contacts.read_contact

THE RISK

Low Risk

Why contacts.read_contact needs a policy

This tool retrieves contact information by ID with no side effects. It is a pure read operation that queries existing data without creating, modifying, deleting, or executing anything. The low severity reflects that contact metadata exposure has limited blast radius compared to destructive or financial operations.

From the tool's definition Tool name explicitly states 'read_contact'; description states 'Read full details for a contact by ID' and lists retrieval operations only (emails, phones, postal addresses, URLs, birthday, job info). No modification, deletion, or execution capability.

Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access contacts.read_contact gives an agent:

POLICY

How to control contacts.read_contact

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Orchard, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for contacts.read_contact:

policy.json

{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "contacts.read_contact": {}
  }
}

contacts.read_contact is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.

Create a free account and register Orchard — nothing to install.
Add this policy — paste it, or build it visually.
Point your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, anything) at your gateway URL.

CAP THIS TOOL →

Free to start. No card required.

EXPLORE

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Go deeper

The MCP Attack Database → Documented attack patterns against MCP deployments — and the policies that stop them.
Data exfiltration → How read access becomes an exfiltration channel when chained with untrusted content.
MCP token cost → What connecting this server costs in context-window tokens on every request.
Rate Limiting MCP Tool Calls: A Practical Guide →
MCP Security: Why Prompt Guardrails Aren't Enough →

FAQ

Questions about contacts.read_contact

What does the contacts.read_contact tool do? +

Read full details for a contact by ID (from contacts.search). Includes emails, phones, postal addresses, URLs, birthday, and job info. Note: the. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Orchard MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.

How do I enforce a policy on contacts.read_contact? +

Register the Orchard MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for contacts.read_contact: 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 Orchard. Nothing to install.

What risk level is contacts.read_contact? +

contacts.read_contact is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.

Can I rate-limit contacts.read_contact? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the contacts.read_contact 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.

How do I block contacts.read_contact completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for contacts.read_contact. 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.

What MCP server provides contacts.read_contact? +

contacts.read_contact is provided by the Orchard MCP server (l22-io/orchard-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policy on every Orchard tool call.

Start from Orchard, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.

CHECK YOUR STACK →