Privacy policy

Who we are

This policy covers the Chord desktop email client for macOS, Windows and Linux, and this website. “Chord”, “we” and “us” mean the makers of Chord. You can reach us at hello@chordmail.app.

What Chord accesses in your Google account, and why

When you connect a Google account, Chord requests the https://mail.google.com/ scope. Chord uses it only to read, send, organise and sync your mail in the desktop app:

• Read: download your messages, attachments and labels so you can read and search them, including older mail and searches run on Gmail's side.
• Send: send the emails you write, when you press send.
• Organise: archive, trash, star, mark read or unread, and apply Gmail labels when you do those things in Chord.
• Sync: keep Chord and Gmail in step in both directions.

Chord connects to Gmail directly over IMAP and SMTP, and this scope is the one Google requires for that. Chord doesn't use your Google data for anything else.

Where your data is stored

Everything Chord keeps is stored only on your device:

• Mail (messages, drafts, labels, search index, and AI readings if you use AI) is kept in a local SQLite database in Chord's data folder. Messages with attachments also keep their original file there, so attachments open offline.
• Sign-in tokens, passwords and your OpenRouter key are kept in your operating system's keychain (macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Manager, or Secret Service on Linux). If no keychain is available, they go in a file in the data folder that only your user account can read, and the app tells you so.

There are no Chord servers. Chord the company never receives, stores or sees Google user data, or any other mail or account data. We have no copy of your mail and can't recover it for you.

Who your data is shared with

Chord shares your data only in these cases, and only as part of features you use:

• Your own mail provider. Chord exchanges mail with your provider (for example Google) over IMAP and SMTP. This is how mail is fetched, sent and synced.
• OpenRouter, only if you turn AI on. AI is off by default. If you turn it on, Chord sends message content to OpenRouter using your own API key, so OpenRouter and the model you choose can triage your mail, draft replies, answer your questions and run the AI tasks you start. AI tasks also send search queries to OpenRouter's web search to find who to contact. You can switch AI off any time in Settings → AI. While it's off, nothing is sent to any AI service.
• People you email. Messages you send, including ones an AI task drafted, go to their recipients when you press send. Chord never sends on its own.
• Agents you connect. Chord has a local API and MCP server that only you can turn on, by creating an agent token in Settings → Agents. An agent you connect (for example Claude Desktop or your own script) can read and act on the mail you allow it to, within the scopes and visibility you set. The API listens on your computer only, every call is logged in the app, and it refuses all requests while AI is off. Revoke a token at any time in Settings → Agents.
• Senders, when you ask. If you choose to load remote images in a message, the sender's server sees that request. If you unsubscribe from a list in one key, Chord contacts that list's unsubscribe address for you.

We don't share, sell or transfer your data to anyone else.

What Chord doesn't do

• No ads, and no use of your data for advertising.
• No selling of your data.
• No use of your data to train AI or machine-learning models, by us or for anyone else.
• No analytics, telemetry or tracking in the app.
• Remote images and tracking pixels in emails are blocked by default.
• No person at Chord reads your mail. We can't: it never reaches us.

Microsoft accounts

Microsoft accounts (Outlook, Hotmail, Microsoft 365) are handled the same way as Google accounts. Chord uses its access only to read, send, organise and sync your mail in the desktop app. Mail is stored only on your device and tokens in your keychain, and the same sharing rules, deletion steps and promises on this page apply. To revoke access, go to account.live.com/consent/Manage for a personal account, or myapps.microsoft.com or your administrator for a work or school account.

Deleting your data

Because your data lives only on your device, you delete it there:

• Remove one account: in Chord, go to Settings → Accounts and choose Remove account. This deletes that account's mail, drafts and search index from the database, and its sign-in token or password from your keychain.
• Remove everything: quit Chord and delete its data folder. This also removes saved message files and attachments. The folder is:
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/app.chordmail
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\app.chordmail
  • Linux: ~/.local/share/app.chordmail
  Then uninstall the app. Sign-in tokens and your OpenRouter key live in your keychain, not in that folder: remove your accounts in Chord first, or delete the Chord entries in your keychain app.

Deleting data in Chord doesn't delete anything from your mail provider. Your mail stays in your Gmail or other account.

Revoking access

You can revoke Chord's access to your Google account at any time at https://myaccount.google.com/permissions. After that, Chord can no longer reach your Gmail. Mail it already downloaded stays on your device until you delete it as described above.

This website

This website sets no cookies and runs no analytics or tracking scripts. It is hosted on Vercel, which keeps standard server logs (such as IP address and pages requested) to run and protect the service.

Changes and contact

If we change this policy, we'll update this page and the effective date at the top. Questions or requests: hello@chordmail.app.

See also the terms of service.