Configure email account. Call this when the user provides their email and app-specific password.
AI agents use configure_email_imap to create or update resources in Apple Shortcuts — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your Apple Shortcuts environment.
This tool modifies email account settings by accepting credentials (email address and app-specific password), which is a reversible Write operation. It does not delete data (not Destructive), execute arbitrary commands (not Execute), or move money (not Financial). However, the sensitivity of handling authentication credentials and the potential for account misconfiguration elevates severity to high.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'configure_email_imap' and description 'Configure email account' indicate creation or modification of email configuration settings.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access configure_email_imap gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Apple Shortcuts, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for configure_email_imap:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"configure_email_imap": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "configure_email_imap_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 30,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}configure_email_imap stays usable, but capped — an agent stuck in a loop can't make hundreds of changes a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Configure email account. Call this when the user provides their email and app-specific password. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Apple Shortcuts MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.
Register the Apple Shortcuts MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for configure_email_imap: 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 Apple Shortcuts. Nothing to install.
configure_email_imap is a Write tool with medium risk. Write tools should be rate-limited to prevent accidental bulk modifications.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the configure_email_imap 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 configure_email_imap. 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.
configure_email_imap is provided by the Apple Shortcuts MCP server (@mindstone/mcp-server-apple-shortcuts). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Apple Shortcuts, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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423 Apple Shortcuts tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.