Find articles related to a given PubMed article. Uses NCBI's computed similarity to find conceptually related papers. Useful for literature review expansion. Args: pmid: PubMed ID of the source article. limit: Maximum related articles to return (default 10, max 50).
Part of the PubMed / MEDLINE Literature Search server.
Free to start. No card required.
AI agents call find_related_articles to retrieve information from PubMed / MEDLINE Literature Search 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 find_related_articles 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": {
"find_related_articles": {}
}
}See the full PubMed / MEDLINE Literature Search policy for all 5 tools.
These attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access find_related_articles 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.
Find articles related to a given PubMed article. Uses NCBI's computed similarity to find conceptually related papers. Useful for literature review expansion. Args: pmid: PubMed ID of the source article. limit: Maximum related articles to return (default 10, max 50).. It is categorised as a Read tool in the PubMed / MEDLINE Literature Search MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the PubMed / MEDLINE Literature Search MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for find_related_articles: 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 PubMed / MEDLINE Literature Search. Nothing to install.
find_related_articles 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 find_related_articles 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 find_related_articles. 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.
find_related_articles is provided by the PubMed / MEDLINE Literature Search MCP server (https://mcp.olyport.com/pubmed/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 5 PubMed / MEDLINE Literature Search tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
Free to start. No card required.
4,600+ MCP servers and 31,000+ tools scanned and risk-classified.