initial_discovery
One-shot bootstrap: returns a compact guidance context with a room-grouped quick-reference of every item (name, type, live state). Call ONCE on first contact. Do NOT also call generate_home_blueprint or get_system_summary — this covers all discovery needs.
This record as markdown: /tools/deswong-openhab-mcp/initial-discovery.md
What initial_discovery does on Openhab
AI agents call initial_discovery to retrieve information from Openhab without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
Why initial_discovery is rated Low
This tool performs a one-shot read/discovery operation, fetching the current state of all items grouped by room. It only queries and returns information without creating, modifying, executing, or deleting anything. The severity is low because it only reads home automation metadata and live states.
From the tool's definition 'returns a compact guidance context with a room-grouped quick-reference of every item (name, type, live state)' — purely retrieves and returns existing data with no side effects
Risk signalsBulk/mass operation — affects multiple targets
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs initial_discovery safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Openhab, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For initial_discovery, this is the rule to start with:
initial_discovery 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 Openhab, apply this rule, and every initial_discovery call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about initial_discovery
One-shot bootstrap: returns a compact guidance context with a room-grouped quick-reference of every item (name, type, live state). Call ONCE on first contact. Do NOT also call generate_home_blueprint or get_system_summary — this covers all discovery needs. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Openhab MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Openhab MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for initial_discovery: 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 Openhab. Nothing to install.
initial_discovery 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 initial_discovery 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 initial_discovery. 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.
initial_discovery is provided by the Openhab MCP server (deswong/openhab-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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