Get unread emails across all mailboxes
AI agents call mail_get_unread 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 queries and retrieves email data without altering, deleting, or executing operations. It is a non-destructive read operation analogous to fetching or listing. The blast radius of misuse is minimal — an AI agent could only retrieve sensitive email content, not modify or delete it.
From the tool's definition Tool description states 'Get unread emails across all mailboxes' — a retrieval operation with no modification or side effects.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Get unread emails across all mailboxes. 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_unread: 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_unread 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_unread 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_unread. 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_unread 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.
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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