Track federal spending trends over time by keywords or agency, grouped by fiscal year, quarter, or month. Returns historical spending amounts for budget forecasting.
Part of the Usaspending server.
Free to start. No card required.
AI agents call usa_spending_trends to retrieve information from Usaspending 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 usa_spending_trends 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.
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"usa_spending_trends": {}
}
}See the full Usaspending policy for all 25 tools.
These attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access usa_spending_trends gives an agent. Each links to the full case and the policy that stops it:
Other read tools across the catalogue. The same approach applies to each: allow, with a rate cap to control cost.
Track federal spending trends over time by keywords or agency, grouped by fiscal year, quarter, or month. Returns historical spending amounts for budget forecasting.. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Usaspending MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Usaspending MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for usa_spending_trends: 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 Usaspending. Nothing to install.
usa_spending_trends 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 usa_spending_trends 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 usa_spending_trends. 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.
usa_spending_trends is provided by the Usaspending MCP server (https://gateway.pipeworx.io/usaspending/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 25 Usaspending tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
Free to start. No card required.
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