actual_categories_get
List all budget categories organized by category groups. Categories are spending/income buckets (e.g., Groceries, Rent, Salary) used for budgeting and transaction categorization. Returns both grouped view and flat list with category IDs, names, and group assignments.
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What actual_categories_get does on Actual
AI agents call actual_categories_get to retrieve information from Actual without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
Why actual_categories_get is rated Low
This tool queries and returns budget category metadata without creating, modifying, deleting, or executing operations. It is a straightforward data retrieval operation with no blast radius if called by an AI agent.
From the tool's definition Tool name contains 'get' and description states 'List all budget categories' and 'Returns... category IDs, names, and group assignments' — purely retrieving data with no modification or side effects.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs actual_categories_get safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Actual, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For actual_categories_get, this is the rule to start with:
actual_categories_get is read-only, so it stays allowed. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Actual, apply this rule, and every actual_categories_get call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about actual_categories_get
List all budget categories organized by category groups. Categories are spending/income buckets (e.g., Groceries, Rent, Salary) used for budgeting and transaction categorization. Returns both grouped view and flat list with category IDs, names, and group assignments. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Actual MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Actual MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for actual_categories_get: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Actual. Nothing to install.
actual_categories_get is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the actual_categories_get rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for actual_categories_get. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
actual_categories_get is provided by the Actual MCP server (actual-mcp-server). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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