Zoho has introduced Connected Apps for Google Gemini, allowing users to give Gemini access to information held in Zoho Mail and several other Zoho applications through the Model Context Protocol.
The integration was announced on 25 August 2026 and currently supports Zoho Mail, Zoho CRM, Bigin, Zoho Desk and Zoho Projects.
Users authorise the Zoho applications they want to connect from Gemini’s Connected Apps settings. Once connected, Gemini can use information from those applications when responding to prompts.
For Zoho Mail, the examples published by Zoho include asking Gemini to summarise urgent messages from the inbox or find a previous email thread. Zoho also demonstrates prompts that combine information from more than one application, such as using both Zoho CRM and Zoho Mail to prepare a follow-up based on deal information and the latest email conversation.
The connection is built around Model Context Protocol, or MCP, which provides a standard way for AI applications to interact with external services and data sources.
Zoho already operates its own MCP infrastructure. Its Zoho Mail MCP documentation says the service exposes Zoho Mail API methods as tools that compatible AI assistants can use after authorisation. Access is handled using OAuth 2.0, with permissions determining which information and functions are available. The documented user tasks include sending and replying to messages as well as reading them. The admin tasks include domain configuration and spam and security policy. Zoho’s write-up on inbox agents sets out the intended workflows.
The new Gemini integration brings that capability into Google’s Connected Apps interface rather than requiring users to manually move information between Zoho applications and the AI assistant.
The initial availability is limited. Zoho says the Connected Apps integration is currently available to organisations hosted in its Indian data centre, with support for other Zoho data centres planned. Zoho has not provided a date for the wider rollout.
Zoho Mail MCP itself has wider availability. The same documentation says it works across all Zoho data centres, and Zoho publishes separate instructions for connecting Zoho Mail MCP to Gemini CLI. Organisations outside India can still put Gemini in front of their mailboxes by configuring the server themselves.
The announcement comes as Google expands Gemini’s Connected Apps capabilities to include more third-party services. Google also supports connections to custom third-party MCP servers. That option carries conditions. It requires Gemini Spark access, a personal Google account, and users in the US aged 18 or over. Work and school accounts are excluded for now. Google states that it does not control, monitor or secure custom third-party MCP servers, and that the trust decision sits with the user.
Email vendors have been exposing their own MCP servers for most of the past year, from ZeroBounce putting validation into AI workflows to assistants competing to run the inbox itself. This one moves the connection into the assistant’s own settings screen, where the user picks an app from a list rather than pasting an endpoint into a client.
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