Get contacts created or modified within a date range
AI agents call get_recent_contacts to retrieve information from macOS Contacts MCP without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves contact information filtered by date range but performs no writes, deletions, or external operations. It is a passive query operation that only reads existing data from the macOS Contacts app. The low severity reflects minimal risk even if misused—an AI agent querying recent contacts poses no data loss or irreversible harm.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'get_recent_contacts' and description 'Get contacts created or modified within a date range' indicate data retrieval with no modification capability.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access get_recent_contacts gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and macOS Contacts MCP, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for get_recent_contacts:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"get_recent_contacts": {}
}
}get_recent_contacts is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Get contacts created or modified within a date range. It is categorised as a Read tool in the macOS Contacts MCP MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the macOS Contacts MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get_recent_contacts: 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 macOS Contacts MCP. Nothing to install.
get_recent_contacts 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 get_recent_contacts 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 get_recent_contacts. 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.
get_recent_contacts is provided by the macOS Contacts MCP server (jcontini/macos-contacts-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from macOS Contacts MCP, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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5 macOS Contacts MCP tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.