Paste https://app.arawamail.com/mcp/email into ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, or Perplexity as a custom remote MCP connector, complete OAuth, and approve one active ArawaMail mailbox. The assistant never receives the mailbox password. It can search, read, send or reply, and file mail in that mailbox only. Review every send before you approve the tool call.
What problem this connection solves
You already have a company mailbox on your domain. You want an assistant to find unread vendor mail or draft a reply without handing it the IMAP password or a shared Gmail app password. ArawaMail’s remote MCP server is mailbox-scoped: OAuth issues access to the one mailbox you pick, on the domain you already run for business email.
This is different from generic “email MCP” bridges that proxy a personal Gmail account. Here the From address stays a real mailbox on your domain. Strategy for why agents need that mailbox lives in Give agents a mailbox, not just an API key. How an unsupervised agent can damage reputation lives in Don’t let an AI agent burn your domain. This article is only the connector how-to.
Prerequisites
- An active ArawaMail mailbox. Disabling the mailbox blocks connected AI-assistant access; old sessions are not restored when you re-enable it.
- An assistant that supports custom remote MCP + OAuth.
- Permission to add connectors. Team and enterprise accounts often need an administrator.
- If the assistant will send mail, the domain must have Enable Sending turned on. MCP does not bypass domain authentication.
Always copy the MCP URL from the live Connect an AI Assistant (MCP) page. That URL belongs to the current billing website and controls branding and the OAuth issuer.
https://app.arawamail.com/mcp/emailWhat the assistant can and cannot do
After you approve access, documented tools let it:
- Search by folder, text, sender, recipient, subject, unread status, and date range
- Read a conversation without marking it read by default
- Send a new message or reply from this mailbox
- Mark read or unread, archive or unarchive, move to trash or restore from trash
It cannot access another mailbox, manage drafts or spam, download attachments, permanently delete email, or administer domains. There is no documented calendar tool and no documented Free-plan MCP quota to invent.
Connect ChatGPT to an ArawaMail mailbox
- In ChatGPT, open Settings, enable Developer mode if your account offers it.
- Open ChatGPT Plugins (or the current create-connection path in Developer tools), add a connection.
- Name it something like “Arawa Mail Email” and paste the MCP URL above.
- Complete Arawa Mail sign-in and consent. Pick the mailbox ChatGPT may use.
- Start a new conversation and enable the connection from the tools menu.
Menu labels move. Confirm against OpenAI’s current connect-and-test MCP guide and the live Arawa Mail docs on the day you connect.
Connect Claude to a mailbox (Claude MCP email)
- In Claude, go to Customize → Connectors.
- Select + → Add custom connector. On Team or Enterprise, an owner must add it first from Organization settings → Connectors.
- Paste the MCP server URL and finish creating the connector.
- Select Connect and complete Arawa Mail OAuth for one mailbox.
- Enable the connector for a conversation from + → Connectors.
Connect Grok (Grok email connector)
- Go to grok.com/connectors.
- Select New Connector → Custom.
- Enter
https://app.arawamail.com/mcp/email. - Complete Arawa Mail sign-in and consent.
- Ask Grok to search or manage that mailbox.
Example: a founder connects Grok to [email protected] and asks it to list unread vendor mail after a date.
Connect Perplexity with a custom remote MCP email connector
- Open Account settings → Connectors (organization admins may use the enterprise connector permissions page).
- Select + Custom connector, choose Remote, and name it.
- Paste the MCP URL and choose OAuth.
- Save, complete Arawa Mail consent, then enable the connector in the conversation before asking it to use mail.
Availability depends on the Perplexity plan and organization settings.
Test without sending to a customer
Safe first prompts from the product docs:
- Find unread email from a known internal address received after a date.
- Show the latest conversation about a named proposal.
- Draft a reply to the latest message, but do not send it yet.
- Archive the conversation after I review it.
A support lead connecting Claude to support@ should stay on “draft, do not send” until a human owns the From line.
Wrong path: connecting a personal assistant to the same mailbox that sends password resets through an API key. Keep agent mailboxes separate from transactional sending identities.
MCP Inspector for developers
Verify discovery, OAuth, and tools:
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --server-url https://app.arawamail.com/mcp/email --transport httpComplete OAuth when prompted. Do not publish placeholder SMTP or Connect Device hosts.
How we checked this
Claims in this article are limited to the live Arawa Mail AI assistants guide, mailbox and sending docs, and the official ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Perplexity custom-connector pages as of draft day (19 September 2026). Assistant UIs change; the MCP URL and OAuth-only model are the stable product facts. We did not invent tools, quotas, or enterprise IdP-provisioned connectors.
Revoke access and review before send
In the mailbox, open Settings → AI assistants and revoke the connection. You can also remove the connector inside the assistant. Disabling the mailbox cuts assistant access immediately.
Email bodies can contain untrusted instructions aimed at the model. Review recipients, message text, and mailbox changes before you approve a tool call. Sending through MCP still requires Enable Sending and the same SPF, DKIM, and DMARC alignment as any other send from that domain.
FAQ
Does the assistant get my mailbox password?
No. Connection is OAuth only. The assistant can use only the mailbox you approve.
What URL do I paste?
https://app.arawamail.com/mcp/email — or whatever URL the current docs page shows for your billing site.
Should each agent get its own mailbox?
Yes, if the agent will send. Shared inboxes blur who owned the From address and make offboarding harder. Give the agent a dedicated mailbox; keep API transactional mail on a sending identity humans monitor.
Can MCP send if sending is off on the domain?
No. Mailbox and API sending both require a sending-active domain.