actual_notes_get
Get the note attached to an entity in Actual Budget.
This record as markdown: /tools/actual/actual-notes-get.md
What actual_notes_get does on Actual
AI agents call actual_notes_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_notes_get is rated Low
This tool retrieves notes without modifying, deleting, or executing operations. It is a read-only query operation with minimal security risk, as it only fetches existing data. Even in a financial management context, note retrieval poses no direct financial or destructive threat.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'actual_notes_get' and description 'Get the note attached to an entity' indicate a retrieval operation with no side effects.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs actual_notes_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_notes_get, this is the rule to start with:
actual_notes_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_notes_get call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about actual_notes_get
Get the note attached to an entity in Actual Budget. 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_notes_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_notes_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_notes_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_notes_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_notes_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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