AI agents use trash-email to create or update resources in Gmail MCP Server — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your Gmail MCP Server environment.
Moving an email to trash modifies the email's state and removes it from the inbox—a reversible but significant data modification. This falls under Write rather than Destructive because trash is typically recoverable. However, the tool is elevated to 'high' severity due to the potential for abuse: an agent could systematically trash important emails, causing significant disruption even if technically recoverable.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'trash-email' indicates moving emails to trash. Server description mentions 'managing emails through tools like send-email, trash-email, get-unread-emails, and read-email.' While moving to trash is technically reversible (items can be recovered from…
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access trash-email gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Gmail MCP Server, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for trash-email:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"trash-email": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "trash-email_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 30,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}trash-email 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.
Free to start. No card required.
trash-email. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Gmail MCP Server MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.
Register the Gmail MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for trash-email: 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 Gmail MCP Server. Nothing to install.
trash-email 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 trash-email 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 trash-email. 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.
trash-email is provided by the Gmail MCP Server MCP server (jasonsum/gmail-mcp-server). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Gmail MCP Server, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
Free to start. No card required.
6 Gmail MCP Server tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.