govuk.content.search
Full-text search across all 700K+ GOV.UK documents — guidance pages, news articles, statistics releases, organisation pages, ministerial pages, statutory instruments. Filter by content type, organisation, topic. Distinct from UK FSA (food ratings only) — this covers ALL government publications.
This record as markdown: /tools/io-github-whiteknightonhorse-apibase/govuk.content.search.md
What govuk.content.search does on Apibase
AI agents call govuk.content.search to retrieve information from Apibase 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
q | string | Yes | Search query (free text). Examples: 'energy bill rebate', 'visa skilled worker', 'income tax allowance 2026'. |
count | integer | — | Results per page (1-100, default 10). |
order | string | — | Sort order. Default is relevance. Use '-public_timestamp' for newest first, 'public_timestamp' for oldest first. |
start | integer | — | Offset for pagination (default 0). |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
Why govuk.content.search is rated Low
Tool queries and retrieves public government publications with no side effects or data modification.
From the tool's definition Full-text search across all 700K+ GOV.UK documents — guidance pages, news articles, statistics releases.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs govuk.content.search safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Apibase, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For govuk.content.search, this is the rule to start with:
govuk.content.search 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 Apibase, apply this rule, and every govuk.content.search call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about govuk.content.search
Full-text search across all 700K+ GOV.UK documents — guidance pages, news articles, statistics releases, organisation pages, ministerial pages, statutory instruments. Filter by content type, organisation, topic. Distinct from UK FSA (food ratings only) — this covers ALL government publications. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Apibase MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
govuk.content.search accepts 4 parameters: q, count, order, start. Required: q. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the Apibase MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for govuk.content.search: 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 Apibase. Nothing to install.
govuk.content.search 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 govuk.content.search 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 govuk.content.search. 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.
govuk.content.search is provided by the Apibase MCP server (apibase-mcp-client). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
More on Apibase, and thousands of servers like it.
This server
Across the catalogue