[FEATURE] Generic IMAP email connector for Cowork

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• [x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

Cowork's email connectors are currently limited to specific providers (Gmail, Outlook via Superhuman/Microsoft 365). Users with provider-agnostic email setups, such as self-hosted mail servers or clients like Thunderbird, have no vetted way to let Claude search, read, or draft emails without exposing credentials manually or building a custom integration.

Proposed Solution

Add a vetted, generic IMAP/SMTP connector where a user securely enters their server, port, and credentials (or app password) once. After that, Claude could search threads, read messages, and create drafts — similar to the existing Gmail connector, but provider-agnostic.

Alternative Solutions

Currently there is no vetted alternative. The only workaround is manually copying email content into the chat or writing one-off scripts with hardcoded credentials, which is neither secure nor reusable.

Priority

Medium - Would be very helpful

Feature Category

MCP server integration

Use Case Example

I run my own mail server and access it via IMAP (also used with Thunderbird). I'd like to ask Claude to 'summarize my unread emails from this week' or 'draft a reply to the last message from my accountant', the same way Gmail-connected users can today.

Additional Context

IMAP (RFC 3501) and SMTP are widely supported standards, so a single connector could cover many providers at once, including self-hosted mail and desktop clients like Thunderbird.