Read a Discourse topic including its metadata (title, category, tags) and posts. Supports pagination for long topics.
AI agents call discourse_read_topic to retrieve information from Discourse MCP without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves and queries existing forum data (topic metadata and posts) without creating, modifying, or deleting any content. It is a read-only operation with no side effects, aligning clearly with the 'Read' category. Severity is low because misuse poses minimal risk — an agent can only retrieve information already visible to users with appropriate permissions.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'discourse_read_topic' and description stating it 'Read[s] a Discourse topic including its metadata (title, category, tags) and posts' with 'pagination for long topics' — pure retrieval with no side effects.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Read a Discourse topic including its metadata (title, category, tags) and posts. Supports pagination for long topics. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Discourse MCP MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Discourse MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for discourse_read_topic: 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 Discourse MCP. Nothing to install.
discourse_read_topic 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 discourse_read_topic 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 discourse_read_topic. 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.
discourse_read_topic is provided by the Discourse MCP server (king-of-the-grackles/discourse-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Every MCP server has a record like this.
Type a name, get the same breakdown: verified identity, auth posture, risk grade, capabilities, recommended policy.
Teams ship this data inside their own products. See what a licence covers →