# Use Codex and the ChatGPT Desktop App with Your Email

https://postageformac.com/guides/codex-chatgpt-email-mac (checked 2026-10-29)

Codex reads MCP servers from `~/.codex/config.toml`, and OpenAI's docs say the ChatGPT desktop app, the Codex CLI and the IDE extension share that file. In Postage, Settings > Agents > Codex > **Add Postage to Codex** writes the entry for you (with a backup), and all three can then work in your mail.

## Set it up

1. Open Postage, then Settings > Agents, and turn on **Let agents connect to Postage**.
2. Under Codex, press **Add Postage to Codex** and pick your `~/.codex/config.toml` when asked. Postage adds one `[mcp_servers.postage]` entry, keeps everything else in the file, and saves a backup first.
3. Restart Codex, then ask it to list your Postage accounts. The Codex row in Postage turns green when it connects.

If you'd rather add it by hand, this is the entry (Postage fills in your real token):

~/.codex/config.toml:

```
[mcp_servers.postage]
url = "http://127.0.0.1:47913/mcp"
http_headers = { "Authorization" = "Bearer YOUR_POSTAGE_TOKEN" }
tool_timeout_sec = 600
```

`tool_timeout_sec = 600` gives you time to review a message Codex prepared: compose tools wait for you to press Send or close the window.

## What about ChatGPT's connectors?

Postage's server runs only on your Mac, at 127.0.0.1. Add it through Codex's config file as above, not through ChatGPT's connector settings.

## Things to ask

- "What did Stripe email me about this month?"
- "Archive every newsletter older than two weeks, across both accounts."
- "Draft replies to everyone waiting on me."
- "Find the PDF contract Dana sent in August."

Codex can read, search and organize at the access level you set. Anything it writes opens in a Postage compose window for you to send.

## Questions

### Do I need an OpenAI API key?

No. Codex uses your signed-in ChatGPT or OpenAI account, and Postage never asks for a key.

### Can Codex send email?

No. Its message opens in a Postage compose window with a banner naming Codex, and only you can press Send.

Postage is $39 once, for macOS 14 Sonoma or later: https://postageformac.com/pricing