Missed a mountain of emails? Let Claude's MCP catch you up in seconds, not hours 📨

EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear Future-Proof Humans,

What if your AI assistant could...

1️⃣ Scan your Gmail inbox, find all unread messages across multiple labels, and summarize just the important ones

2️⃣ Catch up on weeks of unread newsletters and extract the key points you missed

3️⃣ Analyze patterns across dozens of emails to identify emerging trends and hot topics—without you reading a single message

We've been exploring MCP connections for a few weeks now.

After showing you how Claude can work with Brave Search, WhatsApp, Reddit, and Google Tasks, I wanted to tackle the place where many of us spend hours each day: “our email”.

In this edition of Nanobits, we will do:

⚡️ A walkthrough of setting up the Gmail MCP server connection
🔗 See some sample prompts you can copy for your own email management
⚠️ Explore practical ways to use batch operations for processing dozens of emails at once

So, let's turn your inbox into a tool that works for you. Let’s begin!

ARE YOU NEW TO MODEL CONTEXT PROTOCOL?

Think of MCP as a universal translator—it lets AI like Claude actually interact with your apps and data (no more copy-paste purgatory).

Catch up fast: Here’s an MCP explainer breaking down how it works, why it matters, and where it’s headed.

These are the past experiments we have conducted with various MCP servers:

• How I Made Claude Edit Files, Write Cover Letters, and Fetch Live IPL Updates

• I turned Claude Desktop App into WhatsApp Manager, Reddit Content Curator & Smart Study Planner

You can reach out to us if you get stuck.

MCP IN ACTION: WHAT MORE CAN YOU DO WITH GMAIL?

I connected Claude to Gmail and tested what it could do:

✔️ Summarized all unread emails under specific labels and marked them as read—inbox zero in minutes

✔️ Created digests of multiple AI newsletter editions I hadn't had time to read

✔️ Analyzed 10+ product marketing newsletters to spot emerging trends and conversation topics

...and much more.

No technical barriers. No programming needed. Just AI that finally connects thinking with action.

As before, we will work with Claude Desktop as our MCP host for this newsletter.

Things you need before getting started:

1. Claude Desktop

2. Config file: claude_desktop_config.json

3. Text Editor [I have used Sublime]

4. Node JS [nodejs.org]

5. System Terminal

6. Gmail MCP Server

7. Server-specific API keys

If these things feel alien to you, you can refresh your memory with our previous newsletter or reply to this email. We are also available on LinkedIn.

Tasks with Gmail MCP Server

Installing the Gmail MCP Server and Setting up your Connection

• Create a Google Cloud Project and get credentials:

  • Go to Google Cloud Console

  • Create a new project or select an existing one

  • Enable the Gmail API for your project

• Create OAuth 2.0 Credentials:

  • Go to "APIs & Services" > "Credentials"

  • Click "Create Credentials" > "OAuth client ID"

  • Choose "Desktop app"

  • Give it a name and click "Create"

  • Download the JSON file with your client's OAuth keys

  • Rename the key file to gcp-oauth.keys.json

Running Authentication

# First time: Place gcp-oauth.keys.json in your home directory's .gmail-mcp folder
mkdir -p ~/.gmail-mcp
mv gcp-oauth.keys.json ~/.gmail-mcp/

# Run authentication from anywhere
npx @gongrzhe/server-gmail-autoauth-mcp auth

The authentication process will:

• Open your default browser for Google authentication

• Save credentials as ~/.gmail-mcp/credentials.json

Note:

• After successful authentication, credentials are stored globally in ~/.gmail-mcp/ and can be used from any directory

• Both Desktop app and Web application credentials are supported. For this edition of the newsletter, we will focus on the Desktop app since we are using the Claude Desktop App as the client.

Configure in Claude Desktop

After setting up the Gmail API and authentication, you need to configure Claude Desktop to connect to your Gmail MCP server:

• Open Claude Desktop

• Go to settings and enable developer mode

• Edit the config file by adding this JSON snippet:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gmail": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@gongrzhe/server-gmail-autoauth-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

• Save the config file and restart Claude Desktop

• In a new chat, verify the connection by asking Claude:

Are we connected to the Gmail MCP server?

• For first-time use, you'll need to complete the Google authentication flow that opens in your browser

• Once authenticated, Claude will confirm the connection is active

Now you're ready to start using Claude with your Gmail account!

Task 1: Summarize unread emails under a particular label

One of the most practical uses of connecting Claude to Gmail is quickly getting caught up on newsletters or updates you haven't had time to read.

In my case, I had several unread editions of "The Rundown AI" newsletter that I wanted to review without spending 30+ minutes reading each one.

How It Works

The process is surprisingly simple:

1. Ask Claude to summarize unread emails under a specific label

2. Claude searches your Gmail account using the label you specified

3. It identifies unread messages and creates a concise summary of each

Example Prompt

Help me summarize the unread emails under the label: "The Rundown AI".

What Claude Returns

As you can see in the screenshot, Claude found 5 unread emails and provided:

• Email subject with date (April 21-25, 2025)

• A one-line summary of what each newsletter covers

• Offers to read the full content of any email for more details

The beauty of this approach is that Claude doesn't just list the subject lines—it actually reads through the emails and extracts the key information.

This particular example summarizes AI industry news from the past week, including Anthropic's research on consciousness, OpenAI's image generation capabilities, and developments in AI ethics.

After reviewing this summary, I could decide which, if any, of the newsletters warranted a full read based on my interests.

Additional Options

You can extend this functionality by:

• Adding a date range ("summarize unread emails from the last 2 weeks")

• Focusing on emails from specific senders ("unread emails from <insert email id>")

• Requesting topical summaries ("summarize any emails about project deadlines")

This workflow alone has saved me hours spent on inbox management.

You may also ask Claude to read your last few emails.

Task 2: Analyze 10 product marketing newsletters to spot emerging trends and conversation topics

Going beyond simple email summaries, I wanted to see if Claude could spot patterns across multiple newsletters on the same topic. This is something that would normally take me hours to do manually.

How It Works

Rather than just summarizing individual emails, Claude can:

1. Search for emails under a specific label or from a specific sender

2. Read the content of multiple emails in sequence

3. Analyze common themes or topics across all the emails

4. Present a ranked list of the most significant trends

Example Prompt

Based on the last 10 emails under the label "PMM Newsletter" what are the top 5 topics that are hot in the space.

What Claude Returns

As shown in the screenshot, Claude:

• Searched for the last 10 emails under the "PMM Newsletter" label

• Read each email in full (you can see the sequence of read_email actions)

• Analyzed the content to identify recurring themes

• Presented a ranked list of the top 5 product marketing trends with detailed context for each

The analysis revealed valuable insights about current product marketing priorities:

1. AI Integration in Marketing Workflows - The gap between basic and strategic AI usage

2. Search Experience Optimization (SXO) - How UX factors now impact search rankings

3. Multi-channel Marketing Integration - Moving away from single-channel dependency

4. Marketing Experimentation & Testing Frameworks - Structured approaches for B2B growth

5. Adapting to AI-Driven Search Changes - Strategies for visibility in AI-powered search results

Claude also noted additional trends, such as PR agency selection strategies and landing page optimization.

The Value

What's impressive is that Claude didn't just count keyword mentions—it synthesized information from multiple sources to identify meaningful patterns. It saved me from having to read and mentally process 10+ newsletters, which would have taken at least an hour.

This approach works particularly well for:

• Competitive analysis across industry newsletters

• Tracking evolving topics in a specific field

• Finding connections between seemingly separate trends

End Note

That's where we stop for this week.

From WhatsApp to Reddit to Google Tasks, we've explored ways to make Claude work for you. Now we're adding Gmail to your AI toolkit—turning your overflowing inbox into a source of organized insights.

Next week, we'll explore even more practical setups you can build in minutes. Until then, try connecting Claude to your Gmail and see what happens when your AI can read, summarize, and analyze your emails.

Three Gmail + Claude experiments to try this weekend:

1. Ask Claude, "What was that thing your colleague, <insert name>, mentioned about the Q3 performance last month?" and watch it find the exact email you forgot to flag.

2. Challenge Claude to read your 27 unread Substack newsletters and create a 30-second script for a highlight reel of what you missed.

3. Have Claude create a custom labeling system for your most important projects, then ask it to sort through 2 weeks of emails and file them appropriately.

Start small with one connection. If you get stuck, just reply to this email—I'll walk you through it.

Which other management task would you automate first? Let me know what you'd like Claude to handle on your task list.