AI agents call delete-mailbox to permanently remove resources in Apple Mail — typically in cleanup and lifecycle workflows. It does its job in a single call, and there is no undo.
Deleting a mailbox irreversibly removes all associated emails and cannot be reversed, matching the definition of Destructive. The blast radius is high—an AI agent could accidentally or maliciously delete entire email collections (e.g., archive, sent, or custom folders), resulting in permanent data loss. This is more severe than Write (which is reversible) or Read operations.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'delete-mailbox' indicates irreversible deletion of an entire mailbox. The server description states it 'allows AI assistants to read, send, search, and manage emails in Apple Mail on macOS.' The presence of sibling destructive tools…
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access delete-mailbox gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Apple Mail, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for delete-mailbox:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"hide": [
"delete-mailbox"
]
}delete-mailbox disappears from the agent's tool list entirely, and any attempt to call it is denied. The rest of the server keeps working.
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delete-mailbox. It is categorised as a Destructive tool in the Apple Mail MCP Server, which means it can permanently delete or destroy data. Block by default and require explicit approval.
Register the Apple Mail MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for delete-mailbox: 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 Mail. Nothing to install.
delete-mailbox is a Destructive tool with critical risk. Critical-risk tools should be blocked by default and only enabled with explicit human approval.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the delete-mailbox 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 delete-mailbox. 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.
delete-mailbox is provided by the Apple Mail MCP server (sweetrb/apple-mail-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 40 Apple Mail tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
Free to start. No card required.
40 Apple Mail tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 42,500+ MCP servers.