Search emails in a mailbox. Returns message list with uid, from, to, subject, date, flags.
AI agents call mail_search to retrieve information from Shellgate without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
mail_search performs a read-only query operation on email data. It retrieves and returns email metadata without creating, modifying, deleting, or executing any actions. The tool has no side effects and poses minimal security risk when misused by an AI agent, as it cannot alter mailbox state or trigger external operations.
From the tool's definition Tool description explicitly states it 'Search emails in a mailbox' and 'Returns message list with uid, from, to, subject, date, flags' — a retrieval operation with no modification or deletion capability.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access mail_search gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Shellgate, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for mail_search:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"mail_search": {}
}
}mail_search is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Search emails in a mailbox. Returns message list with uid, from, to, subject, date, flags. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Shellgate MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Shellgate MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for mail_search: 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 Shellgate. Nothing to install.
mail_search 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_search 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_search. 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_search is provided by the Shellgate MCP server (matthiastjong/shellgate). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Shellgate, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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31 Shellgate tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.