Medium Risk

save-attachment

save-attachment

How to control save-attachment ↓

AI agents use save-attachment to create or update resources in Apple Mail — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your Apple Mail environment.

Medium Risk

Saving attachments creates new files on the user's filesystem, which is a reversible Write operation. While not destructive, it modifies local state and could be exploited to write malicious files if an agent mishandles untrusted email attachments. Confidence is slightly reduced because the description is empty, leaving attachment handling details unspecified.

From the tool's definition Tool name 'save-attachment' indicates file creation/writing to disk. Server context confirms interaction with Apple Mail on macOS via AppleScript, enabling local file system modifications.

Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access save-attachment 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 save-attachment:

policy.json
{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "save-attachment": {
      "limits": [
        {
          "counter": "save-attachment_rate",
          "window": "minute",
          "max": 30,
          "scope": "grant"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

save-attachment stays usable, but capped — an agent stuck in a loop can't make hundreds of changes a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.

  1. Create a free account and register Apple Mail — 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.
LIMIT THIS TOOL →

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Go deeper

What does the save-attachment tool do? +

save-attachment. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Apple Mail MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.

How do I enforce a policy on save-attachment? +

Register the Apple Mail MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for save-attachment: 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.

What risk level is save-attachment? +

save-attachment is a Write tool with medium risk. Write tools should be rate-limited to prevent accidental bulk modifications.

Can I rate-limit save-attachment? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the save-attachment 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 save-attachment completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for save-attachment. 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 save-attachment? +

save-attachment 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.

Enforce policy on every Apple Mail tool call.

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.

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