Get current inbox statistics including total messages, unread count, starred count, and important message count.
AI agents call gmail_inbox_stats to retrieve information from Gmail MCP Server without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool only retrieves and queries inbox metadata statistics without any side effects. It does not create, modify, delete, or execute operations. The data returned is informational summaries of existing inbox state. Misuse by an AI agent would pose minimal risk—at worst, an agent could gain visibility into inbox metrics, but cannot take actions that affect email data or user accounts.
From the tool's definition Tool name and description indicate it 'Get[s] current inbox statistics' with no modification capabilities.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Get current inbox statistics including total messages, unread count, starred count, and important message count. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Gmail MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Gmail MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for gmail_inbox_stats: 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 Gmail MCP Server. Nothing to install.
gmail_inbox_stats 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 gmail_inbox_stats 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 gmail_inbox_stats. 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.
gmail_inbox_stats is provided by the Gmail MCP Server MCP server (murphy360/mcp_gmail). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Every MCP server has a record like this.
Type a name, get the same breakdown: verified identity, auth posture, risk grade, capabilities, recommended policy.
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