Get detailed OpenAI costs with model breakdown and token usage
AI agents call openai_costs to retrieve information from Cost Management MCP without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool queries and retrieves historical cost and usage information from OpenAI. It performs no data modification, deletion, or execution of external operations. The blast radius of misuse is minimal—an AI agent could over-call the tool or expose sensitive cost data, but cannot modify billing, charge accounts, or trigger external actions. This is a straightforward data retrieval operation.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'openai_costs' and description 'Get detailed OpenAI costs with model breakdown and token usage' indicate retrieval/querying of cost data with no side effects. Verb 'Get' is a classic Read operation.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Get detailed OpenAI costs with model breakdown and token usage. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Cost Management MCP MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Cost Management MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for openai_costs: 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 Cost Management MCP. Nothing to install.
openai_costs 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 openai_costs 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 openai_costs. 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.
openai_costs is provided by the Cost Management MCP server (knishioka/cost-management-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.
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