Low Risk

gmail_list_messages

List messages in the user

How to control gmail_list_messages ↓

AI agents call gmail_list_messages to retrieve information from Sage MCP without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.

Low Risk

This tool retrieves or lists email messages without creating, modifying, or deleting them. It is a read-only operation. Severity is medium rather than low because email messages often contain sensitive personal, financial, or business information; unauthorized listing could expose significant private data, though the blast radius is limited to the messages themselves without further actions.

From the tool's definition Tool name 'gmail_list_messages' and description 'List messages in the user' indicate a query/retrieval operation with no modification or deletion of data.

Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access gmail_list_messages gives an agent:

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Sage MCP, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for gmail_list_messages:

policy.json
{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "gmail_list_messages": {}
  }
}

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

  1. Create a free account and register Sage MCP — nothing to install.
  2. Add this policy — paste it, or build it visually.
  3. Point your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, anything) at your gateway URL.
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Go deeper

What does the gmail_list_messages tool do? +

List messages in the user. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Sage MCP MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.

How do I enforce a policy on gmail_list_messages? +

Register the Sage MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for gmail_list_messages: 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 Sage MCP. Nothing to install.

What risk level is gmail_list_messages? +

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

Can I rate-limit gmail_list_messages? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the gmail_list_messages 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 gmail_list_messages completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for gmail_list_messages. 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 gmail_list_messages? +

gmail_list_messages is provided by the Sage MCP server (sagemcp/sagemcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policy on every Sage MCP tool call.

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359 Sage MCP tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 42,500+ MCP servers.

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