capture_area
Capture a screenshot of a specific rectangular region of the screen. Coordinates are in screen pixels with origin at top-left. Requires Screen Recording permission.
This record as markdown: /tools/heznpc-airmcp/capture-area.md
What capture_area does on AirMCP
AI agents call capture_area to retrieve information from AirMCP without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
Why capture_area is rated Low
Screenshot capture is fundamentally a read operation—it observes and retrieves screen pixel data without side effects, modifications, or external command execution. While it requires Screen Recording permission (a security gate), the action itself is non-destructive and produces only data retrieval.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'capture_area' and description explicitly states it 'Capture[s] a screenshot of a specific rectangular region of the screen.' This is a read-only operation that retrieves visual data without modifying any state or executing commands.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs capture_area safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and AirMCP, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For capture_area, this is the rule to start with:
capture_area 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 AirMCP, apply this rule, and every capture_area call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about capture_area
Capture a screenshot of a specific rectangular region of the screen. Coordinates are in screen pixels with origin at top-left. Requires Screen Recording permission. It is categorised as a Read tool in the AirMCP MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Air MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for capture_area: 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 AirMCP. Nothing to install.
capture_area 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 capture_area 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 capture_area. 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.
capture_area is provided by the Air MCP server (airmcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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