get-tags · Things App MCP: Risk & Policy

WHAT IT DOES

What get-tags does on Things App MCP

AI agents call get-tags to retrieve information from Things App MCP without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.

WHY IT NEEDS A POLICY

Why get-tags needs a policy

This tool retrieves tag information from the Things 3 application without creating, modifying, deleting, or executing any operations. It is a straightforward query operation that returns data with no side effects. The use of AppleScript/JXA for reading confirms it performs read-only access to the application's data.

From the tool's definition Tool name 'get-tags' and description 'Get all tags from Things' indicates data retrieval with no modification. Uses AppleScript/JXA for querying, which is non-destructive introspection of existing data.

Attacks that exploit this kind of access

Questions about get-tags

What does the get-tags tool do? +

Get all tags from Things. Uses AppleScript/JXA (macOS only). It is categorised as a Read tool in the Things App MCP MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.

How do I enforce a policy on get-tags? +

Register the Things App MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get-tags: 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 Things App MCP. Nothing to install.

What risk level is get-tags? +

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

Can I rate-limit get-tags? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the get-tags 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 get-tags completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for get-tags. 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 get-tags? +

get-tags is provided by the Things App MCP server (lucas-flatwhite/things-app-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.