Add email capabilities to Zed's built-in AI assistant through MCP. Send, read, and manage email from the fastest code editor.
Zed is a high-performance code editor built in Rust with GPU-accelerated rendering and native AI assistant support. Its MCP integration lets you extend the AI assistant with external tools like MultiMail, adding email capabilities to your development workflow without sacrificing Zed's speed.
MCP servers in Zed are configured under the context_servers key in Zed's settings.json. The MultiMail server connects via stdio transport, and once configured, its tools are available to Zed's AI assistant panel for composing emails, reading inboxes, and managing contacts.
For developers who value performance and simplicity, the Zed and MultiMail combination offers a streamlined way to handle email alongside code. Send deployment updates, reply to support threads, or process incoming feature requests — all within Zed's lightning-fast interface.
Sign up at multimail.dev and create an API key from your dashboard. This key authenticates all MCP server requests.
In the MultiMail dashboard, create a mailbox for Zed's AI assistant to use. Set the oversight mode to gated_send so emails require your approval before sending.
Open Zed's settings file by pressing Cmd+, (macOS) or navigating to Zed > Settings. The settings file is located at ~/.config/zed/settings.json.
Add the MultiMail server under the context_servers key in your Zed settings.
{
"context_servers": {
"multimail": {
"command": {
"path": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@multimail/mcp-server"],
"env": {
"MULTIMAIL_API_KEY": "mm_live_your_key_here"
}
}
}
}
}Open Zed's AI assistant panel (Cmd+Shift+A) and ask it to list your mailboxes. If the MCP server is connected, you'll see your MultiMail mailboxes returned.
| Tool | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| send_email | Send an email from your agent mailbox to any recipient. | Email the team a summary after completing a code review in Zed. |
| reply_email | Reply to a received email, maintaining the thread context. | Reply to a pull request discussion with implementation notes. |
| check_inbox | Check a mailbox for new or unread messages. | Check for new emails while working on a feature branch. |
| read_email | Read the full content of a specific email including headers and body. | Read a spec email to understand requirements before implementation. |
| create_mailbox | Create a new agent mailbox on your MultiMail account. | Create a mailbox for a new project's notification system. |
| list_mailboxes | List all mailboxes on your MultiMail account. | View available mailboxes before selecting a sender address. |
| get_thread | Retrieve an entire email thread to see the full conversation history. | Review a design discussion thread before responding. |
| search_contacts | Search your contact list by name, email, or tags. | Find a reviewer's email to send them updated documentation. |
| add_contact | Add a new contact to your MultiMail contact list. | Save a collaborator's email after a pairing session. |
| tag_email | Tag or categorize an email for organization and filtering. | Tag emails by sprint or milestone for easy retrieval. |
| list_pending | List all emails currently awaiting human approval. | Review queued emails before ending your work session. |
| decide_email | Approve or reject a pending email in the oversight queue. | Approve a meeting summary email after verifying accuracy. |
{
"context_servers": {
"multimail": {
"command": {
"path": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@multimail/mcp-server"],
"env": {
"MULTIMAIL_API_KEY": "mm_live_your_key_here"
}
}
}
}
}Add this to ~/.config/zed/settings.json to connect MultiMail to Zed.
Review the changes in the current branch compared to main. Summarize the key changes, note any concerns, and email the review to the PR author at [email protected].Use Zed's collaborative features alongside MultiMail for code review.
List the commits since the last tag. Create a changelog grouped by type (features, fixes, refactors). Send it to [email protected] with the subject 'Release Notes v2.4.0'.Ask Zed's AI to draft and send a deployment email after changes are ready.
{
"context_servers": {
"multimail": {
"command": {
"path": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@multimail/mcp-server"],
"env": {
"MULTIMAIL_API_KEY": "mm_live_your_key_here"
}
}
},
"docs": {
"command": {
"path": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@other/docs-server"]
}
}
}
}Combine MultiMail with other context servers in Zed's settings.
Unlike most MCP clients, Zed configures MCP servers under the 'context_servers' key in settings.json, not 'mcpServers'. The structure also nests the command differently with a 'path' field instead of 'command'. Check the exact format in Zed's documentation.
Open Zed's AI assistant panel with Cmd+Shift+A to interact with MultiMail tools. The assistant panel is where you'll compose emails, check inboxes, and manage contacts through natural language prompts.
Zed's fast rendering and responsive UI make it ideal for quickly triaging emails. Ask the AI assistant to check your inbox, summarize unread messages, and tag them by priority — all without the interface lagging, even with large email volumes.
Zed is currently available on macOS and Linux. Windows support is in development. If you need Windows support now, consider Cursor or VS Code with Continue as alternatives that offer similar MCP integration.
Email infrastructure built for AI agents. Verifiable identity, graduated oversight, and a 38-tool MCP server. Formally verified in Lean 4.