# How to give OpenClaw its own email address

OpenClaw, the open-source personal agent, can have its own email address with
Botmail. It claims an address like `ada@botmail.pro` itself, you approve it,
and then you save Botmail's MCP server with `openclaw mcp add` and sign in with
`openclaw mcp login`. From then on your OpenClaw can read, search, draft, send
and reply by email, whichever channel you talk to it on.

## Why OpenClaw should have its own address

OpenClaw already runs errands for you. Email is how a lot of errands get done,
and giving it your personal inbox hands a long-running agent everything in it.
A separate address is the safer setup:

- **Errands that need a reply.** "Ask the landlord when the boiler service is
  booked" works when replies land in a mailbox OpenClaw can read.
- **Accounts in its own name.** Sign-ups, waitlists and order confirmations go
  to the agent's address, and it can [read the verification
  code](https://botmail.pro/guides/ai-agent-verification-emails) itself.
- **A morning digest.** Ask it to summarize what arrived overnight and flag
  anything that needs you.
- **A small blast radius.** An email crafted to trick an agent only reaches
  the agent's own mailbox, never your personal mail.

## Step 1: Let OpenClaw claim a mailbox

If your OpenClaw agent can run commands or make web requests, send it this
message on any channel:

```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.
```

It reads Botmail's instructions, solves a small proof-of-work challenge and
claims a name. Botmail emails you one approval link: open it, sign in with
GitHub or Google, and accept. Unapproved mailboxes are deleted after 24 hours.

If your agent has no shell or web access, paste the same prompt into a coding
agent such as Claude Code or Codex instead. The mailbox belongs to your
Botmail account either way.

## Step 2: Save the Botmail MCP server

On the machine running OpenClaw:

```sh
openclaw mcp add botmail \
  --url https://botmail.pro/mcp \
  --transport streamable-http \
  --auth oauth
openclaw mcp login botmail
openclaw mcp doctor botmail --probe
```

- `add` saves the server under `mcp.servers` in your OpenClaw config. Set
  `--transport streamable-http` explicitly: without it OpenClaw assumes SSE.
- `login` prints an authorization URL and listens on a loopback callback.
  Open the URL, approve (Step 3), and the token exchange finishes on its own.
- `doctor --probe` connects to Botmail and lists the tools.

These commands need the local Gateway stopped. While it's running, use the
MCP page in the Control UI (`/settings/mcp`) instead.

**Running OpenClaw on a server?** If your browser is on another machine and
can't reach the loopback address, finish sign-in in the browser, copy the code
it returns, and pass it back:

```sh
openclaw mcp login botmail --code <code>
```

## Step 3: Approve access

The authorization URL opens a Botmail page. Sign in with GitHub or Google,
then choose:

- **Permissions.** Read mail, Send mail, and Manage. OpenClaw only gets tools
  for what you grant: with Read alone, it has no send tools at all.
- **Mailboxes.** All of them, or only the agent's own.

Press **Allow**. The tools show up in OpenClaw's normal `coding` and
`messaging` tool profiles. The `minimal` profile hides MCP tools.

## Things to ask OpenClaw

```text
Check your Botmail inbox and send me a short summary of anything new since yesterday. Don't reply to anyone without asking me.
```

```text
Draft an email from your Botmail address to bookings@lakesidedental.com asking for the first cleaning slot after June 10. Send me the review link instead of sending it.
```

```text
Did the dentist reply? If they offered a time, tell me and wait for my yes before confirming.
```

For a first email to someone new, ask for a draft. Botmail returns a review
link with Send and Discard buttons, which you can open on your phone.

## Things to know

- **Credentials are shared by default.** OpenClaw's MCP OAuth credentials are
  operator-managed and shared, so anyone who can message your OpenClaw can ask
  it to use the mailbox. Limit the grant to one mailbox, and to Read if other
  people can talk to the agent. OpenClaw also has a per-requester OAuth mode
  (`oauth.identity: "per-requester"`), which needs `gateway.publicOrigin` set.
- **Drafts only.** To let OpenClaw write email but never send it, hide the
  sending tools. It can still create drafts and hand you the review link:

  ```sh
  openclaw mcp tools botmail --exclude 'send_email,reply,forward,send_draft'
  ```

- **Codex runtime approvals.** If OpenClaw runs on the Codex app-server
  runtime, `openclaw mcp configure botmail --approval prompt` makes it ask
  before every Botmail call.
- **Timeouts.** `wait_for_mail` holds a request open for up to 30 seconds. If
  you set `requestTimeoutMs` on the server, keep it above `30000`.
- **"authorization-required" in status.** Run `openclaw mcp login botmail`
  again. If sign-in gets stuck, run `openclaw mcp logout botmail` first.

Want the same mailbox in other clients? See [Email MCP
server](https://botmail.pro/guides/email-mcp-server), or read [how Botmail works](https://botmail.pro/ai-agent-email).

## Questions

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

Run openclaw mcp add <name> --url <url> --transport streamable-http --auth oauth, then openclaw mcp login <name>. For Botmail the URL is https://botmail.pro/mcp.

### Can OpenClaw send email?

Yes, with an email MCP server. Botmail gives OpenClaw its own address on botmail.pro with tools to check, search, draft, send and reply.

### How do I stop OpenClaw from sending email without asking?

Grant only the Read permission when you approve access, or hide the sending tools with openclaw mcp tools botmail --exclude 'send_email,reply,forward,send_draft' so it can only write drafts for you to review.

---

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