Explain routing decision with full transparency Use when native Bash hooks (via Claude Code\
AI agents call hooks_explain to retrieve information from Claude Flow without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves and presents information about existing routing decisions. It does not create, modify, delete, or execute external operations. The transparency/explain functionality is inherently read-only, making it a low-severity information retrieval tool.
From the tool's definition The tool is named 'hooks_explain' and its description indicates it 'Explain[s] routing decision with full transparency'.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Explain routing decision with full transparency Use when native Bash hooks (via Claude Code\. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Claude Flow MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Claude Flow MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for hooks_explain: 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 Claude Flow. Nothing to install.
hooks_explain 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 hooks_explain 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 hooks_explain. 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.
hooks_explain is provided by the Claude Flow MCP server (claude-flow). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.