SEARCH EMAIL MESSAGES ONLY. Search or list email messages by keywords, sender, subject, or body. Returns matching email messages with summary information. DO NOT use this to find people/contacts - use search_contacts for that. If no search_type and query are provided, lists emails within the spec...
AI agents call search_emails 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 performs read-only operations on email data. It searches, lists, and retrieves email messages based on search criteria (keywords, sender, subject, body) and time ranges. There are no side effects, no data modifications, and no irreversible actions.
From the tool's definition Tool description explicitly states it "SEARCH[ES] EMAIL MESSAGES ONLY" and "Returns matching email messages with summary information." No modification, deletion, or execution capabilities are mentioned. The tool retrieves and queries existing email data.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access search_emails 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_emails:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"search_emails": {}
}
}search_emails is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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SEARCH EMAIL MESSAGES ONLY. Search or list email messages by keywords, sender, subject, or body. Returns matching email messages with summary information. DO NOT use this to find people/contacts - use search_contacts for that. If no search_type and query are provided, lists emails within the specified time range. All time parameters use your local timezone. PARAMETER PRECEDENCE (highest to lowest): 1) time_range (overrides all other time parameters), 2) start_date/end_date (overrides days), 3) days (used only if no other time parameters provided). IMPORTANT FOR OLD EMAILS: The. 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_emails: 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_emails 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_emails 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_emails. 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_emails 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.