census_demographics
Race, ethnicity, and age breakdown for a US geography. Returns counts for white, black, Asian, AIAN, NHPI, other, two-or-more, plus Hispanic/Latino total and median age. Source: ACS 5-year.
This record as markdown: /tools/io-github-blackboxfoundry-livedatalink/census-demographics.md
What census_demographics does on Livedatalink
AI agents call census_demographics to retrieve information from Livedatalink 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
msa | string | — | 5-digit Metropolitan Statistical Area code. Required for msa level. |
year | number | — | ACS 5-year endpoint year (default 2023). |
zcta | string | — | 5-digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area. Required for zcta level. |
level | string | Yes | Geography level: 'us', 'state', 'county', 'zcta' (ZIP), 'place' (city), 'tract', 'msa'. |
place | string | — | Census place FIPS (city). Required for place level. |
state | string | — | 2-letter state code (e.g. 'TX') or 2-digit FIPS. Required for state/county/place/tract levels. |
tract | string | — | 6-digit census tract code. Use '*' for all tracts in a county. |
county | string | — | 3-digit county FIPS. Use '*' for all counties in a state. Required for county/tract levels. |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
Why census_demographics is rated Low
This tool queries the American Community Survey (ACS) database to retrieve demographic statistics for US geographies. It has no side effects, cannot modify data, and simply presents aggregated statistical information already in the public census database. The operation is purely informational retrieval, fitting the Read category for low-severity risk.
From the tool's definition Tool retrieves census demographic data (race, ethnicity, age breakdown) with 'Returns counts' indicating a query/fetch operation with no modification capabilities.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs census_demographics safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Livedatalink, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For census_demographics, this is the rule to start with:
census_demographics 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 Livedatalink, apply this rule, and every census_demographics call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about census_demographics
Race, ethnicity, and age breakdown for a US geography. Returns counts for white, black, Asian, AIAN, NHPI, other, two-or-more, plus Hispanic/Latino total and median age. Source: ACS 5-year. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Livedatalink MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
census_demographics accepts 8 parameters: msa, year, zcta, level, place, state, tract, county. Required: level. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the Livedatalink MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for census_demographics: 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 Livedatalink. Nothing to install.
census_demographics 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 census_demographics 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 census_demographics. 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.
census_demographics is provided by the Livedatalink MCP server (https://livedatalink.ai/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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