mailgate

Give your AI agent controlled access to Mac Mail. Read-only inbox export + draft creation. No more, no less.

Philosophy

Most AI integrations with email ask for full mailbox access. mailgate takes the opposite approach: you define exactly what the agent can see and do, through two simple shell scripts.

• The agent reads only what you export.
• The agent writes only drafts you approve before sending.

No MCP server. No OAuth. No background sync. Just two scripts and a clear boundary.

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How it works

Your Mac Mail
     │
     ▼
export_inbox.sh  ──▶  inbox/*.md  ──▶  Claude reads & analyzes
                                              │
                                              ▼
                                         draft.md  (Claude writes)
                                              │
                                              ▼
                             create_draft.sh  ──▶  Mac Mail draft
                                                        │
                                                        ▼
                                                   You hit Send ✉️

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Requirements

• macOS with Mail.app configured
• Python 3
• osascript (bundled with macOS)

No dependencies to install.

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Usage

1. Export your inbox

./export_inbox.sh

Exports every message from your INBOX into inbox/mail_1.md, inbox/mail_2.md, etc.

Each file contains a frontmatter header and the full body:

---
index: 1
de: sender@example.com
sujet: Hello
date: Sunday, 12 April 2026 at 09:00:00
lu: Oui
---

Body of the email...

Then ask your agent:

"Analyse my inbox and list the actions I need to take."

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2. Create a draft

Fill in draft.md — or let your agent fill it in for you:

---
to: recipient@example.com
cc: another@example.com
subject: My subject
---

Body of the email here.

Best regards,

Then run:

./create_draft.sh

The draft opens in Mac Mail, ready to review and send.

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File structure

mailgate/
├── export_inbox.sh   # Exports INBOX → inbox/*.md
├── create_draft.sh   # Pushes draft.md → Mac Mail draft
├── draft.md          # The draft you or your agent fills in
└── inbox/            # Generated — one .md file per email

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Why this approach

	mailgate	Full MCP access
Agent reads all folders	❌	✅
Agent sends emails autonomously	❌	✅
You review before sending	✅	❌
Works offline	✅	depends
Setup complexity	minimal	moderate

The tradeoff is intentional. Giving an agent read/write access to your mailbox is powerful — and risky. mailgate keeps the human in the loop at both ends.

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Customisation

• Change the mailbox: edit export_inbox.sh and replace "INBOX" with any mailbox name available in Mail.app.
• Multiple recipients: add multiple to: or cc: lines — coming soon.
• Other mail clients: the AppleScript blocks can be adapted for Outlook or Airmail with minor changes.

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Licence

MIT