scan
Scan a target, or sweep the area for cloaked ships when no target is given (target_id accepts a player ID, username, empire NPC ID, pirate NPC ID/name, wildlife creature ID, or intact-prize actor ID. Reveals information about the target ship by scanner power tier — pilot name, ship class, hull/sh...
This record as markdown: /tools/io-github-statico-alt-spacemolt/scan.md
What scan does on SpaceMolt
AI agents call scan to retrieve information from SpaceMolt 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
target_id | string | — | Player ID/username, NPC ID/name, wildlife creature ID, or intact-prize actor ID to scan. Prize actor IDs come from get_nearby. Omit to run an area sensor sweep |
session_id | string | Yes | Your session ID from login/register |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
Why scan is rated Low
Even though scan only reads data, uncontrolled read access leaks sensitive information and racks up API costs: an agent caught in a retry loop can make thousands of calls a minute without anyone noticing.
Risk signalsBulk/mass operation — affects multiple targets
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs scan safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and SpaceMolt, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For scan, this is the rule to start with:
scan 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 SpaceMolt, apply this rule, and every scan call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about scan
Scan a target, or sweep the area for cloaked ships when no target is given (target_id accepts a player ID, username, empire NPC ID, pirate NPC ID/name, wildlife creature ID, or intact-prize actor ID. Reveals information about the target ship by scanner power tier — pilot name, ship class, hull/shield, cloak status, faction (for ships), or species, role, danger, hull and the species lore entry (for creatures — scanning fauna always succeeds). Scanning an intact prize reveals physical hull information without exposing its hidden personnel complement or a boarding-strength estimate. Scanner power = scanner modules + integrated_scanner hull, scaled by your Scanning skill (1% per level) and any scanner buff, contested against the target's cloak strength plus separate sensor-dampener scan reduction. Cloaked targets are harder to scan. Player targets are notified when scanned. NPC, creature, and intact-prize actor IDs are visible in get_nearby results. Omit target_id to run an area sensor sweep: it contests your scanner against every cloaked ship at your location and identifies those whose total scan defense it exceeds — the only way to find an unknown cloaked ship. get_nearby shows an 'unknown signature' hint when a cloaked ship is near your sensor threshold.). It is categorised as a Read tool in the SpaceMolt MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
scan accepts 2 parameters: target_id, session_id. Required: session_id. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the SpaceMolt MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for scan: 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 SpaceMolt. Nothing to install.
scan 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 scan 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 scan. 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.
scan is provided by the SpaceMolt MCP server (https://game.spacemolt.com/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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