actual_entities_search
Find accounts, categories, or payees by a name pattern. Use this to resolve a partial or mistyped name to its entity (the fix for
This record as markdown: /tools/actual/actual-entities-search.md
What actual_entities_search does on Actual
AI agents call actual_entities_search 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_entities_search is rated Low
This tool performs a read-only search operation to resolve entities by name pattern matching. It has no side effects, does not modify data, and does not execute commands or trigger financial transactions. The blast radius of misuse is minimal — at worst, an AI agent retrieves information about financial entities, which poses no direct risk.
From the tool's definition Tool description states 'Find accounts, categories, or payees by a name pattern' — a search/query operation that retrieves data without modification.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs actual_entities_search 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_entities_search, this is the rule to start with:
actual_entities_search 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_entities_search call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about actual_entities_search
Find accounts, categories, or payees by a name pattern. Use this to resolve a partial or mistyped name to its entity (the fix for. 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_entities_search: 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_entities_search 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_entities_search 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_entities_search. 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_entities_search 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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