List the most recent messages carrying a label, newest first. Defaults to INBOX. Supports unreadOnly. ${PAGINATION_NOTE}
AI agents call gmail_list_recent to retrieve information from Personal Gmail without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves and queries Gmail messages from specified labels (defaulting to INBOX) with optional filtering by read status. It performs no creation, modification, deletion, or execution of external operations. The blast radius is minimal—the worst outcome is exposure of email metadata/content already accessible to the account holder. This is a straightforward Read operation.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'gmail_list_recent' and description 'List the most recent messages carrying a label' indicate a retrieval operation with no side effects. The 'unreadOnly' filter and pagination support are typical of query operations.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
List the most recent messages carrying a label, newest first. Defaults to INBOX. Supports unreadOnly. ${PAGINATION_NOTE}. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Personal Gmail MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Personal Gmail MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for gmail_list_recent: 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 Personal Gmail. Nothing to install.
gmail_list_recent 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 gmail_list_recent 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 gmail_list_recent. 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.
gmail_list_recent is provided by the Personal Gmail MCP server (jaingxyz/personal-gmail-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Every MCP server has a record like this.
Type a name, get the same breakdown: verified identity, auth posture, risk grade, capabilities, recommended policy.
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