Email Setup
Deploy Mona as an email assistant that can read, draft, and send emails via IMAP/SMTP.
Prerequisites
- A working MonoClaw installation
- An email account with IMAP/SMTP access
- App-specific password (for Gmail, Outlook, etc.)
1. Enable IMAP/SMTP
Gmail
- Go to myaccount.google.com/security
- Enable 2-Step Verification
- Generate an App Password for "Mail"
- Copy the 16-character password
Outlook
- Go to account.live.com/security
- Enable Two-step verification
- Generate an App password
Other providers
Check your provider's documentation for IMAP/SMTP settings and app password generation.
2. Configure MonoClaw
monoclaw gateway setup
Choose Email and enter:
- Email address
- App password
- IMAP server (e.g.,
imap.gmail.com) - SMTP server (e.g.,
smtp.gmail.com)
Or manually:
monoclaw config set EMAIL_ADDRESS "mona@example.com"
monoclaw config set EMAIL_PASSWORD "your-app-password"
monoclaw config set EMAIL_IMAP_SERVER "imap.gmail.com"
monoclaw config set EMAIL_SMTP_SERVER "smtp.gmail.com"
3. Start the gateway
monoclaw gateway start
Mona will poll the IMAP inbox for new emails.
What Mona can do
Read emails
Mona reads incoming emails and can:
- Summarize threads
- Extract action items
- Answer questions about email content
Draft replies
Draft a reply to the latest email from team@sentimento.dev acknowledging the meeting request.
Warning
Mona drafts replies but does not send them automatically. You must approve each send.
Send emails
After drafting, Mona asks for approval:
Would you like me to send this email?
[Yes] [No] [Edit]
Configuration
# ~/.monoclaw/config.yaml
gateway:
email:
poll_interval: 60 # Seconds between inbox checks
max_emails_per_batch: 10 # Process at most N emails per poll
folders:
- "INBOX"
- "Sent"
auto_reply: false # Never auto-reply without approval
Security
- Use app-specific passwords, not your main password
- Enable 2FA on your email account
- Mona stores passwords encrypted in
~/.monoclaw/.env - Emails are processed locally; no content is sent to third parties
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| "Authentication failed" | Use app-specific password, not main password |
| "IMAP connection refused" | Check IMAP is enabled in email settings |
| "Too many connections" | Increase poll_interval |
| Emails not appearing | Check spam folder and IMAP folder name |