Read the contents of a note in the vault.
AI agents call read_note to retrieve information from Mcp Obsidian without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves note content without altering, executing, or deleting data. It is a pure query operation on an Obsidian vault, fitting the Read category. The low severity reflects minimal blast radius—an AI agent misusing this tool can only access existing notes, not modify or harm the vault. The high confidence reflects the clear and explicit nature of the read-only operation.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'read_note' and description 'Read the contents of a note in the vault' explicitly indicate data retrieval with no modification or side effects.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Read the contents of a note in the vault. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Mcp Obsidian MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Mcp Obsidian MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for read_note: 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 Mcp Obsidian. Nothing to install.
read_note 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 read_note 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 read_note. 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.
read_note is provided by the Mcp Obsidian MCP server (jkang8/mcp-obsidian). 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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