How to Give Claude Access to Your Email

You give Claude access to your email by connecting it to your email provider through a supported MCP server or an automation platform, then granting specific permission scopes. The connection lets Claude read messages you direct it to, draft replies, and, if you allow it, send on your behalf. The scope you choose determines how much Claude can actually do.

Before connecting anything, decide what you actually need. Reading and drafting are low-risk and useful in most workflows. Sending on your behalf carries real consequences, because a sent email represents you. Tools like fenbs let you record the decisions behind that boundary and track email-related follow-up tasks so they do not get lost across sessions.

What email access means for an AI assistant

Email access is not a single switch. Different permission scopes give an assistant different capabilities: reading a specific label, searching your inbox, composing a draft, or sending outbound messages. Each scope is granted separately when you authorize the connection, and you can revoke it the same way.

Most email providers implement access through OAuth 2.0. You sign in to your account in a browser, approve the requested scopes for the application, and the application receives a token it uses to act within those limits. The token does not give the application your password — it gives it a specific, revocable permission.

For more on how Claude connects to outside tools in general, the main overview covers the basics. For related access questions, see how to give an AI agent access to your project board.

Connect Claude to Gmail

The most direct path is an MCP server for Gmail. Several open-source and commercial options exist that wrap the Gmail API and expose it as MCP tools. You install or configure the server, connect it to your Claude environment from Integrations, and authorize it with your Google account through the OAuth flow.

During authorization, Google shows you which scopes the application requests. Read-only scopes let Claude search and retrieve messages. A compose or send scope lets it create drafts or send. Grant only the scopes you plan to use. You can revoke access from your Google Account security settings at any time.

If you prefer not to install an MCP server, automation platforms like Zapier or Make can bridge Claude to Gmail through their built-in Gmail integrations. You build a workflow: Claude produces the output, the platform passes it to the Gmail action you configured.

Connect Claude to Outlook or Microsoft 365

For Outlook and Microsoft 365, the same pattern applies through the Microsoft Graph API. MCP servers that wrap the Graph API expose mail reading, drafting, and sending as tools. You authorize the server against your Microsoft account, and it receives a token scoped to the permissions you approved.

Microsoft 365 accounts managed by an organization may require an administrator to approve the application before individual users can authorize it. Check with your IT team if the authorization flow asks for admin consent.

Choose the right permission scopes

Grant the minimum scope you actually need. If your goal is researching past threads or summarizing an inbox folder, a read-only scope is enough. Add a draft scope if you want Claude to prepare replies for your review. Add a send scope only if you intend for Claude to send without your manual confirmation.

Write down which scopes you granted and why. That record matters when a colleague asks what Claude can do with your account, when you review permissions after a few months, or when you hand off the project to someone else. Stored in fenbs as a context note or decision, it is available to the next assistant and to you without hunting through OAuth settings.

Review before Claude sends

Even with a send scope authorized, you can configure the integration to require your confirmation before each message goes out. Most MCP servers and automation platforms support a draft-and-confirm step: Claude writes the message, you review it, and you trigger the send yourself.

For anything client-facing, legally significant, or sensitive in tone, keep that review step. An email sent on your behalf carries your name and reputation. The review step costs seconds and prevents messages that are technically correct but contextually wrong.

Keep a record of email-linked tasks

Email generates work. A message you receive may create a task, a reply may depend on a decision that has not been made yet, and a thread may reference a project whose status Claude does not know. Without a link between the email and the work, the next session starts from scratch.

When Claude drafts a reply or reads a thread for you, ask it to add any open tasks and next steps to your project record. That way, when you or another assistant returns to the same email thread, the relevant context is already written down. For how to hand that work from one session to the next, the handoff guide explains the pattern.

How to do this with fenbs

1. Create a free account and add a project for the work this email access will support.
2. In Decisions and rules, record which scopes you granted, which addresses or contacts Claude may reach, and which message types require your manual review before sending.
3. Connect your AI assistant over MCP from Integrations and point it at the project so it reads those rules at the start of each session.
4. When Claude handles an email thread, ask it to add any open tasks or follow-up steps to the project so they appear in Where we left off for the next session.
5. Revoke access from your email provider's security settings whenever you no longer need the connection, and update the decision record to note the change.

fenbs does not connect to email providers directly. It keeps the rules, tasks, and records that make those connections manageable. For related setup questions, see the guides on giving Claude access to a folder and giving Claude internet access.