Mimecast API Patterns

Mimecast MCP Tools & API Patterns

Overview

The Mimecast MCP server provides AI tool integration with the Mimecast Email Security platform. It covers message tracking, threat intelligence (TTP), email delivery queue management, and audit event access. Authentication is via OAuth 2.0 client credentials — the MCP Gateway handles token acquisition automatically using the injected client ID and secret.

Connection & Authentication

OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials

Mimecast uses OAuth 2.0 client credentials flow. The MCP Gateway injects credentials via headers:

Header	Description
X-Mimecast-Client-ID	OAuth 2.0 Client ID
X-Mimecast-Client-Secret	OAuth 2.0 Client Secret
X-Mimecast-Region	Regional API endpoint key (us, eu, de, ca, za, au)

The server exchanges the client ID and secret for a bearer token at startup and refreshes it as needed. Individual tool calls do not require manual token management.

Environment Variables (self-hosted):

export MIMECAST_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"
export MIMECAST_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"
export MIMECAST_REGION="us"

IMPORTANT: Never hardcode credentials. Always use environment variables or the MCP Gateway.

Regional Endpoints

Mimecast tenants are hosted in specific regions. Using the wrong region returns empty results or authentication failures.

Region Key	Base URL
us	https://api.services.mimecast.com
eu	https://eu-api.mimecast.com
de	https://de-api.mimecast.com
ca	https://ca-api.mimecast.com
za	https://za-api.mimecast.com
au	https://au-api.mimecast.com

To identify the correct region, log into the Mimecast Administration Console and check the URL — the subdomain indicates the region (us, eu, de, etc.).

Available MCP Tools

Message Tracking

Tool	Description
mimecast_find_message	Search messages by sender, recipient, subject, date range
mimecast_get_message_info	Get detailed metadata for a specific message
mimecast_hold_message	Place a message on hold (prevent delivery)
mimecast_release_message	Release a held message for delivery

Threat Intelligence

Tool	Description
mimecast_get_threat_incidents	List threat remediation incidents
mimecast_get_ttp_logs	Get TTP logs — URL clicks, attachment checks, impersonation
mimecast_get_audit_events	Retrieve audit log entries

Queue Management

Tool	Description
mimecast_get_queue	Get email delivery queue status

Pagination

Most Mimecast list endpoints use cursor-based pagination:

• Responses include a meta.pagination object with pageSize, totalCount, and optionally next
• Pass the next cursor value as the pageToken parameter on the next call
• Continue until meta.pagination.next is absent or null

Example pagination response:

{
  "meta": {
    "status": 200,
    "pagination": {
      "pageSize": 25,
      "totalCount": 142,
      "next": "eyJwYWdlIjoyLCJwYWdlU2l6ZSI6MjV9"
    }
  },
  "data": []
}

Pagination workflow:

1. Call the tool with no pageToken
2. Check meta.pagination.next in the response
3. If present, call again with pageToken set to that value
4. Repeat until next is absent

Rate Limiting

Mimecast enforces per-endpoint rate limits. Specific limits vary by subscription tier.

• HTTP 429 responses indicate rate limiting
• Use exponential backoff before retrying
• Apply date range and sender/recipient filters to reduce result set sizes
• Avoid broad sweeping queries — target specific messages or time windows

Error Handling

Common Error Codes

Code	Meaning	Resolution
400	Bad Request	Check required parameters and date format (ISO 8601)
401	Unauthorized	Verify Client ID and Secret; check token expiry
403	Forbidden	Insufficient OAuth scopes for the operation
404	Not Found	Message ID or resource doesn't exist
429	Rate Limited	Wait and retry with backoff
500	Server Error	Retry; contact Mimecast support if persistent

Error Response Format

{
  "meta": {
    "status": 401,
    "message": "Invalid credentials"
  },
  "fail": [
    {
      "errors": [
        {
          "code": "err_auth_invalid",
          "message": "The provided client credentials are invalid",
          "retryable": false
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Wrong Region

If requests succeed but return empty data arrays when results are expected, the region is likely incorrect. Verify the tenant's region and update the MIMECAST_REGION configuration.

Best Practices

• Always specify date ranges when searching messages — open-ended queries are slow and may be rate limited
• Use sender and recipient filters together to narrow results quickly
• Check the meta.status field in every response — Mimecast sometimes returns HTTP 200 with error status in the body
• Prefer targeted searches over paginating through all messages
• Store the OAuth token and reuse it until near expiry rather than fetching a new one per call
• Log the requestId from response headers for support escalations

Related Skills

• message-tracking - Search and manage messages
• threat-intelligence - TTP logs and threat incidents
• queue-management - Delivery queue monitoring