---
title: "What Noiz Mail Is and How It Works"
description: "Noiz Mail is a remote MCP connector that lets Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Codex or any MCP client search, read, file, draft and send the email Noiz hosts for you. Free with every hosted mailbox."
url: "https://docs.noiz.ie/noiz-mail/what-noiz-mail-is-and-how-it-works/"
section: "Noiz Mail"
categories:
  - "Applications > Noiz Mail"
tags:
  - "noiz-mail"
  - "mcp"
  - "ai"
  - "email"
  - "claude"
  - "chatgpt"
last_reviewed: "4 November 2026, against the live Noiz Mail connector at `mcp"
---

# What Noiz Mail Is and How It Works

Noiz Mail is a connector that gives your AI app access to the email we host for you. You add one web address to the AI app, sign in on a Noiz page with your mailbox login, and the app can then find, read and summarise messages, open attachments, flag and file mail, save drafts and send replies. It is free with every mailbox hosted by Noiz and on client mail servers we manage. This page explains what it is, what it can do and what happens to your password, so you know what you are connecting before you connect it.

**Last reviewed:** 4 November 2026, against the live Noiz Mail connector at `mcp.noiz.co.za`.

### Official Documentation Reference

- [Model Context Protocol specification](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/latest): the open standard Noiz Mail implements.
- [Get started with custom connectors using remote MCP (Anthropic)](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11175166-get-started-with-custom-connectors-using-remote-mcp): how Claude adds a connector like this one.
- [MCP servers and connectors (OpenAI developer documentation)](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/mcp): how ChatGPT and Codex add one.

## What It Is

Noiz Mail is an MCP server. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard that AI apps use to reach outside systems: the AI app is the client, Noiz Mail is the server, and the server offers a fixed set of tools the AI can call. Noiz Mail's tools are the things a mail app does: list folders, search, read a message, open an attachment, mark, move, draft and send. The AI never touches your mailbox directly. Every request goes through Noiz Mail, which signs in to your mailbox over IMAP and SMTP on your behalf.

| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Connector name | **Noiz Mail** |
| Address | `https://mcp.noiz.co.za/mail` |
| Transport | MCP over HTTPS (streamable HTTP) |
| Sign-in | OAuth 2.1 with a Noiz sign-in page; your mailbox address and password go only into that page |
| Mailboxes it reaches | Any mailbox on a Noiz mail server, or on a client mail server Noiz manages |
| Cost | Free with every hosted mailbox |

## Which AI Apps It Works With

Any app that can add a remote MCP server with OAuth sign-in. We have written setup guides for the four we have tested:

- [Claude](/noiz-mail/how-to-connect-noiz-mail-to-claude/): claude.ai, the desktop app, the mobile app and Claude Code.
- [ChatGPT](/noiz-mail/how-to-connect-noiz-mail-to-chatgpt/): Business, Enterprise and Edu plans.
- [Grok](/noiz-mail/how-to-connect-noiz-mail-to-grok/): grok.com and the Grok apps.
- [Codex](/noiz-mail/how-to-connect-noiz-mail-to-codex/): the Codex command line, app and IDE extension.

Other MCP clients can connect too; the technical details are in [Noiz Mail for Developers](/noiz-mail/noiz-mail-for-developers-connecting-any-mcp-client/).

## What It Can Do

Once connected, you ask in plain words and the AI chooses the tool. The full list, with every parameter and limit, is in the [tools reference](/noiz-mail/noiz-mail-tools-reference/).

| You ask | Noiz Mail does |
|---|---|
| "Summarise what came in from Acme this week." | Searches the folder, reads the messages, and the AI summarises them |
| "Find the March invoice from Smith & Co and read me the PDF." | Finds the message and returns the attachment as text |
| "Draft a reply to Jane saying we'll deliver on Friday." | Saves a threaded reply in your Drafts folder |
| "Reply to Jane that we'll deliver on Friday and send it." | Shows you the message and, in most apps, asks you to approve it, then sends it from your mailbox |
| "File everything from the bank into Accounts." | Moves the messages to a folder you already have |
| "Mark everything from the newsletter as read." | Sets the read flag |

Mail it sends goes out from your own mailbox and a copy is saved in Sent. "Delete" moves mail to Trash, where you can restore it. Noiz Mail never deletes mail permanently and never creates folders.

## What Happens to Your Password

- You type your mailbox address and password on the Noiz sign-in page only, never into the AI app.
- Noiz Mail checks the login against your mail server, then stores the password encrypted with AES-256-GCM under a key that exists only inside your connection's live tokens. A copy of our database on its own cannot reveal it.
- The AI app receives an OAuth token, not your password. The token lets it call Noiz Mail; it does not let it sign in to your mailbox any other way.
- Changing your mailbox password ends the connection the next time it is used. Disconnecting in your AI app, or on the [manage page](/noiz-mail/how-to-connect-several-mailboxes-in-one-noiz-mail-connection/), ends it at once.

The full picture, including what the AI company sees and how sending is protected, is in [Security and Privacy](/noiz-mail/noiz-mail-security-and-privacy/).

## One Connection, Several Mailboxes

One connection can hold every mailbox you know the password for, such as a whole team's. You paste the list on the sign-in page, each line an address and its password, and add or remove mailboxes later on the manage page without reconnecting the AI app. See [How to Connect Several Mailboxes in One Noiz Mail Connection](/noiz-mail/how-to-connect-several-mailboxes-in-one-noiz-mail-connection/).

## Prefer to Keep Mail on Your Own PC?

If you use Thunderbird, our MCP for Thunderbird add-on lets Claude Desktop, Claude Code or Codex work with the mail Thunderbird already holds on your computer, and your password never leaves it. It does not work with Grok, ChatGPT or Claude in a web browser, because those can only reach services on the internet. Our guide is [How to triage your inbox with Thunderbird and an AI assistant](https://www.noiz.co.za/blog/triage-your-inbox-with-thunderbird-and-an-ai-assistant).

## Getting Help

Email support@noiz.co.za or [open a ticket](https://www.noiz.co.za/submitticket.php). Tell us which AI app you use and any message you saw. Never send us your password.

---
Source: https://docs.noiz.ie/noiz-mail/what-noiz-mail-is-and-how-it-works/