List all terminal sessions Use when native Bash is wrong because you need a persistent terminal session across turns/agents with output capture and replay. For one-shot shell commands, native Bash is fine.
AI agents call terminal_list 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 performs a read-only query operation that lists terminal sessions. It has no side effects, does not execute code, and does not modify or delete data. The emphasis on 'Use when native Bash is wrong because you need a persistent terminal session' clarifies that this tool specifically lists sessions rather than creating, executing, or terminating them (those are distinct operations).
From the tool's definition Tool name 'terminal_list' and description 'List all terminal sessions' — retrieves and enumerates existing terminal sessions without modifying or executing operations.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
List all terminal sessions Use when native Bash is wrong because you need a persistent terminal session across turns/agents with output capture and replay. For one-shot shell commands, native Bash is fine. 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 terminal_list: 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.
terminal_list 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 terminal_list 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 terminal_list. 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.
terminal_list 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.