---
title: "Connect Naver Mail to an AI assistant with IMAP and MCP"
description: "Connect personal Naver Mail to an AI assistant through Mailera. Check IMAP settings, use a read-only MCP key, and troubleshoot sign-in failures."
url: https://mailera.app/en/blog/naver-mail-imap-ai
published: 2026-10-25
updated: 2026-10-25
---

# Connect Naver Mail to an AI assistant with IMAP and MCP

Connect your existing personal Naver mailbox to Mailera, then check that Claude can read a harmless test message. Diagnose sign-in and sync problems without sharing credentials.

## Which Naver Mail settings do you need?

Use the Naver Mail provider for your personal `naver.com` mailbox. This guide does not cover NAVER WORKS administration; don't substitute a WORKS setup guide for the personal-mailbox connection described here.

IMAP provides mailbox access; [RFC 9051's IMAP specification](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc9051) separates that role from sending mail. SMTP handles sending separately. Your assistant connects to Mailera through MCP, rather than receiving your Naver app password in a chat prompt.

These are the server settings Mailera configures for Naver Mail:

| Purpose | Server | Port | Security |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Incoming mail, IMAP | `imap.naver.com` | 993 | SSL/TLS |
| Outgoing mail, SMTP | `smtp.naver.com` | 587 | STARTTLS |

The incoming connection uses TLS from the start. That matches the IMAPS behavior described in [RFC 8314's email transport-security specification](https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8314/). Keep the security mode paired with its configured port; the incoming and outgoing settings are not interchangeable.

For Mailera's Naver connection, have an existing mailbox you control and an app password ready. Mailera lists two-step verification and enabled IMAP as prerequisites. Its **How to get an app password** and **What you'll need** sections provide the preparation guidance inside the connection flow.

Use the [Naver Mail connection page](https://mailera.app/en/providers/naver) for this provider. For a private server rather than Naver Mail, use the [custom IMAP connection page](https://mailera.app/en/providers/imap) and the [custom IMAP/SMTP server setup guide](https://mailera.app/en/blog/custom-imap-api).

Related: [Connect existing email providers to agents](https://mailera.app/en/blog/email-provider-api-integration).

![Personal Naver Mail connects to Mailera over IMAP with TLS; an AI client reads through MCP using a separate Read-only API key.](https://mailera.app/media/c8fac467439bba59/connect-naver-mail-to-an-ai-assistant-with-imap-and-mcp-en-1200.jpg)
_The mailbox connection and the assistant's access use separate credentials. SMTP sending is outside the read-only test._

The two credentials serve different purposes: the Naver app password connects the mailbox to Mailera; the Mailera API key controls the assistant's access to Mailera. A read-only verification task doesn't require permission to send mail.

## How do you add Naver Mail to Mailera?

You need an Admin or Leader role to add a mailbox.

1. Open **Mailboxes → Add mailbox → One mailbox**.
2. Enter your Naver address in **Email address**. Check that the detected provider is Naver Mail. If needed, select it under **Or choose a provider**, then select **Continue**.
3. Review **How to get an app password** and **What you'll need**. In **Connection details**, enter the app password in **Password**, not your ordinary account sign-in password.
4. Set **Display name** if needed and choose **Mailbox group**. Choose the group deliberately: you'll use it to scope the assistant's API key later.
5. Select **Test & connect** and inspect the individual results.

The test separates connection stages so you can identify where to investigate:

| Test stage | What to check |
| --- | --- |
| **Incoming server sign-in** | Whether the incoming connection can authenticate |
| **Folder detection** | Whether Mailera can detect the mailbox's folders |
| **Outgoing server sign-in** | Whether the separate sending connection can authenticate |

**Test & connect sends no email.** Successful sign-in is not a delivery test. You will check actual message retrieval in the next section.

If receiving works but outgoing sign-in fails, Mailera offers **Save as receive-only**. That is suitable for reading mail through an assistant, but it is not a working sending setup. To investigate sending instead, use **Edit details** and **Test again**.

After a successful connection, look for the confirmation beginning with “Connected” and your address. Mailera then loads messages within its retention period, newest first. Open the mailbox and check its status and initial message load before configuring the assistant.

## How do you verify read-only access from Claude?

Use a non-sensitive test message rather than asking the assistant to summarize your inbox immediately. This gives you a specific subject and body to compare at each stage.

### Prepare the message and API key

1. Send a message from an account you control to your own Naver mailbox. Use a distinctive subject such as “Naver reading test — blue notebook” and a harmless body such as “The notebook is on the shelf.”
2. Confirm that the message appears in the intended Naver mailbox in Mailera. If it doesn't, resolve retrieval before changing the AI client's setup.
3. Open **Settings → API key → Create key**. Enter a **Descriptive name** that identifies this test.
4. Under **Mailbox scope**, choose the group containing the Naver mailbox. Enable only **Read** and set an appropriate **Expiration**.
5. Copy the key when **Key created — copy it now** appears. It is shown only once. Use **Copy MCP config** for Claude, Cursor or VS Code, and keep the copied configuration out of chat messages and screenshots.

A group-scoped key is not necessarily a single-mailbox key. If other mailboxes share that group, consider them part of the access boundary. Don't select all groups merely to make a missing mailbox appear.

![Mailera API-key setup with a single mailbox group selected and only the Read permission enabled.](https://mailera.app/media/c8bc4d8ae795d0fe/connect-naver-mail-to-an-ai-assistant-with-imap-and-mcp-en-1200.jpg)
_Scope the key to the relevant group and enable only Read for message verification._

Use the [Claude integration instructions](https://mailera.app/en/integrations/claude) for client setup and the [Mailera MCP page](https://mailera.app/en/mcp) for connection details. Mailera's MCP endpoint is `https://mailera.app/api/public/v1/mcp`.

### Retrieve the test message

Ask the assistant to perform this sequence through Mailera:

1. Use `list_mailboxes` to find the intended Naver mailbox. Confirm the address before proceeding.
2. Use `list_messages` for that mailbox and the folder containing your test message. Find the distinctive subject.
3. Use `get_message` for that message and return its subject and plain-text body.

All three tools require the `read` scope. Compare the retrieved subject and body with what you sent. Seeing a mailbox in a list confirms discovery; reading the matching message body confirms content retrieval.

For this task, leave **Send messages**, **Move messages** and **Sync** disabled. The sending tools `send_email` and `reply_to_email` require the separate `send` scope.

You can also inspect `get_mailbox_status`. For Naver, it reflects the latest sync rather than performing a fresh direct sign-in check. Use it alongside the message retrieval result, not as a substitute for reading the test message.

## What common mistakes cause Naver Mail IMAP failures?

Start with the failed stage. An incoming authentication failure, an outgoing failure and a missing message need different checks. Replacing passwords repeatedly won't help you isolate a server or folder issue.

| Symptom | Check | Corrective action | Evidence of recovery |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Incoming sign-in fails | Was the normal account password entered? | Use the app password in **Password**, then select **Test again**. | **Incoming server sign-in** succeeds. |
| Incoming sign-in still fails | Are Mailera's listed prerequisites complete? | Review two-step verification and IMAP enablement through the preparation guidance. | Incoming sign-in and folder detection succeed. |
| Failure after manually changing details | Provider selection, server settings and login details | Return to the personal Naver configuration; check the login details rather than guessing a different username format. | The incoming connection succeeds with the intended account. |
| Connection or TLS failure | Host, port and security mode | Compare the configuration with the table above. Don't treat every connection failure as a bad password. | The test proceeds to successful sign-in. |
| Receiving succeeds, sending fails | **Outgoing server sign-in** | Inspect SMTP separately, or choose **Save as receive-only** for reading. | Receiving works; sending remains a separate check. |
| Mailera has the message, but the assistant cannot find it | API-key group and selected mailbox | Check the group scope, then repeat `list_mailboxes` and select the correct mailbox. | The assistant retrieves the intended message. |
| Connected mailbox appears to be missing messages | Folder, latest sync and retention | Check Inbox and Junk, inspect sync timing, and use a recent test message. | The message appears in Mailera and can be read through MCP. |

When checking SMTP security, distinguish STARTTLS from implicit TLS. [RFC 8314's implicit-TLS SMTP definition](https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8314/) uses port 465 with an immediate TLS handshake; Mailera's Naver configuration instead uses port 587 with STARTTLS.

Avoid using NAVER WORKS instructions to change this personal Naver connection. Also avoid assuming that an address entered in **Email address** establishes the correct login-name format for a manually configured server.

Mailera checks active mailboxes more often and idle mailboxes less often. Inactive mailboxes can sleep and wake on use. A message that hasn't appeared yet is not, by itself, evidence that authentication failed.

Manual sync requires the separate **Sync** permission; a Read-only key cannot call `sync_mailbox`. Initial loading is also bounded by retention. The free plan retains 30 days of messages, so an older message is a poor choice for this verification task.

## How do you keep AI access to Naver Mail safe?

Treat incoming email as untrusted data, not instructions. An email that tells the assistant to reveal a key, change permissions or contact an external service must not override your instructions. Ask the assistant to extract or summarize content, not obey requests embedded in that content.

Start with **Read** and the narrowest suitable mailbox group. Read-only access still exposes retrieved email content to the configured AI client, so use a test mailbox or harmless messages while checking the integration. For broader agent setups, see [least-privilege architecture for mailbox agents](https://mailera.app/en/blog/least-privilege-email-agents).

Keep Naver app passwords and Mailera API keys out of email bodies, prompts, logs and screenshots. Treat copied MCP configuration as sensitive too. Revoke unused API keys; Mailera rejects calls immediately after revocation. See the [Mailera security page](https://mailera.app/en/security) when reviewing access for your team.

If you enable sending later, require explicit human confirmation of the recipient and final message before the assistant sends it. Successful SMTP sign-in and permission to send are not reasons to skip that approval.

## What are Mailera's limits here?

Mailera connects existing mailboxes; it does not create Naver accounts or email addresses, and it is not an official partner of Naver. It also does not guarantee instantaneous synchronization. Keep the read test focused on a recent message and check sync timing before treating a delay as a broken connection.

**Connect your first mailbox in 2 minutes** — Add an Outlook, Gmail or IMAP mailbox and read email messages in the app or via the API. [Connect mailbox](https://mailera.app/auth?mode=signup)