# Give Cursor its own email address

Cursor's agent can have its own email address, such as `ada@botmail.pro`.
Paste one prompt to claim a Botmail mailbox, add the MCP server to
`~/.cursor/mcp.json`, and sign in from Cursor's Customize page. The agent can
then check its inbox, reply in threads, wait for new mail and write drafts
for you to review, all from the editor.

## Why Cursor's agent needs its own address

You already ask Cursor's agent to build and fix things. Email is often the
missing step around that work:

- **Close the loop on tasks.** "Fix the flaky checkout test, then email the
  QA lead what changed" ends with a real message, sent from the agent's
  address rather than yours.
- **Work from what people send.** It can read a customer's bug report in its
  inbox, reproduce it in your code and reply in the same thread.
- **Handle sign-up codes.** It can register for a service you approve and
  read the verification email itself. See
  [verification emails](https://botmail.pro/guides/ai-agent-verification-emails).
- **Draft, don't send.** For anything sensitive it writes a draft and gives
  you a link to review it.

## 1. Claim a mailbox

Paste this into Cursor's agent:

```text
Read https://botmail.pro/skill.md and claim a mailbox for yourself. Send the invite to my email, then wait for me to approve it.
```

The agent reads the instructions, runs a few commands in the terminal to
solve a small proof-of-work challenge, and claims an address. Approve the
commands when Cursor asks. It asks for your email if it doesn't know it; open
the email from Botmail, sign in with GitHub or Google and accept. Unapproved
mailboxes are deleted after 24 hours.

## 2. Add Botmail to Cursor

Create or edit `~/.cursor/mcp.json` to use Botmail in every project, or
`.cursor/mcp.json` to use it in one:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "botmail": { "url": "https://botmail.pro/mcp" }
  }
}
```

A remote server in Cursor needs only `url`. Cursor speaks streamable HTTP and
OAuth to it and registers itself with Botmail, so there's no client ID.

Then sign in. Open **Customize** from the sidebar and find botmail in the MCP
list. Click the sign-in prompt under its name (labelled "Needs login" or
"Needs authentication", depending on your version). Your browser opens a
Botmail page; when you approve, it sends you back to Cursor.

The Cursor CLI uses the same `mcp.json`. To sign in from a terminal:

```sh
agent mcp login botmail
```

`agent mcp list` shows whether botmail is connected.

### Use an API key instead

Cursor can send headers to a remote server and fills in `${env:NAME}` from
your environment. Use the key your agent saved when it claimed the mailbox:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "botmail": {
      "url": "https://botmail.pro/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:BOTMAIL_KEY}" }
    }
  }
}
```

Keep keys out of a project `.cursor/mcp.json` that you commit; the variable
reference is safe to share, the key itself isn't.

## 3. Approve access

The Botmail page asks you to sign in with GitHub or Google, then shows:

- **Permissions:** Read mail, Send mail and Manage (mailboxes, keys, webhooks
  and settings). Leave Manage unticked unless the agent should change
  settings.
- **Mailboxes:** all of them, including ones you create later, or only the
  ones you tick.

Press Allow. You can revoke access at any time.

By default Cursor asks before it runs an MCP tool, and you can expand each
call to see the arguments, such as the recipient and body of an email.

## Prompts to try

```text
Check your Botmail inbox for the bug report from Dana, reproduce it in this repo, and tell me what you find. Don't reply yet.
```

```text
Fix the failing test in checkout.spec.ts. When it passes, draft an email to qa@example.com explaining the fix and give me the review link.
```

```text
Reply to the latest message in the Acme thread: confirm the webhook URL changed to https://example.com/hooks and thank them.
```

```text
Wait for the verification email from Linear, then give me the code.
```

Ask for drafts for first emails to new people. Mail to new recipients is
checked for spam and phishing, and new accounts can email 25 new recipients a
day.

## Optional: install Botmail as a skill

Cursor loads skills from `~/.cursor/skills/`, and also reads
`~/.claude/skills/` and `~/.agents/skills/`. Botmail's [skill.md](https://botmail.pro/skill.md)
starts with skill front matter, so it works as-is:

```sh
mkdir -p ~/.cursor/skills/botmail
curl -s https://botmail.pro/skill.md -o ~/.cursor/skills/botmail/SKILL.md
```

Only `~/.cursor/skills/` syncs to Cloud Agents, and only if you turn on
**Sync Skills for Cloud Agents**.

## Troubleshooting

- **Read the logs.** Open the Output panel (Cmd+Shift+U on macOS), then pick
  "MCP Logs" from the dropdown to see connection and sign-in errors.
- **Clicking Connect does nothing.** Some Cursor 2.4 builds had this bug.
  Click the "Needs authentication" text under the server name instead, or
  copy the sign-in URL from Output > MCP:botmail and open it yourself.
- **botmail is missing from the agent's tools.** Check it's switched on in
  Customize; disabled servers don't load.

The same server works in other editors: see
[Email MCP server](https://botmail.pro/guides/email-mcp-server). New to Botmail? Read
[Email for AI agents](https://botmail.pro/ai-agent-email).

## Questions

### How do I add a remote MCP server to Cursor?

Add it under mcpServers in ~/.cursor/mcp.json (all projects) or .cursor/mcp.json (one project) with just a url, for Botmail https://botmail.pro/mcp. Then sign in from the MCP list on Cursor's Customize page.

### Does Cursor support OAuth for MCP servers?

Yes. Cursor supports OAuth for remote MCP servers and registers itself automatically with servers like Botmail, so you only sign in and approve access in the browser.

### Where are Cursor's MCP logs?

Open the Output panel (Cmd+Shift+U on macOS) and choose MCP Logs from the dropdown. It shows connection errors, sign-in problems and tool calls.

---

Source: https://botmail.pro/guides/cursor-email
Agent instructions: https://botmail.pro/skill.md
All guides: https://botmail.pro/llms.txt