web_search
Find things on the live web: top results as [{title, url, snippet}]. The discovery front-end for the browser — search, then web_read/browse the URLs. Free.
This record as markdown: /tools/com-wingmanprotocol-agent-gateway/web-search.md
What web_search does on Gateway
AI agents call web_search to retrieve information from Gateway 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
count | integer | — | max results (default 8) |
query | string | Yes | what to search for |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
Why web_search is rated Low
web_search retrieves and queries publicly available web data with no side effects. Results are read-only search snippets and URLs. It does not create, modify, delete, execute code, or commit financial transactions. This is a classic Read operation—information retrieval with zero reversibility concerns.
From the tool's definition Tool description states it "Find[s] things on the live web: top results as [{title, url, snippet}]" with no mention of modification, deletion, or execution.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs web_search safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Gateway, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For web_search, this is the rule to start with:
web_search 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 Gateway, apply this rule, and every web_search call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about web_search
Find things on the live web: top results as [{title, url, snippet}]. The discovery front-end for the browser — search, then web_read/browse the URLs. Free. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Gateway MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
web_search accepts 2 parameters: count, query. Required: query. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the Gateway MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for web_search: 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 Gateway. Nothing to install.
web_search 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 web_search 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 web_search. 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.
web_search is provided by the Gateway MCP server (https://wingmanprotocol.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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