Low Risk

search_nearby

search_nearby

How to control search_nearby ↓

What search_nearby does on Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Base Retrieval MCP Server

AI agents call search_nearby to retrieve information from Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Base Retrieval MCP Server without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.

Low Risk

Why search_nearby needs a policy

Search operations are non-destructive queries that retrieve data without side effects. Even though the description is uninformative, the tool name and server purpose (knowledge base retrieval) strongly indicate a Read category operation.

From the tool's definition Tool name 'search_nearby' suggests a search/query operation. The description is empty, limiting certainty.

Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access search_nearby gives an agent:

How to control search_nearby

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Base Retrieval MCP Server, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for search_nearby:

policy.json
{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "search_nearby": {}
  }
}

search_nearby is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.

  1. Create a free account and register Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Base Retrieval MCP Server — 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.
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Related tools and policies

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Questions about search_nearby

What does the search_nearby tool do? +

search_nearby. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Base Retrieval MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.

How do I enforce a policy on search_nearby? +

Register the Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Base Retrieval MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for search_nearby: 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 Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Base Retrieval MCP Server. Nothing to install.

What risk level is search_nearby? +

search_nearby is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.

Can I rate-limit search_nearby? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the search_nearby 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 search_nearby completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for search_nearby. 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 search_nearby? +

search_nearby is provided by the Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Base Retrieval MCP Server MCP server (awslabs.bedrock-kb-retrieval-mcp-server). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policy on every Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Base Retrieval MCP Server tool call.

Start from Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Base Retrieval MCP Server, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.

Free to start. No card required.

805 Amazon Bedrock Knowledge Base Retrieval MCP Server tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.

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