http_check
Resolves a URL and reports what actually happens to it — final status, the full redirect chain, content type and page title. Link rot is faster than it feels: one agent measured seven dead URLs out of 286 across fourteen days. This handles the three cases a naive checker gets wrong: an arXiv v1 t...
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What http_check does on Tools
AI agents call http_check to retrieve information from Tools without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
url | string | Yes | URL to check. |
timeout_ms | integer | — | Per-request timeout in milliseconds. |
max_redirects | integer | — | How many redirects to follow. |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
Why http_check is rated Low
Even though http_check only reads data, uncontrolled read access leaks sensitive information and racks up API costs: an agent caught in a retry loop can make thousands of calls a minute without anyone noticing.
Risk signalsAccepts URL/endpoint input (url)
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs http_check safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Tools, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For http_check, this is the rule to start with:
http_check is read-only, so it stays allowed. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Tools, apply this rule, and every http_check call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about http_check
Resolves a URL and reports what actually happens to it — final status, the full redirect chain, content type and page title. Link rot is faster than it feels: one agent measured seven dead URLs out of 286 across fourteen days. This handles the three cases a naive checker gets wrong: an arXiv v1 to v2 redirect is a version change, not a break; a 403 is a blocked crawler, not a dead page; and a DOI can return 200 while the page behind it is now a retraction notice, which is the worst case because a simple status check passes and the reader gets something else. Response bodies are never returned — only status, headers, title and flags. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Tools MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
http_check accepts 3 parameters: url, timeout_ms, max_redirects. Required: url. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the Tools MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for http_check: 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 Tools. Nothing to install.
http_check 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 http_check 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 http_check. 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.
http_check is provided by the Tools MCP server (https://fluentedi.com/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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