Search WhatsApp contacts by name or phone number.
AI agents call search_contacts to retrieve information from Mcp Whatsapp Web without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
The tool performs a read-only search operation to retrieve contact data. It has no side effects, does not modify data, and does not execute commands or trigger external operations. While it accesses user contact information (a sensitivity consideration), the action itself is purely retrieval.
From the tool's definition Tool description states 'Search WhatsApp contacts by name or phone number.' This is a query/search operation that retrieves contact information without modifying, deleting, or executing external operations.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access search_contacts gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Mcp Whatsapp Web, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for search_contacts:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"search_contacts": {}
}
}search_contacts is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Search WhatsApp contacts by name or phone number. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Mcp Whatsapp Web MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Mcp Whatsapp Web MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for search_contacts: 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 Whatsapp Web. Nothing to install.
search_contacts 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 search_contacts 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 search_contacts. 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.
search_contacts is provided by the Mcp Whatsapp Web MCP server (mario-andreschak/mcp-whatsapp-web). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Mcp Whatsapp Web, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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16 Mcp Whatsapp Web tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.