FIND PEOPLE/CONTACTS ONLY. Search for people by name or email address in organization directory. Returns contact information (name, email, etc.). DO NOT use this to search email messages - use search_emails for that. Use this when you need to find information about a person, such as
AI agents call search_contacts to retrieve information from Microsoft Graph MCP Server without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves contact data without any side effects or ability to modify organizational data. The search operation is purely informational, making it a Read category tool with low severity given that contact discovery in an organization directory is typically low-risk information exposure.
From the tool's definition Tool explicitly searches for people/contacts in organization directory and returns contact information (name, email, etc.). Described as 'FIND PEOPLE/CONTACTS ONLY' with read-only operations—no modification, deletion, or execution of commands.
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 Microsoft Graph MCP Server, 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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FIND PEOPLE/CONTACTS ONLY. Search for people by name or email address in organization directory. Returns contact information (name, email, etc.). DO NOT use this to search email messages - use search_emails for that. Use this when you need to find information about a person, such as. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Microsoft Graph MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Microsoft Graph MCP Server 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 Microsoft Graph MCP Server. 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 Microsoft Graph MCP Server MCP server (marlonluo2018/microsoft_graph_mcp_server). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Microsoft Graph MCP Server, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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19 Microsoft Graph MCP Server tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.