Get a single message by ID. Formats:
AI agents call gmail.getMessage 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 fetches existing email data from Gmail without creating, modifying, deleting, or executing any actions. It has no side effects and poses minimal risk of misuse—the primary concern would be unauthorized access to sensitive email content, but that is an authentication/authorization issue rather than a tool-level risk. The limited scope (single message by ID) further reduces severity.
From the tool's definition gmail.getMessage retrieves a single message by ID with no modification, deletion, or execution capabilities. The verb 'Get' and the read-only nature of message retrieval indicate a data query operation.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Get a single message by ID. Formats:. 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.getMessage: 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.getMessage 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.getMessage 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.getMessage. 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.getMessage is provided by the Gmail MCP Server MCP server (shcallaway/gmail-mcp-server). 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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