AI agents call search-notes to retrieve information from Apple Notes without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool searches and retrieves note data from a local Apple Notes database. It has no capability to create, modify, delete, or execute arbitrary operations. The operation is a standard data retrieval with no side effects. Severity is low because even if misused by an agent, the worst outcome is reading sensitive notes—no data loss or external impact occurs.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'search-notes' and description 'Search through notes' indicate a query operation that retrieves data without modification. Sibling tools 'get-all-notes' and 'read-note' confirm this server provides read-only access to Apple Notes database.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access search-notes gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Apple Notes, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for search-notes:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"search-notes": {}
}
}search-notes is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Search through notes. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Apple Notes MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Apple Notes MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for search-notes: 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 Apple Notes. Nothing to install.
search-notes 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 search-notes 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 search-notes. 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.
search-notes is provided by the Apple Notes MCP server (sirmews/apple-notes-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 3 Apple Notes tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
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3 Apple Notes tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 42,500+ MCP servers.