What is Nylas

Nylas is a unified API platform that lets you integrate email, calendar, scheduling, and transcription into your application. Instead of building and maintaining separate integrations for Gmail, Microsoft, IMAP, and other providers, you write your code once against the Nylas API and it works across all of them.

Choose your path

Building a product? Follow the Build with Nylas quickstarts to integrate email, calendar, and scheduling into your application using the Nylas SDKs.

Connecting an AI agent? Follow the Nylas for AI Agents guides to give your agent direct access to email, calendar, and contacts from the terminal or via MCP.

Need a dedicated mailbox or calendar for your agent or app? Nylas Agent Accounts (Beta) give you a Nylas-hosted [email protected] mailbox and calendar you create and control entirely through the API — no OAuth flow required.

Set up your account

Both paths start here. Pick the setup method you prefer — both get you an API key and a connected account in under a minute.

• Get started with the CLI — run nylas init and the interactive wizard handles everything: account creation, app setup, API key generation, and account connection.
• Get started with the Dashboard — use the web UI if you prefer a visual walkthrough.

Core concepts

A few terms you’ll see throughout the docs.

Application — the container for your integration. Holds your API keys, connected accounts, and configuration. Create one in the Dashboard or via the CLI.

API key — authenticates your server-side requests. Include it as a Bearer token in the Authorization header. Keep it secret — it grants full access to all connected accounts.

Grant — represents a single authenticated user account (one person’s Gmail inbox, one person’s Outlook calendar). You get a grant ID when a user connects through OAuth, and pass it in the request path: /v3/grants/<GRANT_ID>/messages.

Connector — configures how Nylas authenticates with a specific provider (e.g., your Google Cloud OAuth credentials). Sandbox apps come with pre-configured connectors.

Providers — Nylas supports Google, Microsoft, Exchange (EWS), iCloud, IMAP, Yahoo, and Zoom through a single API. See the provider guides for provider-specific details.

Explore the APIs

Once you’re set up, dive into the product area you need:

• Email — read, send, and manage messages, threads, folders, and attachments
• Calendar — manage calendars, events, and availability
• Scheduler — add embeddable scheduling to your app
• Notetaker — transcribe and summarize meetings
• Agent Accounts (Beta) — spin up Nylas-hosted email and calendar mailboxes programmatically
• Notifications — receive real-time webhooks when data changes
• Authentication — connect user accounts with OAuth
• API reference — full endpoint documentation