Explore connections around a specific topic or document.
AI agents call explore_connections to retrieve information from Project Tessera without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves or queries relationship data from the local workspace memory system. It explores existing connections in the indexed documents and knowledge graph without creating, modifying, or destroying data. The action is purely informational and read-only, similar to traversing a graph structure or searching for related items. No side effects beyond standard query operations are indicated.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'explore_connections' and description 'Explore connections around a specific topic or document' indicate data retrieval and navigation within an existing knowledge graph/vector store, with no modification, deletion, or execution of external…
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access explore_connections gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Project Tessera, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for explore_connections:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"explore_connections": {}
}
}explore_connections is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Explore connections around a specific topic or document. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Project Tessera MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Project Tessera MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for explore_connections: 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 Project Tessera. Nothing to install.
explore_connections 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 explore_connections 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 explore_connections. 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.
explore_connections is provided by the Project Tessera MCP server (besslframework-stack/project-tessera). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Project Tessera, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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43 Project Tessera tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.