Walkthrough · illustrative mockups

Three ways from your repo
to two inboxes in Claude

Every path starts on this GitHub repo and ends the same place: someone typing “what's unread in both my inboxes?” and getting both. What changes is how much of the setup you do yourself.

Path A Planned

One-click

Download one file, drag it onto Claude Desktop, sign in to Google in chat. No terminal, no Google Cloud.

Path B Planned

One-click, own Google keys

Same install, but they create their own Google Cloud app first and hand the installer its key file.

Path C Available now

From source

Clone, npm install, run the login script in Terminal, register with Claude Code or Desktop. The developer path — and the one that works today.

Side by side

Same result, three amounts of work

	A · One-click	B · Own Google keys	C · From source
Who it's for	Anyone with Claude Desktop	Privacy-minded users, or anyone past your cap	Developers and Claude Code users
Time	~3 min	~25 min (20 is Google Cloud)	~45 min
Terminal	Never	Never	Yes — clone, install, auth, register
Google Cloud	No	Yes, one time	Yes, one time
Whose OAuth app	The maintainer's, bundled in the file	Theirs	Theirs
User cap	100 total, shared across everyone on the maintainer's app	None	None
Exists	Planned · v1.0	Planned · v1.0	Today

github.com/DavidOloyede/gmail-multi-mcp/releases

DavidOloyede /gmail-multi-mcpPublic

v1.0.0 — One-click installLatest

Drag the .mcpb onto Claude Desktop, then say “connect my Gmail” in a chat.

Assets3

gmail-multi.mcpbExtension bundle

Source code (zip)

Source code (tar.gz)

Claude

+ New chatProjectsRecents

How can I help you today?

Drop to install extension

gmail-multi.mcpb

MCPB

gmail-multi.mcpb

Claude

New chat

Connect my work Gmail

gmail-multi wants to use gmail_connect_account

{ "account": "work" }

DenyAllow onceAlways allow

Open this link and sign in with the Gmail account you want saved as work:
Sign in with Google → connect “work”
I'll confirm here once Google sends you back.

accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth?client_id=…

Choose an account

to continue to gmail-multi

P

Personal

you.personal@gmail.com

W

Work

you.work@gmail.com

+

Use another account

accounts.google.com/signin/oauth/warning

⚠ Google hasn't verified this app

The app is requesting access to sensitive info in your Google Account. Until the developer verifies this app with Google, you shouldn't use it.

AdvancedBack to safety

Continue only if you understand the risks and trust the developer.

Go to gmail-multi (unsafe)

accounts.google.com/signin/oauth/consent

gmail-multi wants access to your Google Account

Wyou.work@gmail.com

✓Read your email messages and settings

Make sure you trust gmail-multi. You can remove access any time in your Google Account.

CancelContinue

✓

Connected

you.work@gmail.com is saved as work. You can close this tab.

served by gmail-multi at 127.0.0.1:53682/oauth2callback

Connect my work Gmail

✓ Connected work → you.work@gmail.com

Now connect my personal Gmail

… same four screens, choosing the personal address …

✓ Connected personal → you.personal@gmail.com

What's unread in both inboxes this week?

gmail_search · account: "work" · is:unread newer_than:7d

gmail_search · account: "personal" · is:unread newer_than:7d

Work — 3 unread, one needs a reply today.
Personal — 7 unread, mostly promotions; one from your landlord.
(example output)

console.cloud.google.com/projectcreate

New Project

Project name *

gmail-mcp

Project ID: gmail-mcp-4xx01. It cannot be changed later.

Location

No organization

CreateCancel

console.cloud.google.com/apis/library/gmail.googleapis.com

M

Gmail API

Google Enterprise API

The Gmail API lets you view and manage Gmail mailbox data like threads, messages, and labels.

EnableTry this API

✓ API enabled

console.cloud.google.com/auth/audience

Audience

User typeExternal

Publishing statusTestingIn production

Publish app

console.cloud.google.com/auth/scopes

Update selected scopes

✓…/auth/gmail.readonlyRestricted

…/auth/gmail.send (v0.2)Restricted

…/auth/gmail.modifyRestricted

Update

console.cloud.google.com/auth/clients/create

Create OAuth client ID

Application type *

Desktop app▾

Name *

gmail-mcp-desktop

Create

Claude

github.com/DavidOloyede/gmail-multi-mcp

DavidOloyede /gmail-multi-mcpPublic

main · 6 files<> Code ▾

📁 srcconfig.js · auth.js · gmail-client.js · index.js

manifest.json

package.json

README.md

gmail-multi

Give Claude more than one Gmail account. Self-hosted MCP server, per-account OAuth.

Clone · HTTPS

https://github.com/DavidOloyede/gmail-multi-mcp.git

⧉

Download ZIP

Terminal — zsh

~ % git clone https://github.com/DavidOloyede/gmail-multi-mcp.git ~/gmail-mcp-server
Cloning into '/Users/you/gmail-mcp-server'...
~ % cd ~/gmail-mcp-server
gmail-mcp-server % npm install
added … packages, and audited … packages in 4s
found 0 vulnerabilities
gmail-mcp-server % node --version
v22.x
gmail-mcp-server % ▍

B1
New project

B2
Enable Gmail API

B3
External + Publish

B4
Two scopes

B5
Desktop client JSON

Terminal — zsh

~ % mkdir -p ~/.gmail-mcp && chmod 700 ~/.gmail-mcp
~ % mv ~/Downloads/client_secret_*.json ~/.gmail-mcp/credentials.json
~ % chmod 600 ~/.gmail-mcp/credentials.json
~ % ls -la ~/.gmail-mcp
drwx------  you  staff   .
-rw-------  you  staff   credentials.json

Terminal — node src/auth.js work

gmail-mcp-server % node src/auth.js work

Authorizing "work"

1. Open this URL (use an incognito window for the 2nd account):

https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth?access_type=offline&scope=…

2. You will hit "Google hasn't verified this app" — click Advanced → Continue.

Waiting for you to finish in the browser...
  ↳ browser: choose account → Advanced → Continue   (screens A5–A7)
Saved token to ~/.gmail-mcp/token-work.json (chmod 600).
gmail-mcp-server % node src/auth.js personal   # incognito this time

Option 1 · Claude Code

gmail-mcp-server % claude mcp add --scope user gmail-multi -- node "$(pwd)/src/index.js"
Added stdio MCP server gmail-multi with command: node /Users/you/gmail-mcp-server/src/index.js to user config

Option 2 · Claude Desktop → Settings → Extensions → Advanced settings

Extension Developer

Install ExtensionInstall Unpacked ExtensionOpen Extensions Folder

Settings → Connectors → Gmail (built-in)

Tool permissions

Choose when Claude is allowed to use these tools.

Get email message — denied✓✋⊘

Get email thread✓✋⊘

List labels — denied✓✋⊘

Search email threads — denied✓✋⊘

Create draft email — denied✓✋⊘

Terminal — claude

> /mcp
  gmail-multi   ✔ connected   4 tools
    gmail_search · gmail_get_message · gmail_list_labels · gmail_create_draft

> what's unread in both inboxes this week?

⏺ gmail-multi · gmail_search  account: "work"      is:unread newer_than:7d
⏺ gmail-multi · gmail_search  account: "personal"  is:unread newer_than:7d

Work — 3 unread, one needs a reply today.
Personal — 7 unread, mostly promotions; one from your landlord.
(example output)

Where this is going

Path C today. One-click next.

Version	What it adds	Install path	Status
v0.1	Search, read and list labels across named Gmail accounts — two by default, more by editing one file. Drafting needs one extra scope.	C · from source	Available
v0.2	Send mail from a chosen account; account list moves from code into a config file	C · from source	Planned
v0.3	Reply, forward, labels, trash, spam — parity with Claude's built-in Gmail tools	C · from source	Planned
v1.0	Sign in from chat instead of Terminal; packaged as a single `.mcpb` file	A and B	Planned

Screens in this walkthrough are illustrative mockups of Google, GitHub and Claude Desktop, not screen captures. Wording on the real screens may differ.

Three ways from your repoto two inboxes in Claude

One-click

One-click, own Google keys

From source

Same result, three amounts of work

Path C today. One-click next.

Three ways from your repo
to two inboxes in Claude