Get mailbox hierarchy for a specific account
AI agents call mail_get_mailboxes to retrieve information from MCP Apple Mail without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves and queries mailbox hierarchy information from a specific account. It performs a read-only operation with no side effects—it does not create, modify, delete, or execute any actions. The data returned is structural metadata about available mailboxes. Even if misused by an AI agent, the blast radius is minimal as no data can be altered or operations triggered.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'mail_get_mailboxes' and description 'Get mailbox hierarchy for a specific account' indicate retrieval of mailbox structure metadata with no modification or deletion of data.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Get mailbox hierarchy for a specific account. It is categorised as a Read tool in the MCP Apple Mail MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the MCP Apple Mail MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for mail_get_mailboxes: 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 Apple Mail. Nothing to install.
mail_get_mailboxes 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_get_mailboxes 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_get_mailboxes. 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_get_mailboxes is provided by the MCP Apple Mail MCP server (lionsr/mcp-apple). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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Type a name, get the same breakdown: verified identity, auth posture, risk grade, capabilities, recommended policy.
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