Low Risk

format_citation

Format an Indian legal citation per standard legal conventions. Formats: "full" → "Section 4, Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023", "short" → "s. 4 DPDPA 2023", "pinpoint" → "s. 4". Does NOT validate existence — use validate_citation for that.

Part of the India Law MCP server. Enforce policies on this tool with Intercept, the open-source MCP proxy.

AI agents call format_citation to retrieve information from India Law 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 format_citation 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.

eu-ansvar-india-law-mcp.yaml
tools:
  format_citation:
    rules:
      - action: allow

See the full India Law policy for all 13 tools.

Tool Name format_citation
Category Read
Risk Level Low

View all 13 tools →

Agents calling read-class tools like format_citation have been implicated in these attack patterns. Read the full case and prevention policy for each:

Browse the full MCP Attack Database →

Other tools in the Read risk category across the catalogue. The same policy patterns (rate-limit, allow) apply to each.

What does the format_citation tool do? +

Format an Indian legal citation per standard legal conventions. Formats: "full" → "Section 4, Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023", "short" → "s. 4 DPDPA 2023", "pinpoint" → "s. 4". Does NOT validate existence — use validate_citation for that.. It is categorised as a Read tool in the India Law MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.

How do I enforce a policy on format_citation? +

Add a rule in your Intercept YAML policy under the tools section for format_citation. You can allow, deny, rate-limit, or validate arguments. Then run Intercept as a proxy in front of the India Law MCP server.

What risk level is format_citation? +

format_citation is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.

Can I rate-limit format_citation? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the format_citation rule in your Intercept 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.

How do I block format_citation completely? +

Set action: deny in the Intercept policy for format_citation. 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.

What MCP server provides format_citation? +

format_citation is provided by the India Law MCP server (@ansvar/india-law-mcp). Intercept sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policies on India Law

Open source. One binary. Zero dependencies.

npx -y @policylayer/intercept
github.com/policylayer/intercept →
// GET IN TOUCH

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