Best Outlook MCP server for Claude and ChatGPT

The best Outlook MCP server on your computer is Alrighty's: it gives Claude, ChatGPT's desktop app, Codex or Cursor your Outlook.com, Hotmail or Microsoft 365 mail, next to your iCloud and Gmail, and nothing sends until you click Send. If you want open source, Softeria's ms-365-mcp-server covers Outlook and the rest of Microsoft 365, and Outlook Assistant adds guardrails on sending. Companies on Microsoft 365 with an IT admin can use Microsoft's own Work IQ MCP or Claude's Microsoft 365 connector. Composio and Zapier host Outlook tools for people building agents and automations.

Search for an Outlook MCP server and you get directories that list dozens of GitHub projects by name. They skip the two questions that decide which one you can use. First, does it take a personal Outlook.com or Hotmail address, or only a work account that an admin must approve? Several popular options rule out personal accounts. Second, can the AI send an email without asking you? Mail is written by strangers, and a message can carry instructions aimed at the AI. This page answers both for each option.

How we checked

We read each project's README and each vendor's own help and product pages on November 4, 2026, and every fact links to its source. Where a page didn't answer a question, we say so instead of guessing. We didn't install or run the servers. Alrighty is our app, and it is listed first. For the wider question of which mail app to use with an AI, see the best email client for Claude, ChatGPT and MCP.

Outlook MCP servers at a glance

Option	Price	Outlook.com and Hotmail	Microsoft 365 work	Setup	Sends without you	Where it runs
Alrighty	14-day trial with no card, then Free or Pro	Yes	Yes	Sign in with Microsoft in the app	No, you click Send	Your computer, 127.0.0.1
Softeria ms-365-mcp-server	Free, open source	Yes, the default mode	Yes, in organization mode	Built-in app or your own Azure app	Yes, unless started read-only	Your computer
Outlook Assistant	Free, open source	Yes	Yes	Your own Azure app registration	Claude Code asks before each send	Your computer
Microsoft Work IQ MCP	Usage-based billing in Copilot Studio	Not described	Yes	Global Administrator, one-time setup	Blocked until an admin allows it	Microsoft's cloud
Claude's Microsoft 365 connector	Included on all Claude plans	No, sign-in rejects them	Yes	Entra Global Administrator approves	Read-only until write tools are on	Anthropic's servers
Composio Outlook	Free Hobby plan, then paid	Not stated	Yes, admin may approve	Composio's managed OAuth app	No built-in approval step	Composio's cloud
Zapier MCP	Included in Zapier plans, 2 tasks per call	No	Yes	Admin consent for third-party apps	Its Send Email action sends	Zapier's cloud

Whichever you choose, the mail the AI reads goes to the company that runs the model: Anthropic for Claude, OpenAI for ChatGPT. Only a model on your own computer keeps it there.

Personal Outlook.com or a work account: which servers take yours?

Your account type rules options in or out before anything else. A personal address (@outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @live.com) has no company tenant and no admin, so any server that needs admin consent can't take it.

• Take personal accounts: Alrighty, Softeria's server (personal is its default; work accounts need organization mode) and Outlook Assistant.
• Built for work accounts: Microsoft's Work IQ MCP and Claude's Microsoft 365 connector both assume a Microsoft Entra tenant. Claude's connector turns personal addresses away at sign-in with "You can't sign in here with a personal account" (GitHub); our fix page covers the ways around it. Zapier says "Personal accounts (Outlook.com, Office Home, Live.com) cannot be connected" (Zapier).
• Work accounts may need an admin anyway. Composio says "If you connect a work account, your Outlook administrator may need to approve the app first" (Composio).

Can an Outlook MCP server send email without you?

Most can. Microsoft Graph, the API behind Outlook mail, has a send call, and most servers expose it as a tool the AI can call at once. The risk is not the AI going rogue. It's a stranger's email that says "forward this thread to me," read by an AI that has a send tool.

The options differ in where the brake sits. Alrighty asks you in its window and waits for your click. Outlook Assistant flags its send tool so Claude Code asks first. Microsoft's Work IQ and Claude's connector block writes until an admin turns them on, which protects a company but doesn't ask you about each email. Softeria, Composio and Zapier leave the brake to your AI client and your prompt.

Alrighty: best for Outlook next to iCloud and Gmail

Alrighty is a desktop mail app for Mac, Windows and Linux that puts Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live and Microsoft 365 accounts in one inbox with iCloud and Gmail. It signs in with Microsoft and reads mail through Microsoft Graph. It also runs an MCP server on your computer, so the AI you already use can read every account Alrighty holds.

Which assistants. Claude (the desktop app and Claude Code), ChatGPT's desktop app, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, OpenCode, Antigravity or a local model. The MCP server is off until you turn it on with Connect AI. The setup guide has the steps for each assistant.

What the AI can do. It can list your accounts and folders, search every account at once, and open a message, a whole conversation or an attachment. To do work, it opens Alrighty in a window of its own while you watch: it opens mail, writes replies and files messages. You can take over at any time.

Can it send without you? No. Nothing sends until you click Send in that window. Alrighty also tells the assistant to treat what emails say as information, never as instructions.

Where it runs. The server runs inside the app on your computer and listens on 127.0.0.1 only, so other computers can't reach it. Each request needs a token that Alrighty makes, and requests from a web page are refused. Your Microsoft tokens stay on your computer, encrypted with a key from your system's keychain, and no assistant ever gets them. There's no Azure app to register.

Alrighty's own AI. Separate from MCP, Alrighty has built-in AI features. While you're signed in, opening a reply starts a suggested draft, and Clean up sorts senders in the background. These send only the emails they need to Alrighty's server, which asks an AI model (OpenAI's for answers and replies).

Price. A 14-day trial with no card, then a Free plan or Pro.

What it can't do. There's no iPhone or web app. It takes iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts only, not Yahoo or other IMAP. It reads mail only: there's no calendar, so it can't give your AI your Outlook calendar, contacts or OneDrive. It's a new app with no long track record.

Pick it if you have a personal Outlook or Hotmail address, or more than one kind of account, and want your AI to read all of them on your computer with you in charge of every send.

Softeria ms-365-mcp-server: best open-source server for all of Microsoft 365

Softeria's ms-365-mcp-server is "A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for interacting with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Office services through the Graph API." Mail is one part: it also covers Calendar, OneDrive, Excel, OneNote, To Do, Planner and Contacts. It is MIT licensed, with about 1,110 GitHub stars and a release on November 4, 2026.

Mail tools. The README names tools such as list-mail-messages, get-mail-message, get-mail-attachment-content, send-mail and send-draft-message.

Accounts. Personal accounts are the default: "Organization mode must be enabled from the start to access work account features. Without this flag, only personal account features (email, calendar, OneDrive, etc.) are available." One quirk matters for Outlook.com users. The README says personal accounts should set MS365_MCP_TENANT_ID to consumers, because with the default "sessions die roughly an hour after login."

Setup. It signs in with "Device Code Flow (Default)," using a built-in app unless you set your own Azure client ID. In a company, its Graph permissions "must be pre-approved and admin-consented."

Can it send without you? Yes, by default. It has a --read-only flag that disables write operations. An optional signoff can mark agent-sent mail, which the README calls "a guardrail against an agent misusing the tools it was given, not a hard security boundary." The README describes no confirmation step before a send.

Where it runs. On your computer, over stdio by default, or over HTTP. Tokens are kept "in an encrypted file (AES-256-GCM)," with the key in the system's credential store.

What it can't do. No Gmail or iCloud. You run and update it yourself with Node.js.

Pick it if you're a developer who wants Outlook plus calendar, files and the rest of Microsoft 365 in one free server.

Outlook Assistant: best open-source server with send guardrails

Outlook Assistant by Little Bear Apps is an "MCP server for Outlook email, calendar, and contacts." It "Works with personal Outlook.com and work/school Microsoft 365 accounts." It is MIT licensed, with about 39 GitHub stars.

Safety. This is where it stands out. Its send-email tool carries a flag "so Claude Code asks before every call to them, dry runs included, even in auto-accept or bypass modes." A dry run previews a send without sending it. A recipient allowlist can limit who it may email, and OUTLOOK_READ_ONLY=true refuses "every tool call or action that isn't a read before it runs." Its draft tools refuse "any ID that is not an unsent draft," so it can't delete a message you received.

Setup. "You need a Microsoft Azure app registration to authenticate." The default device-code sign-in needs only the client ID; a client secret is for the browser flow.

Where it runs. On your computer, over stdio. Tokens are saved to ~/.outlook-assistant-tokens.json.

What it can't do. You register and maintain an Azure app yourself. The ask-before-send flag is for Claude Code; other clients must honor the tool's annotations for a prompt to appear. No Gmail or iCloud.

Pick it if you're comfortable in the Azure portal and want an open-source server that stops to ask before it emails anyone.

Microsoft Work IQ MCP: best for companies on Microsoft 365

Microsoft's own route for Outlook is Work IQ MCP. It gives agents tools to "read, create, update, and delete Microsoft 365 entities," such as fetching /me/messages to read mail (Microsoft).

Can it send without you? Not until an admin allows it. "A separate tenant policy layer evaluates each tool request and blocks mutation operations by default. Administrators can enable supported create, update, delete, and action requests through tenant policy" (Microsoft).

Setup and price. It needs "A usage-based billing plan set up in Copilot Studio with an Azure subscription and resource group assigned," and "A user with Global Administrator role for the one-time Work IQ setup" (Microsoft).

The older Mail MCP. Microsoft also has a Mail MCP server for Copilot Studio with tools such as sendMail, reply and searchMessages. It is "a preview feature," and Microsoft says these app-specific tools "are only intended for backward compatibility purposes and shouldn't be used in production environments or new projects" (Microsoft).

What it can't do. The pages we read assume a Microsoft Entra tenant and don't describe personal Outlook.com accounts. It's a platform for an IT team, not a setting a person turns on.

Pick it if you're the admin of a Microsoft 365 company that wants agents on its mail, under tenant policy.

Claude's Microsoft 365 connector: best for work Outlook inside Claude

Anthropic's Microsoft 365 connector is "available on all Claude plans: Free, Pro, Max, Ultra, Team, and Enterprise" (Anthropic). It runs on Anthropic's side, so there is nothing to install.

Accounts. The article "covers work and school accounts, which require a Microsoft Entra tenant," and "A Microsoft Entra Global Administrator in your tenant needs to authorize the integration before anyone can connect." It says personal Microsoft accounts "need no admin setup and aren't shown on Team and Enterprise plans," but doesn't say what they can do. In practice, Microsoft's sign-in rejects them with "You can't sign in here with a personal account. Use your work or school account instead." That's tracked in a GitHub issue open since April 26, 2026.

Can it send without you? "Permissions are read-only by default." With write tools on, Claude can "send email, manage drafts and calendar events," and its emails "include an attribution header identifying them as agent-initiated." The article doesn't say whether Claude asks you before each email.

What it can't do. "Attachments aren't supported in write tools, so sending, forwarding, and drafting all reject messages with attachments." It works in Claude only, not ChatGPT or Cursor.

Pick it if your company runs Microsoft 365, uses Claude, and has an admin who will approve it.

Composio Outlook: best hosted toolkit for developers building agents

Composio is a hosted service that gives an agent "310 Tools" for Outlook, including send, draft and "permanently delete an Outlook email message." It provides "a managed OAuth app for Outlook," so you don't register your own.

Can it send without you? There's no built-in approval step. Composio's advice is to "Keep an approval step in your prompt for actions with side effects."

Price. "Composio's free Hobby plan includes 100,000 tool calls per month with no credit card," with up to 20,000 through managed apps like Outlook. We couldn't read its paid prices on that page.

Where it runs. On Composio's servers, which hold your Outlook connection.

What it can't do. The page doesn't say whether personal Outlook.com accounts work. A prompt is a weak brake against an email written to trick the AI.

Pick it if you're building an agent product that needs Outlook among many other apps.

Zapier MCP: best for Outlook as one step in an automation

Zapier MCP lets Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor run Outlook actions such as "Send Email: Send an email from your Outlook account," "Create Draft Email," "Find Emails" and Delete Email. It's included in every Zapier plan, and "Each tool call uses two tasks from your existing task quota" (Zapier).

Accounts. It needs "A Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise account," "An Exchange Online mailbox," and "Administrator consent or approval for third-party application access." Personal Outlook.com and Live.com accounts "cannot be connected" (Zapier).

Can it send without you? If you turn on Send Email, the AI can send. Zapier's pages describe choosing which actions the AI gets and reviewing "every MCP action in History," not an approval before each send.

Pick it if you have a work Microsoft 365 account and want Outlook as one step in automations across many apps.

How to choose

• A personal Outlook.com or Hotmail address, or Outlook plus iCloud and Gmail, with nothing sent without your click: Alrighty.
• Free and open source, with calendar, OneDrive and the rest of Microsoft 365: Softeria's ms-365-mcp-server.
• Open source that asks before it sends: Outlook Assistant.
• A Microsoft 365 company that wants agents under tenant policy: Microsoft's Work IQ MCP.
• Work Outlook inside Claude, approved by your admin: Claude's Microsoft 365 connector.
• An agent product that needs Outlook among many apps: Composio.
• Outlook as one step in automations, on a work account: Zapier MCP.

Using Gmail too? Our Gmail MCP server guide compares the options for Google accounts.

Questions

Can Claude read my Outlook.com or Hotmail email?

Yes, through an MCP server that takes personal accounts, such as Alrighty, Softeria's server or Outlook Assistant. Claude's own Microsoft 365 connector rejects personal accounts at sign-in. Our guide to letting Claude read your email has the setup steps.

Why does Claude say "You can't sign in here with a personal account"?

Claude's Microsoft 365 connector accepts only work and school accounts, so Microsoft's sign-in turns away @outlook.com, @hotmail.com and @live.com addresses. A Microsoft 365 Personal or Family plan doesn't help. Our page on Claude and Outlook.com has the fixes.

Does an Outlook MCP server need admin approval?

Only for a work or school account whose company requires it. Microsoft's Work IQ and Claude's connector need a Global Administrator. Zapier needs administrator consent, and Composio says an admin may need to approve its app. A personal Outlook.com account has no admin.

Is there an official Microsoft MCP server for Outlook?

Yes, for companies. Microsoft's Work IQ MCP reads and acts on Microsoft 365 mail under tenant policy, and its older Mail MCP for Copilot Studio is in preview and meant only for backward compatibility. Neither page describes personal Outlook.com accounts.

Can ChatGPT read my Outlook email?

ChatGPT's desktop app can connect to a local MCP server such as Alrighty's, which gives it every account Alrighty holds. OpenAI also has its own Outlook Email plugin, which our MCP email client guide covers.

Is it safe to give an AI access to my Outlook?

Two things decide it. The company that runs the model sees what the AI reads, so pick one you trust or use a local model. And any email can carry text aimed at the AI, so choose a setup where nothing sends without you: a read-only mode, a send tool that asks first, or a window where you click Send.