth settings.

The IDLE watcher automatically forwards new emails to Poke. You can also use the tools directly through Poke's AI agent.