mcp-email/README.md

# MCP Email Server

A Dockerized MCP (Model Context Protocol) email assistant for law firms and legal teams.

Integrates:
- Multiple IMAP/SMTP email accounts
- Shared/public folder support
- New-message tracking and flagging
- Conflict check search
- Triage guidance using personnel/chain-of-command

Designed to be consumed by LLMs via MCP (Streamable HTTP) in Open WebUI.

## Quick start (single account)

1. Build:

   docker build -t mcp-email-server /home/user/wall-o/mcp-email-server

2. Run (example):

   docker run -d \
     -p 8000:8000 \
     -e API_KEY="your_api_key_here" \
     -e LOG_LEVEL="DEBUG" \
     -e IMAP_HOST=imap.example.com \
     -e IMAP_PORT=993 \
     -e IMAP_USE_SSL=true \
     -e IMAP_USERNAME="user@example.com" \
     -e IMAP_PASSWORD="secret" \
     -e SMTP_HOST=smtp.example.com \
     -e SMTP_PORT=587 \
     -e SMTP_USE_TLS=true \
     -e SMTP_USE_SSL=false \
     -e SMTP_USERNAME="user@example.com" \
     -e SMTP_PASSWORD="secret" \
     -e SMTP_FROM="user@example.com" \
     -e DEFAULT_CC="supervisor@example.com" \
     -e BUSINESS_DESCRIPTION="A law firm handling corporate and litigation matters." \
     -e PERSONNEL_JSON='[{"name":"Jane Doe","role":"Managing Partner","email":"jane@example.com","escalates_to":null},{"name":"John Smith","role":"Associate","email":"john@example.com","escalates_to":"Jane Doe"}]' \
     mcp-email-server

3. Health check:

   http://localhost:8000/health

4. MCP endpoint:

   - POST http://localhost:8000/mcp
   - Uses JSON-RPC 2.0 (methods: initialize, tools/list, tools/call)

5. Integrate with Open WebUI (MCP Streamable HTTP):

   - Admin Settings → External Tools → Add Server
   - Type: MCP (Streamable HTTP)
   - Server URL: http://<your-server>:8000/mcp
   - Auth: Bearer
   - Key: your_api_key_here
   - Save, then enable tools in a chat.

## Multi-account configuration

The server can manage multiple IMAP/SMTP accounts. Tools accept an optional "account" parameter; if omitted, the default account is used.

You have two main options:

1) Inline JSON (ACCOUNTS_JSON)

Set ACCOUNTS_JSON with a JSON array of accounts.

Copy-paste template (single line, for docker run):

-e ACCOUNTS_JSON='[{"id":"account1","name":"Primary Firm Inbox","imap_host":"imap.primary.com","imap_port":993,"imap_use_ssl":true,"imap_username":"user@primary.com","imap_password":"CHANGE_ME_1","smtp_host":"smtp.primary.com","smtp_port":587,"smtp_use_tls":true,"smtp_use_ssl":false,"smtp_username":"user@primary.com","smtp_password":"CHANGE_ME_1","smtp_from":"user@primary.com"},{"id":"account2","name":"Secondary Inbox","imap_host":"imap.secondary.com","imap_port":993,"imap_use_ssl":true,"imap_username":"user@secondary.com","imap_password":"CHANGE_ME_2","smtp_host":"smtp.secondary.com","smtp_port":587,"smtp_use_tls":true,"smtp_use_ssl":false,"smtp_username":"user@secondary.com","smtp_password":"CHANGE_ME_2","smtp_from":"user@secondary.com"}]'

Human-readable equivalent (for reference):

ACCOUNTS_JSON='[
  {
    "id": "account1",
    "name": "Primary Firm Inbox",
    "imap_host": "imap.primary.com",
    "imap_port": 993,
    "imap_use_ssl": true,
    "imap_username": "user@primary.com",
    "imap_password": "CHANGE_ME_1",
    "smtp_host": "smtp.primary.com",
    "smtp_port": 587,
    "smtp_use_tls": true,
    "smtp_use_ssl": false,
    "smtp_username": "user@primary.com",
    "smtp_password": "CHANGE_ME_1",
    "smtp_from": "user@primary.com"
  },
  {
    "id": "account2",
    "name": "Secondary Inbox",
    "imap_host": "imap.secondary.com",
    "imap_port": 993,
    "imap_use_ssl": true,
    "imap_username": "user@secondary.com",
    "imap_password": "CHANGE_ME_2",
    "smtp_host": "smtp.secondary.com",
    "smtp_port": 587,
    "smtp_use_tls": true,
    "smtp_use_ssl": false,
    "smtp_username": "user@secondary.com",
    "smtp_password": "CHANGE_ME_2",
    "smtp_from": "user@secondary.com"
  }
]'

2) JSON file (ACCOUNTS_CONFIG_PATH)

Mount a JSON file and set ACCOUNTS_CONFIG_PATH. Example:

docker run -d \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  -v /path/to/accounts.json:/etc/mcp-email/accounts.json:ro \
  -e API_KEY="your_api_key_here" \
  -e ACCOUNTS_CONFIG_PATH="/etc/mcp-email/accounts.json" \
  mcp-email-server

Use the same structure as ACCOUNTS_JSON.

Default account:

- Use DEFAULT_ACCOUNT="firm_main" to set the default.
- If not set:
  - If only one account exists, it is default.
  - Otherwise, an account with id "default" is preferred, or the first one is used.

Tool usage with multiple accounts:

- Most tools accept an "account" field. Examples:
  - list_folders: { "account": "firm_main" }
  - search_messages: { "account": "secondary", "folder": "INBOX", "query": "conflict" }
  - send_email: { "account": "firm_main", "to": ["client@example.com"], "subject": "...", "body": "..." }
- If "account" is omitted, the default account is used.

A new tool is available:

- list_accounts:
  - Lists all configured accounts and shows which is default.

## Environment variables

See env.example for a ready-to-use template.

Core:

- API_KEY:
  - If set, all /mcp requests must include:
    Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>
  - Leave empty to disable auth (not recommended in production).

- LOG_LEVEL:
  - e.g., INFO, DEBUG, ERROR (default: INFO)

Single-account IMAP (only if not using ACCOUNTS_JSON/ACCOUNTS_CONFIG_PATH):

- IMAP_HOST
- IMAP_PORT
- IMAP_USE_SSL
- IMAP_USERNAME
- IMAP_PASSWORD

Single-account SMTP (only if not using ACCOUNTS_JSON/ACCOUNTS_CONFIG_PATH):

- SMTP_HOST
- SMTP_PORT
- SMTP_USE_TLS
- SMTP_USE_SSL
- SMTP_USERNAME
- SMTP_PASSWORD
- SMTP_FROM

Multi-account configuration:

- ACCOUNTS_JSON:
  - Inline JSON array of accounts (alternative to a mounted file).
- ACCOUNTS_CONFIG_PATH:
  - Path inside the container to a JSON file with account definitions.
- DEFAULT_ACCOUNT:
  - Default account ID to use when tools are called without specifying "account".
  - If blank:
    - If only one account exists, it is default.
    - Otherwise, an account with id "default" is preferred, or the first one is used.

Time and timezone:

- TIMEZONE:
  - IANA timezone used by get_current_time (e.g. "America/New_York", "Europe/London", "UTC").
  - Default: "UTC".
  - Example:
      -e TIMEZONE="America/New_York"

Optional email defaults:

- DEFAULT_CC: Comma-separated CC addresses.
- DEFAULT_BCC: Comma-separated BCC addresses.

Business and triage context:

- BUSINESS_DESCRIPTION:
  - Context for the LLM (e.g., firm description).
- PERSONNEL_JSON:
  - JSON array of personnel/chain-of-command.
  - Example:
    [
      {
        "name": "Jane Doe",
        "role": "Managing Partner",
        "email": "jane@example.com",
        "escalates_to": null
      },
      {
        "name": "John Smith",
        "role": "Associate",
        "email": "john@example.com",
        "escalates_to": "Jane Doe"
      }
    ]

Scheduling:

- SCHEDULED_SEND_INTERVAL:
  - Seconds between checks for scheduled emails (default: 10).

HTML signature and LLM identity:

- EMAIL_HTML_SIGNATURE:
  - Optional HTML signature appended to HTML emails.
  - Can be:
    - Inline HTML string, or
    - A file path inside the container (e.g. /etc/mcp-email/signature.html).
  - Inline example:
      -e EMAIL_HTML_SIGNATURE='<div style="font-size:12px;">Best regards,<br>Jane Doe<br>Associate</div>'
  - Template file example:
      - Mount:
          -v /path/to/signature.html:/etc/mcp-email/signature.html:ro
      - Set:
          -e EMAIL_HTML_SIGNATURE='/etc/mcp-email/signature.html'

- Signature template variables:
  - The signature can include placeholders:
    - {{NAME}}
    - {{TITLE}}
    - {{PHONE}}
    - {{ADDRESS}}
    - {{EMAIL}}
  - These are filled in using:
    - Per-call LLM identity (signature_vars), or
    - Fallback environment variables:
        LLM_NAME, LLM_TITLE, LLM_PHONE, LLM_ADDRESS, LLM_EMAIL
  - Example env-based defaults:
      -e LLM_NAME='Adam P. Strömbergsson-DeNora'
      -e LLM_TITLE='Barrister & Solicitor'
      -e LLM_PHONE='1 613 699 2127'
      -e LLM_ADDRESS='7th floor - 1 Rideau St. Ottawa, ON. K1N 8S7'
      -e LLM_EMAIL='adam@apstrom.ca'

- LLM identity via MCP (signature_vars):
  - When sending, replying, forwarding, or scheduling an email, the LLM should include its identity so the signature is populated correctly.
  - Example (send_email):
      {
        "name": "send_email",
        "arguments": {
          "to": ["client@example.com"],
          "subject": "Your subject",
          "body": "<p>Hello,</p><p>...</p>",
          "html": true,
          "signature_vars": {
            "NAME": "Adam P. Strömbergsson-DeNora",
            "TITLE": "Barrister & Solicitor",
            "PHONE": "1 613 699 2127",
            "ADDRESS": "7th floor - 1 Rideau St. Ottawa, ON. K1N 8S7",
            "EMAIL": "adam@apstrom.ca"
          }
        }
      }
  - The LLM must provide accurate identity details; do not leave these fields blank or generic.

External summary model (for summarize_email):

- EXTERNAL_SUMMARY_MODEL_ENDPOINT:
  - OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions endpoint.
  - Example: http://localhost:8080/v1
- EXTERNAL_SUMMARY_MODEL_API_KEY:
  - API key for the external model.
- EXTERNAL_SUMMARY_MODEL_NAME:
  - Model name (default: gpt-4o-mini).
- EXTERNAL_SUMMARY_MAX_TOKENS:
  - Max tokens for each summary (default: 400).

CalDAV / CardDAV (e.g., Nextcloud) - if used by integrations:

- DAV_BASE_URL
- DAV_USERNAME
- DAV_PASSWORD
- DAV_VERIFY_TLS

## MCP tools

All tools are exposed via MCP (Streamable HTTP) at POST /mcp.

General:

- list_accounts
- get_current_time

Email (listing, reading, and triage):

- list_folders
- search_messages
- get_new_messages
- sync_seen
- get_unread_summary
- list_unread_emails
- get_email
- summarize_email
- get_thread

Email (actions):

- mark_as_read
- flag_message
- move_message
- copy_message
- apply_label
- remove_label
- list_labels

Email (send/reply/forward):

- send_email
- reply_to_message
- forward_message
- save_draft
- schedule_send

Attachments and threads:

- list_attachments
- download_attachment
- search_attachments
- export_conversation

Legal-specific:

- conflict_check_search
- get_triage_config

Notes:

- IMAP operations use UIDs for stability.
- Conflict check search scans subject lines across specified folders for given terms.
- New-message tracking is in-memory per container instance.
- For production:
  - Always set API_KEY.
  - Use HTTPS and secure IMAP/SMTP settings.

## New tools for efficient email triage

These tools are designed to help LLMs triage many emails without overloading the context window.

- list_unread_emails
  - Purpose: List unread emails with minimal content (metadata + short snippet).
  - Use this first when scanning a large inbox.
  - Parameters:
    - account: optional (uses default if omitted)
    - folder: IMAP folder (default: INBOX)
    - max_results: max emails to return (default: 50)
    - include_body: if true, include full body (default: false)
    - since: optional SINCE date, e.g. "01-Jan-2024"
  - Returns:
    - For each email: uid, subject, from, to, date, flags, snippet, has_attachments
    - Plus total_unread and returned counts

- get_email
  - Purpose: Fetch the full content of a single email by UID.
  - Use this after scanning with list_unread_emails or get_unread_summary.
  - Parameters:
    - folder: IMAP folder (default: INBOX)
    - uid: message UID
    - include_html: if true, include HTML body (default: false)
  - Returns:
    - subject, from, to, cc, date, body_plain, attachments
    - body_html only if include_html=true

- summarize_email
  - Purpose: Get a concise summary of an email via an external model (if configured), instead of loading the full text into the main LLM context.
  - Use this when you need to understand an email quickly without reading its full content.
  - Parameters:
    - folder: IMAP folder (default: INBOX)
    - uid: message UID
    - max_length: max summary length in words (default: 150)
  - Behavior:
    - If external summary model is configured, it sends the email to that model and returns its summary.
    - If not configured or the call fails, it falls back to the first N words of the email.
  - Returns:
    - uid, subject, from, date, summary (including attachment note if present)

- get_thread
  - Purpose: Get a concise view of the conversation thread for a given email.
  - Use this to understand context without loading all message bodies.
  - Parameters:
    - folder: IMAP folder (default: INBOX)
    - uid: message UID to use as the anchor
    - max_messages: max thread messages to return (default: 10)
  - Returns:
    - subject, participants, message_count
    - For each message: uid, from, date, subject, snippet (short)

Suggested LLM workflow:

1) Call list_unread_emails(max_results=100) to scan metadata.
2) For interesting emails:
   - Use summarize_email(uid) for a quick summary, or
   - Use get_email(uid) if you need the full content.
3) For email threads:
   - Use get_thread(uid) to see the conversation outline.
   - Then selectively call get_email on key messages.

## External summary model configuration

Optional: configure an external LLM to summarize emails via summarize_email.
This keeps long emails out of the main model’s context.

Environment variables:

- EXTERNAL_SUMMARY_MODEL_ENDPOINT:
  - OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions endpoint.
  - Example: http://localhost:8080/v1
- EXTERNAL_SUMMARY_MODEL_API_KEY:
  - API key for the external model.
- EXTERNAL_SUMMARY_MODEL_NAME:
  - Model name (default: gpt-4o-mini).
- EXTERNAL_SUMMARY_MAX_TOKENS:
  - Max tokens for each summary (default: 400).

Example (docker run):

-e EXTERNAL_SUMMARY_MODEL_ENDPOINT='http://localhost:8080/v1' \
-e EXTERNAL_SUMMARY_MODEL_API_KEY='your_summary_model_key' \
-e EXTERNAL_SUMMARY_MODEL_NAME='gpt-4o-mini' \
-e EXTERNAL_SUMMARY_MAX_TOKENS='400'

If these are not set:
- The summarize_email tool will still work, but will fall back to returning the first N words of the email instead of using an external model.

## get_current_time tool

Provides the LLM with a reliable reference time so it can interpret relative terms like "today", "yesterday", or "last week".

- Name: get_current_time
- Input: none
- Output:
  - iso: current time in ISO 8601 format (e.g. 2025-06-28T10:15:00+01:00)
  - timezone: configured timezone (from TIMEZONE env variable)

Usage:
- Call get_current_time when:
  - Filtering or sorting by relative dates
  - Checking if an email is recent or overdue
- The tool uses the TIMEZONE environment variable.
- Example Docker run:

  docker run -d \
    -p 8000:8000 \
    -e TIMEZONE="America/New_York" \
    mcp-email-server