Email Claude Code with Robotomail

You can now email Claude Code. Not through a workaround or a webhook hack, but through a proper email channel. Someone sends an email to your agent's address, Claude reads it, and replies. The conversation threads automatically.

We built a Claude Code channel plugin that connects Robotomail's real-time SSE endpoint to a running Claude Code session. It's open source, installs in two commands, and works with the free tier.

How it works

The plugin runs as an MCP server alongside Claude Code. It connects to Robotomail's SSE endpoint and listens for inbound emails. When a message arrives, it pushes the email into Claude's context as a channel event. Claude reads the email and can reply using the built-in reply_email tool.

Someone emails [email protected]
        |
Robotomail stores the message
        | SSE push
Plugin (MCP server, runs locally)
        | channel notification
Claude Code session
        | calls reply_email tool
Plugin --> Robotomail API
        |
Reply lands in sender's inbox

No ports exposed. No webhook endpoint to host. The plugin makes outbound-only connections, same architecture as the official Telegram channel.

Install in two commands

From inside Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add robotomail/claude-email

/plugin install robotomail@robotomail

Then launch with the channel enabled:

claude --dangerously-load-development-channels plugin:robotomail@robotomail

Run /robotomail:configure to sign up or enter your API key, pick a mailbox, and set a display name. The free tier includes one mailbox with 50 sends per day.

Access control

An ungated email channel is a prompt injection vector. Anyone who can email the mailbox can put text in front of Claude. So the plugin defaults to an allowlist: no emails reach Claude until you explicitly allow the sender.

# Allow specific senders
/robotomail:access allow [email protected]

# Or use pairing mode — unknown senders get a code to approve
/robotomail:access policy pairing

Three policies: allowlist (default, explicit approval), pairing (approve one at a time via code), and open (not recommended).

What Claude sees

When an email arrives, Claude sees it as a channel notification with structured metadata:

<channel source="robotomail" from="[email protected]" subject="Re: Project update" ...>
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Project update
Date: 2026-03-30T14:30:00Z

Sounds great, let's schedule a call for Thursday.
</channel>

Claude can then call the reply_email tool to respond. Threading is automatic: the plugin fetches the RFC Message-ID and passes it as inReplyTo, so the reply threads correctly in the sender's email client.

Use cases

• Customer support triage. Claude reads support emails, drafts responses, and escalates complex issues to a human. It can pull context from your codebase to answer technical questions accurately.
• Code review requests. Email a diff or PR link to Claude and get a review back in your inbox. It reads the actual files, not just the diff context.
• Bug reports via email. Users email a bug description. Claude reads it, searches the codebase for related code, and replies with a diagnosis or a fix.
• Scheduling and coordination. Claude reads scheduling emails and replies with available times, meeting agendas, or follow-up notes.
• Vendor and procurement outreach. Claude sends RFQ emails to suppliers, processes their responses, and summarizes pricing comparisons.
• Lead qualification. Inbound sales emails are read by Claude, which researches the sender, assesses fit, and drafts a personalized reply or routes to a human.
• Daily digest and reporting. Claude receives data exports or status updates by email, processes them, and replies with summaries or alerts.
• Onboarding new team members. New hires email Claude with questions about the codebase, architecture, or processes. Claude responds with answers sourced from the actual code and docs.
• Invoice and receipt processing. Vendors email invoices. Claude extracts amounts, line items, and due dates, then replies with a confirmation or flags discrepancies.

Get started

The plugin is open source at github.com/robotomail/claude-email. The free tier includes one mailbox with 50 sends per day, no credit card required. Install the plugin, run /robotomail:configure, and Claude has an inbox.

For the full API documentation, see the Robotomail docs. For the plugin's README and source code, check the GitHub repo.