List all folders/collections in your Mendeley library.
AI agents call mendeley_list_folders to retrieve information from Mendeley without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool queries and retrieves metadata about the structure of a user's Mendeley library (folders/collections) without creating, modifying, deleting, or executing any operations. It is a straightforward read operation with minimal risk—listing folders does not expose sensitive document contents and causes no state changes to the library.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'mendeley_list_folders' and description 'List all folders/collections in your Mendeley library' indicate a retrieval operation with no modification or side effects.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access mendeley_list_folders gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Mendeley, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for mendeley_list_folders:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"mendeley_list_folders": {}
}
}mendeley_list_folders is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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List all folders/collections in your Mendeley library. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Mendeley MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Mendeley MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for mendeley_list_folders: 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 Mendeley. Nothing to install.
mendeley_list_folders 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 mendeley_list_folders 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 mendeley_list_folders. 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.
mendeley_list_folders is provided by the Mendeley MCP server (pallaprolus/mendeley-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Mendeley, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
Free to start. No card required.
7 Mendeley tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.