Read and review
Agents can list and read messages, message bodies and attachments in any folder, sorted by date or limited to a date range.
AI tools · Email
Orchard IMAP
Secure, accountable email access for AI agents.
Orchard IMAP is a mail service that runs on your own computer and gives AI agents working in Orchard AI controlled access to your existing mailboxes. Agents can read, search, draft, organize and send messages. A verified copy is made before anything is deleted, most changes can be reversed, every request is logged, and no data passes through Koi Consulting.
- 09:41:07readmessages_searchinvoice, last 30 days
- 09:41:09writemoveundoableto Finance/Invoices
- 09:41:12writedeleteundoablearchived and verified first
- 09:41:15writedrafts_createundoablereply, 1 recipient
- 09:41:21senddrafts_sendirreversiblesent, 1 recipient
What it is
A mail service designed for AI agents.
Orchard IMAP connects to your existing accounts over IMAP and SMTP, the open protocols used by standard mail applications. It presents each mailbox to an agent as a set of defined operations: list, read, search, draft, move, flag and send. Each operation is permissioned and recorded. Most changes can be undone. A message that has been sent cannot be recalled.
Orchard IMAP works with Gmail and Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and any provider that supports standard IMAP and SMTP. Multiple accounts can be connected. Your mail remains with your provider, and a working copy is kept on your own machine.
Capabilities
What an agent can do
Orchard IMAP provides the operations an agent needs to manage correspondence, from reviewing an inbox and locating a thread to preparing a reply and filing completed work.
Search across accounts
Full-text search covers every connected account, including archived messages, using an index stored on your machine.
Draft, reply and send
Agents can compose, reply, reply to all and forward messages. File attachments are limited to folders you designate, and sending requires its own permission.
Organize
Agents can move, copy and flag messages and create, rename and remove folders through defined operations.
Multiple accounts
Several mailboxes can be connected at once and addressed individually, so a single task can span personal and shared inboxes.
Built-in documentation
The service includes a manual written for AI agents, with usage examples, the current list of operations and their schemas.
Safeguards
Controls built into the tool
These safeguards are part of the tool itself and do not depend on the behavior of the agent or model in use.
01
Verified archive before deletion
Before any deletion, purge, folder removal or draft overwrite, the exact content of each affected message is copied to a local archive and verified. If the copy cannot be verified, the operation is declined and the message is left unchanged.
The archive is write-once. No operation available to an agent, the command line or the dashboard removes content from it. Messages deleted by another application are also archived, provided they had already been copied to your machine.
Archive first, verify, then proceed.
02
Reversible changes
Moves, flags, drafts, folder changes and deletions are recorded together with the steps required to reverse them. The most recent operation, or any earlier one, can be undone.
Sent messages are the exception. Email that has been sent cannot be recalled, so each send is recorded as irreversible and sending requires a separate permission.
Sent mail cannot be recalled and is recorded as irreversible.
03
Complete audit log
Each request adds one entry to a local audit log, recording the time, the key used, the operation, the account and message involved, the result, and the related archive and journal entries.
Message content and credentials are never written to the log, so it can be provided to reviewers without exposing the contents of a mailbox.
One entry per request, with no message content or credentials.
04
Scoped access
Access keys carry defined permissions: read, write, send and administration. The connection used by AI agents is limited to read, write and send. It does not include administration and declines administrative requests.
Adding accounts, changing settings, issuing keys and reviewing the audit log are administrative functions. When authentication is required, every application on the machine must present its own key.
Read, write and send are separate permissions. Administration is excluded.
05
Protected credentials
Google and Microsoft accounts can be connected through the provider’s consent screen in your browser, so an agent never handles your password. Tokens and stored passwords are encrypted on your machine and are never returned through the interface.
You can withdraw access at any time through your Google or Microsoft account. Messages already copied to your machine remain there, and nothing is held elsewhere.
Provider sign-in, with credentials encrypted at rest.
06
Local by default
By default, the service accepts connections only from the computer on which it runs and connects to mail servers over verified TLS.
Less restrictive settings are available only as explicit configuration choices. The service does not pass raw mail-server commands through, so every destructive operation goes through the archive.
Local connections and verified TLS by default.
Orchard AI integration
Designed to work with Orchard AI
Orchard IMAP implements the mail operations of the Orchard email plugin contract, so workflows written to those operations work with it without modification. A single command registers the tool with Orchard AI and makes it available to agents in every project.
- 1
AI agent
An agent working in Orchard AI needs to act on email, for example to locate a thread, file it or draft a reply.
- 2
Orchard AI
Orchard provides the agent with the mail tools that have been registered with the platform.
- 3
Orchard IMAP
The operation runs under a scoped key. The archive, journal and audit log are updated locally.
- 4
Your mail provider
The service communicates with Gmail, Microsoft 365 or your own mail server directly from your machine.
The Orchard compliance framework
Controls and evidence for a governed AI environment.
Organizations that govern their use of AI need more than policy. The tools their agents use must limit what an agent can do, record what it did and allow mistakes to be corrected. Orchard IMAP provides these capabilities for email and is designed for use in an Orchard AI environment.
The tool contributes the following to a compliance program:
- Least privilege
- Scoped access keys, with administration excluded from the connection used by agents.
- Audit evidence
- A request-level log that records the key used, the operation, the message and the result.
- Recoverability
- A verified archive before any content is removed, and a journal for reversing changes.
- Data residency
- Mail is stored on your machine, and message content is sent only to your own mail provider.
The audit log is the record of mailbox activity, and it can be reviewed alongside your other compliance evidence.
Your data
We retain no data.
Orchard IMAP runs on your computer and connects directly to your mail provider. No Koi Consulting service sits between the two, so we do not receive, store or have access to your mail.
- Mail, addresses, passwords and sign-in tokens are stored on your machine
- The service connects directly from your machine to your mail provider
- Koi Consulting operates no server that receives this information
- No data is sold, used for advertising or used by Koi Consulting to train AI models
Permissions requested
When you sign in with Google, Orchard IMAP requests permission to read, compose, send and delete mail in that Gmail account. Sign-in through our registered application also requests the email address and basic profile of the account, which are used only to identify the account in the tool. Microsoft accounts connected through that application are asked for the same identification and for mail access over IMAP and SMTP. These permissions are used for a single purpose, which is to carry out the mail operations that you or your agents request on your own machine. You can withdraw them at any time in your Google or Microsoft account settings.
Orchard IMAP’s use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Specifications
Technical specifications
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS and Linux, running as a background service on your own machine
- Mail providers
- Gmail and Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and any provider that supports standard IMAP and SMTP
- Sign-in
- OAuth 2.0 with PKCE for Google and Microsoft, on the provider’s consent screen in your browser, plus app passwords and standard mail authentication
- Agent interfaces
- A Model Context Protocol bridge, and a documented local API that implements the Orchard email plugin contract
- User interfaces
- A desktop dashboard for accounts, search, the archive, undo history, audit and keys, together with a command-line tool
- Local storage
- A copy of your mail, a full-text index, the write-once archive, the undo journal and the audit log
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
What is Orchard IMAP?
Orchard IMAP is an email interface for AI developed by Koi Consulting. It is a mail service that runs on the user’s own computer, connects to existing mailboxes over IMAP and SMTP, and provides AI agents working in Orchard AI with defined, permissioned and logged operations for reading, searching, drafting, organizing and sending email.
Does Koi Consulting see or store my email?
No. Orchard IMAP runs on your machine and connects directly to your mail provider. Mail, addresses, passwords and sign-in tokens are stored locally and are never sent to Koi Consulting, which operates no server that receives them. Koi Consulting retains no data from the tool.
Which email providers does Orchard IMAP work with?
Orchard IMAP works with Gmail and Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and any provider that supports standard IMAP and SMTP. Google and Microsoft accounts can sign in through the provider’s own consent screen in your browser. App passwords and standard mail authentication are also supported. Multiple accounts can be connected at the same time.
Can an AI agent permanently delete my email?
Orchard IMAP is designed to prevent permanent loss. Before any deletion, purge, folder removal or draft overwrite, the exact content of each affected message is copied to a write-once local archive and verified. If the copy cannot be verified, the operation is declined. Archived messages can be restored, and no operation available to an agent removes content from the archive.
Can a message sent by an agent be recalled?
No. Email that has been sent cannot be recalled, so Orchard IMAP records every send as irreversible. Sending is a separate permission from reading and writing.
How does Orchard IMAP support the Orchard compliance framework?
Orchard IMAP registers with Orchard AI as a tool that agents can use, and it provides the controls and evidence that a compliance program requires of any system an agent can act on. These are scoped access keys that exclude administration from the connection used by agents, a request-level audit log, a verified archive before any content is removed, and a journal for reversing changes. The audit log is the record of mailbox activity.
What permissions does Orchard IMAP request for a Google account?
Orchard IMAP requests permission to read, compose, send and delete mail in the Gmail account you connect. Sign-in through the Koi Consulting registered application also requests the account’s email address and basic profile, which are used only to identify the account. These permissions are used solely to carry out the mail operations that you or your agents request on your own machine, and you can withdraw them at any time in your Google Account settings.
Next step
Discuss Orchard IMAP with our team.
Tell us which mailboxes you would like AI agents to manage and the controls you require. We will advise whether Orchard IMAP is the right fit for your organization.