Get a complete list of all installed applications on your Android device. Automatically connects to the first available device if no device_id is specified. Returns package names for all system and user-installed apps.
AI agents call get_installed_apps to retrieve information from MCP Android Agent without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This is a read-only query that retrieves information about installed apps. It does not modify device state, execute code, delete data, or involve financial operations. The blast radius is minimal: an attacker could enumerate installed apps to identify attack surface, but cannot directly harm the device or user data through this tool alone.
From the tool's definition The tool "Get a complete list of all installed applications" returns package names with "no side effects" - it queries device state without modifying, creating, deleting, or executing operations.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access get_installed_apps gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and MCP Android Agent, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for get_installed_apps:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"get_installed_apps": {}
}
}get_installed_apps is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Get a complete list of all installed applications on your Android device. Automatically connects to the first available device if no device_id is specified. Returns package names for all system and user-installed apps. It is categorised as a Read tool in the MCP Android Agent MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the MCP Android Agent MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get_installed_apps: 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 MCP Android Agent. Nothing to install.
get_installed_apps 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 get_installed_apps 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 get_installed_apps. 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.
get_installed_apps is provided by the MCP Android Agent MCP server (nim444/mcp-android-server-python). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 28 MCP Android Agent tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
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28 MCP Android Agent tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 42,500+ MCP servers.