Search email messages by subject, sender, body, or all fields (default: all). Returns headers only (no body).
AI agents call mail.search to retrieve information from Orchard without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
mail.search retrieves and queries email data without creating, modifying, deleting, executing code, or moving money. While email can contain sensitive information, the tool itself performs only a read operation. The restriction to headers (no body access) further limits exposure.
From the tool's definition Tool description states it 'Search[es] email messages' and 'Returns headers only (no body)' — purely a query operation with no side effects.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access mail.search gives an agent:
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 mail.search:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"mail.search": {}
}
}mail.search is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Search email messages by subject, sender, body, or all fields (default: all). Returns headers only (no body). It is categorised as a Read tool in the Orchard MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Orchard MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for mail.search: 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.
mail.search 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 mail.search 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 mail.search. 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.
mail.search 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.
Start from Orchard, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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65 Orchard tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.