Perform comprehensive research on a topic. Decomposes your query into sub-queries, searches and reads multiple sources in parallel, then synthesizes a structured report with citations. Best for open-ended or comparative questions that need coverage from many angles. For simple factual lookups, us...
Risk signalsAccepts freeform code/query input (query)
Part of the Sofya server.
Free to start. No card required.
AI agents call research to retrieve information from Sofya without modifying any data. This is common in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows where the agent needs context before taking action. Because read operations don't change state, they are generally safe to allow without restrictions -- but you may still want rate limits to control API costs.
Even though research only reads data, uncontrolled read access can leak sensitive information or rack up API costs. An agent caught in a retry loop could make thousands of calls per minute. A rate limit gives you a safety net without blocking legitimate use.
Read-only tools are safe to allow by default. No rate limit needed unless you want to control costs.
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"research": {}
}
}See the full Sofya policy for all 4 tools.
These attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access research gives an agent. Each links to the full case and the policy that stops it:
Other read tools across the catalogue. The same approach applies to each: allow, with a rate cap to control cost.
Perform comprehensive research on a topic. Decomposes your query into sub-queries, searches and reads multiple sources in parallel, then synthesizes a structured report with citations. Best for open-ended or comparative questions that need coverage from many angles. For simple factual lookups, use search instead (optionally with include_answer=true for cheap synthesis). Costs 25 credits. Returns: query, report (structured markdown with citations), sources (array of {title, url, fetched}), sub_queries (the decomposed queries), credits_used, credits_remaining, usage (token counts). Args: query: The research question or topic topic: "general" (default) or "news" (prioritize recent news articles) freshness: Filter by recency - "day", "week", "month", "year", or "YYYY-MM-DD:YYYY-MM-DD" max_sources: Maximum number of sources to use, 5-30 (default 20). It is categorised as a Read tool in the Sofya MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Sofya MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for research: 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 Sofya. Nothing to install.
research 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 research 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 research. 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.
research is provided by the Sofya MCP server (https://sofya.co/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 4 Sofya tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
Free to start. No card required.
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