About atbridge.ai
atbridge.ai is a local Thunderbird workspace that lets people use AI with email, calendars, contacts, notes, and tasks across multiple accounts. It offers an MCP server alongside a Thunderbird panel and CLI, with write tools gated by an environment setting.
Key features
- 01Read and edit email across accounts
- 02Search and manage calendar events
- 03Manage contacts and mailing lists
- 04Read and write local Markdown notes
- 05Manage tasks and reminders
- 06Gate write access with an environment setting
Use cases
- 01Find messages across Gmail, Outlook, and IMAP accounts
- 02Check calendar availability and create events
- 03Look up or update contact records
- 04Save notes and track to-dos alongside mail
MCP support
The local MCP server exposes more than 60 tools for email, calendars, contacts, notes, and tasks to MCP clients, through the running Thunderbird installation. Write tools require ATBRIDGE_ALLOW_WRITES=1.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
We haven’t collected a package or remote endpoint for this server. Follow the instructions in the project README.
Tools
Local servers expose tools only once running on your machine, and the maintainer has not provided a tool list.
Details
From the project READMEatbridge
Your private AI suite for emails, calendars, contacts, notes & tasks — in Thunderbird, over MCP, or from the CLI. Runs on your own machine, works with any AI, no cloud middleman.
Website: atbridge.ai · Docs: atbridge.ai/docs
atbridge turns Thunderbird into one AI-driven workspace for emails, calendars, contacts, notes, and tasks — across every account you already have (Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, self-hosted / IMAP). Manage it all with the AI of your choice — from inside Thunderbird, from Claude Desktop or your IDE over MCP, or from the command line (CLI). MCP and the CLI are separate surfaces: MCP exposes atbridge as tools to an AI client, while the CLI runs atbridge commands directly in your shell, scripts, and CI.
Why atbridge
- 🔒 Private & local-first. Everything runs on your machine. Your messages and API keys never route through atbridge's servers — a model only ever receives what you choose to send it.
- 🤖 Any AI, no lock-in. 12 providers, including a fully private local model via Ollama (see below).
- 🖥️ Three surfaces, one binary. The built-in atbridge panel in Thunderbird, an MCP server for AI clients and IDEs, and a CLI for scripts and CI.
- 📝 atbridge Notes. A local markdown workspace with linked notes and voice memos the AI can read and write.
- ⚡ Measurably leaner. Because it talks to Thunderbird locally instead of proxying your mailbox through a cloud, it's measurably faster and cheaper than a cloud Gmail MCP bridge.
Tools
60+ MCP tools across five domains, talking to your running Thunderbird on your own machine — nothing is proxied through a cloud. Read tools are always available; write tools (marked ✏️) require ATBRIDGE_ALLOW_WRITES=1.
mail_list— list recent messages in a folder, newest first (unread filter)mail_search— search by free text and/or sender, recipient, folder, date, read state, attachmentsmail_get— fetch one message (headers, body, attachment metadata)mail_thread— fetch a whole conversation threadmail_current— read the email the user is currently reading in Thunderbirdmail_attachments/mail_attachment_get— list attachments and read one (incl. local PDF/XLSX/DOCX text extraction)mail_folders— all folders across all accounts with unread countsmail_fetch— trigger a new-mail check nowmail_send✏️ — compose and send a new message (or draft/template/later)mail_reply✏️ — reply to a messagemail_forward✏️ — forward a messagemail_compose✏️ — build a branded, themed HTML email from a block layoutmail_draft_edit✏️ — edit an existing draft in placemail_mark✏️ — set read/star/tags (bulk-capable)mail_move✏️ — move messages between folders (bulk-capable)mail_delete✏️ — trash or hard-delete messages (bulk-capable)mail_empty_trash✏️ — empty an account's Trashmail_folder_create/mail_folder_rename/mail_folder_delete✏️ — manage folders
Calendar
calendar_list— list all calendarscalendar_events_search— search events in a time window across calendarscalendar_events_get— get one event by idcalendar_find_slots— find free time slots (honours events + working hours)calendar_clash_check— check whether a proposed slot clashescalendar_settings— working hours, working days, timezonecalendar_refresh— re-sync CalDAV/ICS calendars nowcalendar_events_create✏️ — create an event (clash-checked; attendees, recurrence)calendar_events_update✏️ — update an event or a single occurrencecalendar_events_delete✏️ — delete an event or occurrencecalendar_events_rsvp✏️ — respond to an invite (accept/decline/tentative)
Contacts
contacts_books— list address bookscontacts_list— list contacts across bookscontacts_search— search across every field (name, email, phone, org, address, notes)contacts_show— show one contact by id, email, or namecontacts_duplicates— find cards that are probably the same personcontacts_lists/contacts_list_members— mailing lists and their memberscontacts_create/contacts_update/contacts_delete✏️ — manage contactscontacts_list_create/contacts_list_delete/contacts_list_add/contacts_list_remove✏️ — manage mailing lists
Notes — a local markdown workspace
notes_list— list or full-text search saved notesnotes_get— read one note by id or titlenotes_save✏️ — save a new markdown notenotes_update✏️ — edit a note in placenotes_move✏️ — move or rename a notenotes_delete✏️ — delete a note
Tasks
tasks_list— list to-dos (incomplete by default)tasks_create✏️ — create a task (due, priority, recurrence, reminders)tasks_update✏️ — update a tasktasks_complete✏️ — mark a task done (or reopen)tasks_delete✏️ — delete a task
Plus accounts_list and the branded-email compose_templates* / compose_theme* tools. Full machine-readable reference: llms-mcp.txt · CLI reference: llms-cli.txt.
Setup
Requirements: atbridge is a local MCP server for Thunderbird — it talks to your running Thunderbird via a native-messaging bridge, not a remote endpoint. It needs Thunderbird + the atbridge add-on, and it is not distributed via npm/pip. Install the signed binary from atbridge.ai first.
1. Install atbridge
# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://atbridge.ai/install.sh | sh
# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://atbridge.ai/install.ps1 | iex
2. Install the Thunderbird bridge — connects the local server to your running Thunderbird:
atbridge bridge install
3. Add atbridge to your MCP client — let atbridge write the config for you:
atbridge mcp setup --client claude|cursor|vscode|jetbrains|antigravity
…or add it by hand:
{
"mcpServers": {
"atbridge.ai": { "command": "atbridge", "args": ["mcp"] }
}
}
4. Unlock write tools (optional) — reads work out of the box; to allow send / reply / move / delete and calendar/contact edits, add "env": { "ATBRIDGE_ALLOW_WRITES": "1" } to the config above and restart the client.
Setup guides — step-by-step, per client:
- Install atbridge
- Which connection do I need? (MCP vs CLI)
- Claude Desktop
- Cursor
- JetBrains
- Antigravity
- MCP reference · all docs
Supported AI providers
OpenAI · Anthropic Claude · Google Gemini · Mistral · DeepSeek · Moonshot Kimi · xAI Grok · Groq · OpenRouter · NVIDIA · any OpenAI-compatible endpoint · Ollama (fully local, private).
You can also drive the in-Thunderbird atbridge chat with an AI CLI you already have — Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, or Antigravity — using your existing subscription (BYO compute, no API key).
📺 Watch
- Product demo — youtube.com/watch?v=EVs0ricxqjw
- Install guides — macOS · Windows · Linux
- Channel — youtube.com/@atbridge
Three ways to use it
- Inside Thunderbird — the atbridge AI Chat panel, branded HTML email compose, deterministic Skills, and atbridge Notes.
- Over MCP — Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, JetBrains, Antigravity, or your own agents. No Thunderbird UI required once the bridge is installed.
- From the CLI — every operation scriptable for shell, cron, and CI.
Pricing
Free to start; Personal and Pro plans for power users. See atbridge.ai/pricing.
Links
- Website — https://atbridge.ai
- Documentation — https://atbridge.ai/docs
- YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/@atbridge
- LLM-readable overview — https://atbridge.ai/llms.txt
About
atbridge is a proprietary, commercial product distributed as signed binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows. This repository is the product's public home and documentation; it does not contain the application source. Available in 23 UI languages.
© 2026 atbridge. All rights reserved. Questions: [email protected]
Comments
New to MCP?
From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.
An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.