8 tools. 1 can modify or destroy data without limits.
1 write tool that can modify data. Rate limits recommended.
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Execute tools (deep_researcher_start) trigger processes with side effects. Builds, notifications, workflows — all fired without throttling.
Intercept sits between your agent and Exa. Every tool call checked against your policy before it executes — so your agent can do its job without breaking things.
npx -y @policylayer/intercept scan -- npx -y @exa-labs/exa-mcp-server company_research_exa:
rules:
- rate_limit: 60/minute Controls API costs and prevents retry loops from exhausting upstream rate limits.
The Exa server is primarily read-only with 7 read tools. While it cannot modify data, an agent in a retry loop can make thousands of API calls per minute, exhausting rate limits and running up costs. Rate limiting is still recommended.
8 tools across 1 categories: Read. 7 are read-only. 1 can modify, create, or delete data.
One line change. Instead of running the Exa server directly, prefix it with Intercept: intercept -c exa.yaml -- npx -y @@exa-labs/exa-mcp-server. Download a pre-built policy from policylayer.com/policies/exa and adjust the limits to match your use case.
Set budgets, approvals, and hard limits across MCP servers.
npx -y @policylayer/intercept init