The short answer
Yes, once you connect it to something that can send. On its own, Claude writes the email and stops there. In the Claude apps, the Gmail connector can send from the Google account you connect. For any other mailbox, for your own domain through a service like Zoho, Microsoft 365 or Amazon SES, or for Claude Code, you connect a remote MCP server such as FormSMTP’s, and Claude sends through your SMTP account.
What Claude can do on its own
| Where | Email out of the box |
|---|---|
| Claude (web and desktop), no connectors | Writes and edits the email. You copy it into your mail app and send it yourself. |
| Claude with the Gmail connector | Anthropic’s Google Workspace connectors let Claude draft, send, reply to and forward Gmail messages from the account you connect. By default Claude asks for your approval before each of these actions. |
| Claude Code | No email tool built in. It can write code that sends email, or use any MCP server you add. |
If all you need is to send from a personal Gmail account inside the Claude app, the Gmail connector is the simplest route. FormSMTP is for everything around it:
- Sending from your own domain through Zoho, Microsoft 365, Amazon SES, Brevo or any other SMTP account.
- Templates, contacts with tags, and scheduled or repeating emails with unsubscribe links.
- Claude Code and other agents, where you want the same email tools while you build.
- Hard limits: one project, fixed recipients and an hourly cap, whatever the assistant tries.
1Create a FormSMTP project
Sign up free and add a project. Pick your email provider so the SMTP host and port fill in, enter your login, and click Test connection. Gmail, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoho, Amazon SES, Brevo, SendGrid, Resend, Mailgun and any other SMTP server work. Personal Outlook.com and Hotmail addresses don’t, because Microsoft only allows OAuth sign-in for them.
2Add FormSMTP to Claude
Custom connectors work in Claude on the web and in Claude Desktop, on Free, Pro, Max, Ultra, Team and Enterprise plans (Free accounts can add one). On Team and Enterprise, an owner adds the connector for the organization first.
- Open Customize → Connectors, click + Add, then Add custom connector.
- Name it FormSMTP and paste the server URL:
https://app.formsmtp.com/mcp - Click Add and sign in to FormSMTP when Claude asks. You choose a project and an access level.
- In a chat, open the + menu, then Connectors, and switch FormSMTP on for that conversation.
Claude connects to custom connectors from Anthropic’s servers, which is why the server needs a public URL. FormSMTP’s is public, so there’s nothing to install.
3Or add it to Claude Code
One command adds the server over HTTP:
claude mcp add --transport http formsmtp https://app.formsmtp.com/mcpThen run /mcp inside Claude Code and follow the sign-in in your browser. By default the server is available only to you in the current project; add --scope user to use it in every project, or --scope project to share it with your team through .mcp.json.
Prefer a static key, for example on a server without a browser? Create an AI key on the AI & MCP page in the dashboard and pass it as a header:
claude mcp add --transport http formsmtp https://app.formsmtp.com/mcp \
--header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_AI_KEY" Treat an AI key like a password: anyone who has it can send email from that project. Don’t combine --header with --scope project, which writes the key into .mcp.json, a file meant to be committed. Use OAuth for shared setups, and revoke a leaked key on the AI & MCP page.
What Claude can do with FormSMTP
The server gives Claude 16 tools. It picks the right one from what you ask; you don’t need to name them.
| Tool | What it does | Access |
|---|---|---|
send_email | Sends an email from a project’s own SMTP account: plain text, HTML or a saved template, up to 50 recipients. | Full |
schedule_email | Emails a template to contacts (everyone, some tags or listed addresses) now, at a set time, or daily, weekly or monthly. | Full |
cancel_scheduled_email | Stops a scheduled or repeating email. | Full |
create_template, update_template | Saves email HTML as a template, or changes one. | Full |
add_contact, set_contact_subscription | Adds or updates a contact with tags and fields, or subscribes or unsubscribes one. | Full |
list_projects, get_stats | Lists your projects, and shows sending volume, failures, top errors and audience size. | Read |
list_emails | Reads your logs, including the SMTP server’s exact error for failed sends. | Read |
list_templates, get_template | Finds and reads your templates. | Read |
list_contacts, list_scheduled_emails | Looks up contacts and what’s scheduled. | Read |
check_deliverability | Checks SPF, DKIM, DMARC and MX for your sender domain. | Read |
get_integration_guide | Returns working form or send-email code for your stack. | Read |
The server also offers four ready-made prompts: add a contact form to your site, design an email template, run a deliverability check-up, and write a weekly sending report.
Approvals and limits
Claude shows an approval request before it uses a connector’s tools, and Claude Code asks for permission before MCP tool calls unless you’ve allowed them. Only choose Allow always for tools you’re comfortable running unattended; keeping send_email and schedule_email on “ask” is a good default. FormSMTP also tells Claude to confirm recipients, subject and content with you before sending. On top of that:
- Pick the project and the access level. When you sign in, FormSMTP asks which project the assistant may use (one or all) and whether it gets full or read-only access. A read-only connection can look at logs, stats and templates but can’t send.
- Your project rules still apply. Allowed recipients and the hourly limit cover every email an assistant sends, exactly as they do for the API. Set Allowed recipients to your own address or domain while you try it.
- No passwords shared. The assistant gets its own token (one-hour OAuth tokens that refresh, or an AI key you create). It never sees your SMTP password, and project API keys don’t work on the MCP server.
- Everything is logged. The AI & MCP page in the dashboard lists each tool call, and emails an assistant sent are marked in Logs. Revoke a connection there at any time.
Prompts to try
- “Send a short test email to me from my Portfolio project and tell me if it worked.”
- “Design a welcome email in our brand colours with a Get started button and save it as a template.”
- “Why did emails fail this week? Show me the errors and how to fix them.”
- “Check my domain’s SPF, DKIM and DMARC and give me the exact DNS records to add.”
- “Send the Monthly update template to everyone tagged customers next Monday at 9am.”
- In Claude Code: “Add a working contact form to this site using FormSMTP.”
Read what Claude is about to send before you approve it, especially anything going to a list. An approved send is a real email from your own address.
FAQ
Can Claude send emails from Gmail?
Yes. Anthropic’s Gmail connector can draft, send, reply to and forward emails from the Google account you connect, and asks for approval first by default. To send from another provider or your own domain, connect FormSMTP instead, or as well.
Can Claude Code send email?
Not by itself. Add an MCP server that can send, such as FormSMTP with claude mcp add --transport http formsmtp https://app.formsmtp.com/mcp, then sign in with /mcp.
Does Claude see my email password?
No. Your SMTP password stays encrypted in FormSMTP. Claude gets its own token, limited to the project and access level you chose, and you can revoke it from the AI & MCP page.
Does it cost extra?
No. The MCP server is included on every FormSMTP plan, including Free. Emails Claude sends count toward your monthly limit like any other email.