find_unused_entities
Heuristic: entities that look unused (unavailable/unknown for >7 days, or orphan with no device).
This record as markdown: /tools/fistacho-ha-nexus-agent/find-unused-entities.md
What find_unused_entities does on Ha Nexus Agent
AI agents call find_unused_entities to retrieve information from Ha Nexus Agent without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
Why find_unused_entities is rated Low
This tool queries and retrieves information about entities in Home Assistant based on their state and metadata, with no side effects, modifications, or external actions. It is purely informational, analogous to a list or search operation. The low severity reflects that misuse would only reveal unused entities without enabling control or destructive changes to the smart home system.
From the tool's definition Tool name is 'find_unused_entities' and description states it performs a heuristic scan to identify entities matching certain criteria (unavailable/unknown state for >7 days or orphan with no device).
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs find_unused_entities safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Ha Nexus Agent, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For find_unused_entities, this is the rule to start with:
find_unused_entities 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 Ha Nexus Agent, apply this rule, and every find_unused_entities call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about find_unused_entities
Heuristic: entities that look unused (unavailable/unknown for >7 days, or orphan with no device). It is categorised as a Read tool in the Ha Nexus Agent MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Ha Nexus Agent MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for find_unused_entities: 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 Ha Nexus Agent. Nothing to install.
find_unused_entities 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_unused_entities 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_unused_entities. 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_unused_entities is provided by the Ha Nexus Agent MCP server (fistacho/ha-nexus-agent). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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