Lists all shapes on a given slide with their ID, Name, and Type.
AI agents call list_shapes to retrieve information from PowerPoint MCP Server without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool queries and retrieves information about existing shapes in a presentation without modifying, creating, deleting, or executing any operations. It is a pure read operation with minimal blast radius if misused by an AI agent.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'list_shapes' and description 'Lists all shapes on a given slide' indicate retrieval of data with no side effects. Returns metadata (ID, Name, Type) only.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access list_shapes gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and PowerPoint MCP Server, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for list_shapes:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"list_shapes": {}
}
}list_shapes is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Lists all shapes on a given slide with their ID, Name, and Type. It is categorised as a Read tool in the PowerPoint MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the PowerPoint MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for list_shapes: 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 PowerPoint MCP Server. Nothing to install.
list_shapes 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 list_shapes 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 list_shapes. 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.
list_shapes is provided by the PowerPoint MCP Server MCP server (jenstangen1/pptx-xlsx-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from PowerPoint MCP Server, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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37 PowerPoint MCP Server tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.