openstates.legislature.bills_search

SERVERApibase SOURCEapibase-mcp-client

Low RISK CLASS

Category Read

Parameters 70 required

Recommended Allowedsee the rule below

Registry record Grade F, identity unverified Pull the record →

This record as markdown: /tools/io-github-whiteknightonhorse-apibase/openstates.legislature.bills-search.md

WHAT IT DOES

What openstates.legislature.bills_search does on Apibase

AI agents call openstates.legislature.bills_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	—	Full-text keyword search across bill titles and text (e.g. "climate change", "education funding").
`page`	integer	—	Page number for pagination (default 1).
`session`	string	—	Legislative session identifier to filter bills (e.g. "20252026" for 2025-2026 session). Format varies by state.
`subject`	string	—	Filter by subject/topic tag assigned to the bill (e.g. "Education", "Environment", "Health Care").
`per_page`	integer	—	Number of results per page (1–50, default 20).
`jurisdiction`	string	—	State or jurisdiction abbreviation to search bills in (e.g. "ca", "tx", "ny"). Required unless q is provided.
`classification`	string	—	Filter by bill type classification (e.g. "bill", "resolution", "joint resolution", "concurrent resolution").

Parameters from the server's own tool schema.

RISK

Why openstates.legislature.bills_search is rated Low

Tool retrieves publicly available legislative data with no side effects or data modification capabilities.

From the tool's definition Search US state legislative bills, returns bill summaries with identifier, title, latest action.

Attacks that exploit this kind of access

RECOMMENDED RULE

The rule that runs openstates.legislature.bills_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 openstates.legislature.bills_search, this is the rule to start with:

openstates.legislature.bills_search Allowed

openstates.legislature.bills_search is read-only, so it stays allowed. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.

View as policy code

policy.json

{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "openstates.legislature.bills_search": {}
  }
}

ALLOW ONLY THIS TOOL → Instant setup, no code required.

The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Apibase, apply this rule, and every openstates.legislature.bills_search call is checked against it from then on.

FAQ

Questions about openstates.legislature.bills_search

What does the openstates.legislature.bills_search tool do? +

Search US state legislative bills by jurisdiction, keyword, session, or subject. Returns bill summaries with identifier, title, latest action, passage date, and link to the OpenStates detail page. Covers all 50 US states and territories. Filter by session (e.g. "20252026"), classification (bill/resolution), or subject tag. Use bills_detail to fetch full text, sponsors, and voting records. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Apibase MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.

What parameters does openstates.legislature.bills_search accept? +

openstates.legislature.bills_search accepts 7 parameters: q, page, session, subject, per_page, jurisdiction, classification. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.

How do I enforce a policy on openstates.legislature.bills_search? +

Register the Apibase MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for openstates.legislature.bills_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.

What risk level is openstates.legislature.bills_search? +

openstates.legislature.bills_search is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.

Can I rate-limit openstates.legislature.bills_search? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the openstates.legislature.bills_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.

How do I block openstates.legislature.bills_search completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for openstates.legislature.bills_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.

What MCP server provides openstates.legislature.bills_search? +

openstates.legislature.bills_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.

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