list-notifications

THE RISK

Low Risk

Why list-notifications needs a policy

This tool queries and returns GitHub notifications belonging to the authenticated user. It performs a read-only operation that retrieves data without creating, modifying, deleting, or executing any actions. The blast radius of misuse is minimal—an attacker would only gain visibility into the user's notifications, which is information the user already has access to. This is a standard data retrieval pattern.

From the tool's definition Tool name 'list-notifications' and description 'List GitHub notifications for the authenticated user' indicate a retrieval operation with no modification or side effects.

Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access list-notifications gives an agent:

POLICY

How to control list-notifications

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and GitHub Notifications MCP Server, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for list-notifications:

policy.json

{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "list-notifications": {}
  }
}

list-notifications is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.

Create a free account and register GitHub Notifications MCP Server — nothing to install.
Add this policy — paste it, or build it visually.
Point your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, anything) at your gateway URL.

CAP THIS TOOL →

Free to start. No card required.

EXPLORE

Related tools and policies

More GitHub Notifications MCP Server tools

Destructive delete-thread-subscription Unsubscribe from a GitHub notification thread Write manage-repo-subscription Manage repository subscription settings including fine-grained notification preferences Write mark-notifications-read Mark GitHub notifications as read Write mark-repo-notifications-read Mark GitHub notifications for a specific repository as read Write mark-thread-done Mark a GitHub notification thread as done Write mark-thread-read Mark a GitHub notification thread as read Write set-thread-subscription Subscribe to a GitHub notification thread Read get-thread Get information about a GitHub notification thread

All 11 GitHub Notifications MCP Server tools →

Read tools on other servers

M-Team MCP Server get_torrent_detail YouTube MCP Server search_channel Android Forensics ADB MCP Server parse_browser_history 0xarchive web3_challenge

Go deeper

The MCP Attack Database → Documented attack patterns against MCP deployments — and the policies that stop them.
Data exfiltration → How read access becomes an exfiltration channel when chained with untrusted content.
MCP token cost → What connecting this server costs in context-window tokens on every request.
Rate Limiting MCP Tool Calls: A Practical Guide →
MCP Security: Why Prompt Guardrails Aren't Enough →

FAQ

Questions about list-notifications

What does the list-notifications tool do? +

List GitHub notifications for the authenticated user. It is categorised as a Read tool in the GitHub Notifications MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.

How do I enforce a policy on list-notifications? +

Register the GitHub Notifications MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for list-notifications: 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 GitHub Notifications MCP Server. Nothing to install.

What risk level is list-notifications? +

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

Can I rate-limit list-notifications? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the list-notifications 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 list-notifications completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for list-notifications. 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 list-notifications? +

list-notifications is provided by the GitHub Notifications MCP Server MCP server (mcollina/mcp-github-notifications). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policy on every GitHub Notifications MCP Server tool call.

Start from GitHub Notifications MCP Server, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.

CHECK YOUR STACK →