ask_legal
Request fixed legacy Themis source/citation records and attach a proposed Laws & Regulations agent/source/synthesis plan whose routes are planned_not_run. Check the law uses fixed legacy provider-record retrieval, but returned records do not prove exact citation identity, relevance, authority, or...
This record as markdown: /tools/com-meta-council-decision-intelligence/ask-legal.md
What ask_legal does on Meta Council
AI agents call ask_legal to retrieve information from Meta Council 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
context | string | — | Optional factual context; treated as unverified input. The normalized question plus context must fit 2,000 characters total. |
domains | array | — | Optional domain hints such as OSHA, building_codes, or sports_regulation. |
quality | string | — | Policy for proposed, unexecuted model-quality and reasoning-effort routes. |
question | string | Yes | Laws or regulations research question (no credentials or secrets). After normalized context is appended, the combined provider question must fit 2,000 character |
jurisdiction | string | — | Request hint forwarded to the legacy provider; it does not prove corpus coverage. |
max_sections | integer | — | Optional maximum number of provider-returned source/citation records. |
research_mode | string | — | Fixed legacy provider-record retrieval or an explicit request for fail-closed, neutral Themis generation. |
model_overrides | object | — | Optional model-id overrides for proposed, unexecuted agent routes. |
requested_agents | array | — | Up to seven catalog agent additions for the proposed plan; one of the eight total agent slots is reserved for its baseline agent. |
reasoning_effort_overrides | object | — | Optional effort overrides for proposed, unexecuted agent routes. |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
Why ask_legal is rated Low
Even though ask_legal 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 signalsHigh parameter count (10 properties)
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs ask_legal safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Meta Council, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For ask_legal, this is the rule to start with:
ask_legal 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 Meta Council, apply this rule, and every ask_legal call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about ask_legal
Request fixed legacy Themis source/citation records and attach a proposed Laws & Regulations agent/source/synthesis plan whose routes are planned_not_run. Check the law uses fixed legacy provider-record retrieval, but returned records do not prove exact citation identity, relevance, authority, or corpus coverage. Generated research requires authentication, exact THEMIS_NEUTRAL_SCHEMA_VERSION=themis_neutral_research/v1, the operator gate, a verified authenticated corpus manifest, and an atomic spend reservation. The manifest verifier is not available yet, so generated mode remains disabled. Provider assertions/gaps are enum codes linked to evidence whose quote-fidelity state is provider-reported and rendered with fixed server text; any legacy verdict or answer prose is withheld. Returns legal_evidence_graph/v1. Automated research only, not legal advice. Requires legal:run. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Meta Council MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
ask_legal accepts 10 parameters: context, domains, quality, question, jurisdiction, max_sections, research_mode, model_overrides, requested_agents, reasoning_effort_overrides. Required: question. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the Meta Council MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for ask_legal: 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 Meta Council. Nothing to install.
ask_legal 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 ask_legal 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 ask_legal. 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.
ask_legal is provided by the Meta Council MCP server (https://meta-council.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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