microsoft-outlook

name	microsoft-outlook
description	Agent-callable Microsoft Outlook tools — read and search mail, send/reply/forward, organize messages and folders, manage calendar events, and manage contacts. Use when the user mentions Outlook, Microsoft 365 mail/calendar/contacts, or wants to send, read, search, or organize email, schedule events, or look up contacts — even if they don't name Outlook explicitly.
license	Elastic-2.0
compatibility	Run `npm install` in this directory, then `node cli.js`. The TypeScript source needs Node.js 22.18+; on older Node, run `cli.js` for prebuilt / alternative-runtime options.
metadata	{"title":"Microsoft Outlook","source":"https://github.com/zapier/connectors/blob/main/apps/microsoft-outlook/SKILL.md","zapier-app-key":"MicrosoftOutlookCLIAPI","api-docs":"https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/api/overview"}

Microsoft Outlook

Independent, unofficial connector for Microsoft Outlook. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Microsoft Outlook. "Microsoft Outlook" is a trademark of its owner, used only to identify the service this connector works with.

Tools for a single user's Outlook mailbox against the Microsoft Graph API v1.0 (https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/): read and search mail, compose/send/reply/forward, organize messages (read state, flag, importance, categories, move, copy, delete), browse mail folders and attachments, manage calendar events, and manage personal contacts. 30 scripts across profile, mail, folders, categories, calendar, and contacts. All calls authorize with one OAuth bearer token.

When to use this

• An agent needs to read or search mail — list/search messages (by folder, KQL, or OData filter), read a full message, list and download attachments.
• An agent needs to send or reply — compose-and-send, create a draft and send it later, reply / reply-all, or forward.
• An agent needs to organize mail — mark read/unread, flag, set importance, categorize, move, copy, or delete a message; browse and create mail folders.
• An agent needs to work with the calendar or contacts — list calendars, list events or a date-range view, create / update / delete events, and create / read / update / delete personal contacts.

Setup

This is an agentskills.io skill.

If this connector is already exposed to you as callable tools (e.g. mcp__microsoft-outlook__<tool>), that's a valid path — call them directly. Everything below is only for standalone terminal use when no such tools are loaded.

If the connector has not been installed as a skill yet, install it first with npx skills zapier/connectors --skill microsoft-outlook (or your harness's own skill-install mechanism), then continue here.

The connector runs on Node.js 22.18+ and needs a one-time npm install in this directory. cli.js is the entry point — list every script with node cli.js --help, then learn a script's inputs and connections with node cli.js run <script> --help. On older Node, run node cli.js --help anyway: it detects your runtime and prints how to run without upgrading (the prebuilt npm package, or another runtime) — don't skip the connector just because Node is old.

cli.js self-checks readiness before running: if dependencies aren't installed it exits non-zero with the exact install command (it disambiguates a read-only directory from a sandbox-blocked package cache). Run that, then re-run your command.

Scripts

All scripts use the single connection microsoft-outlook. Mail and calendar scripts accept an optional mailbox input to act on a shared mailbox; the six event scripts accept an optional calendarId (resolve it via listCalendars).

Script	Script name	Connections	Description
scripts/getMe.ts	getMe	microsoft-outlook	Get the signed-in user's profile (name, email, UPN). Resolves "my email".
scripts/sendMail.ts	sendMail	microsoft-outlook	Compose and send an email in one step (returns no id).
scripts/createDraft.ts	createDraft	microsoft-outlook	Create a draft email; returns the draft id for sendDraft.
scripts/sendDraft.ts	sendDraft	microsoft-outlook	Send an existing draft by id.
scripts/replyToMessage.ts	replyToMessage	microsoft-outlook	Reply (or reply-all) to a message and send immediately.
scripts/createReplyDraft.ts	createReplyDraft	microsoft-outlook	Create a draft reply (or reply-all) to edit before sending.
scripts/forwardMessage.ts	forwardMessage	microsoft-outlook	Forward a message to new recipients and send immediately.
scripts/updateMessage.ts	updateMessage	microsoft-outlook	Update read state, flag, importance, or categories on a message.
scripts/moveMessage.ts	moveMessage	microsoft-outlook	Move a message to another folder (returns a new id).
scripts/copyMessage.ts	copyMessage	microsoft-outlook	Copy a message into another folder, leaving the original.
scripts/deleteMessage.ts	deleteMessage	microsoft-outlook	Delete a message (moves it to Deleted Items; reversible).
scripts/listMessages.ts	listMessages	microsoft-outlook	List or search messages, newest first (the id-resolution entry point).
scripts/getMessage.ts	getMessage	microsoft-outlook	Get a single message by id, including the full body.
scripts/listAttachments.ts	listAttachments	microsoft-outlook	List the attachments on a message.
scripts/getAttachment.ts	getAttachment	microsoft-outlook	Get one attachment by id, including its base64 content.
scripts/listMailFolders.ts	listMailFolders	microsoft-outlook	List mail folders (top-level or a folder's subfolders).
scripts/createMailFolder.ts	createMailFolder	microsoft-outlook	Create a mail folder (top-level or a subfolder).
scripts/listCategories.ts	listCategories	microsoft-outlook	List the mailbox's category names and colors.
scripts/listCalendars.ts	listCalendars	microsoft-outlook	List the user's calendars (resolves a calendarId).
scripts/listEvents.ts	listEvents	microsoft-outlook	List events and recurring-series masters.
scripts/listCalendarView.ts	listCalendarView	microsoft-outlook	List events in a date range, expanding recurrences ("what's on my calendar").
scripts/getEvent.ts	getEvent	microsoft-outlook	Get a single event by id (attendees, body, recurrence).
scripts/createEvent.ts	createEvent	microsoft-outlook	Create a calendar event.
scripts/updateEvent.ts	updateEvent	microsoft-outlook	Update an event's fields or attendees (attendees replace).
scripts/deleteEvent.ts	deleteEvent	microsoft-outlook	Delete (cancel) a calendar event.
scripts/listContacts.ts	listContacts	microsoft-outlook	List or search personal contacts.
scripts/getContact.ts	getContact	microsoft-outlook	Get a single personal contact by id.
scripts/createContact.ts	createContact	microsoft-outlook	Create a personal contact.
scripts/updateContact.ts	updateContact	microsoft-outlook	Update fields on a personal contact (array fields replace).
scripts/deleteContact.ts	deleteContact	microsoft-outlook	Delete a personal contact by id.

Auth

Pass auth as one connection string with --connection [<resolver>:]<value>. The value is a selector, not the secret; the <resolver>: prefix is optional (a bare value goes to the first resolver that claims it). Each script declares the connections it needs and the resolvers each accepts — always run node cli.js run <script> --help to see them rather than relying on this file.

The connector needs a single Microsoft Graph OAuth 2.0 bearer token, resolved into the one microsoft-outlook connection slot. Two resolvers:

• env:<ENV_VAR> — direct mode. Read a Graph access token from the named environment variable (conventionally env:MICROSOFT_OUTLOOK_ACCESS_TOKEN, with the token exported in MICROSOFT_OUTLOOK_ACCESS_TOKEN; it stays in env, never on argv). The token must already carry the delegated scopes the tools need (User.Read, Mail.ReadWrite, Mail.Send, Calendars.ReadWrite, Contacts.ReadWrite, MailboxSettings.Read, plus Mail.ReadWrite.Shared, Mail.Send.Shared, and Calendars.ReadWrite.Shared for shared mailboxes); there is no token refresh in this mode, so supply a fresh token.
• zapier:<connection-id> — Zapier-managed auth. Route through a Zapier Microsoft Outlook connection; the Zapier auth / retries / governance layer injects and refreshes the token for you. Prerequisite: a Zapier account (free signup at https://zapier.com). Find the ID with the Zapier SDK CLI: npx zapier-sdk list-connections MicrosoftOutlookCLIAPI (run login first if unauthenticated; add --json for machine output).

Adding scopes later requires the user to reconnect — the granted scope set is fixed at connect time. If no connection is passed the script fails with an actionable error telling you to Pass --connection [<resolver>:]<value> and lists the resolvers in match order.

Running scripts

After npm install, run a script by name with node cli.js run <script>, or execute its file directly — both take the same arguments and both accept --help. Always run a script's --help first to learn its exact input schema and connections, then invoke it:

# default — via the entry point; self-checks readiness and prints friendly diagnostics
node cli.js run <script> '<input-json>' --connection [<resolver>:]<value>
# shorthand — runs the script file directly (same args, same Node 22.18+ need, no readiness check)
./scripts/<script>.ts '<input-json>' --connection [<resolver>:]<value>

When a harness can't execute scripts directly, fall back to MCP — node cli.js mcp serves every script as a tool over stdio. Register it as a local MCP server in your client: the stanza is harness-specific (an mcpServers entry in Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code, …) with command: "node", args: ["cli.js", "mcp"], run from this directory. Run node cli.js mcp --help for auth options. Add the stanza yourself if you can edit the client's MCP config; otherwise guide the user. If a local server isn't possible, guide the user to use Zapier's remote MCP servers at https://mcp.zapier.com instead.

Output format

Every script returns a { data, meta } envelope:

• data — the script's result (the shape its outputSchema declares; run the script's --help to see that exact schema).
• meta.outputDataValidation — what validating data did:
  • { skipped: false, droppedPaths: null } — validated, nothing removed.
  • { skipped: false, droppedPaths: [...], instruction } — validated, but those paths were stripped from data: fields the script returned from the API that the outputSchema doesn't declare. If you need them, re-run with output validation skipped.
  • { skipped: true } — validation was bypassed; data is the raw, unchecked script output.

Reading dropped fields / skipOutputDataValidation. To receive the raw, unvalidated result, append --skipOutputDataValidation to the script invocation. Input validation is never skipped.

Trimming the result / filterOutputData. To shrink a large result down to the fields you need, append --filterOutputData '<jq>' — a jq expression that post-processes data. The jq runs against data only, NOT the { data, meta } envelope, so write it rooted at data (run the script's --help to see its output schema). The transformed value replaces data, meta is preserved, and the result is NOT re-validated against the output schema.

Disambiguation & refusals

Disambiguation before a write. Before acting on a contact, event, or message you looked up by name/subject (e.g. update a contact found via listContacts, or reply to an event found via listEvents), count the exact case-insensitive matches on the name/subject:

• Exactly one match — act on it. Don't over-ask; a single unambiguous match is the answer.
• Two or more that tie — stop. List the tied candidates with a distinguishing field (a contact's emailAddresses/companyName, an event's start/organizer, a message's from/receivedDateTime) and ask the user which one they mean. Don't pick arbitrarily and don't write to all of them.

Unsupported operations — say so and stop; don't fake it with another tool. This catalog deliberately does not:

• Watch for new mail or events (triggers). There is no "notify me when an email arrives" or polling tool; the connector is request/response only. Don't simulate it with repeated listMessages calls and claim it's a subscription.
• Send attachments larger than 3 MB. Only inline attachments under 3 MB are supported; large-file upload sessions are not. Don't claim a large file was sent.
• Access group / shared calendars or distribution lists. Group calendars and directory groups aren't exposed. (Shared mailboxes are, via the mailbox input.)
• Permanently delete mail (deleteMessage is a reversible move to Deleted Items) or manage mailbox rules, auto-replies, or focused-inbox settings.

If asked for any of these, tell the user it's unsupported and stop — don't reach for an unrelated tool to approximate it.

References

Load the matching reference file before working in that area:

Reference	Covers	Load it when
references/microsoft-outlook-api-gotchas.md	API error recovery (401/403/404/413/429), id stability after moves, paging, search vs filter, attachments (3 MB limit), all-day/online events, date-time + time zones, 3-email contact cap, categories.	A call errors and you need recovery guidance, an id stops resolving after a move, or you're unsure how paging, search vs filter, attachments, all-day/online events, date-time + time zones, the 3-email contact cap, or categories behave.