Report NCBI API key presence and summarise the effective rate limits.
AI agents call system-api-key-status to retrieve information from Entrez MCP Server without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool queries and reports metadata about the system's API authentication configuration and current rate limit status. It performs only information gathering with no side effects, mutations, or external operations. The risk is minimal unless the API key itself is exposed in the report, but the primary function is read-only introspection.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'system-api-key-status' and description 'Report NCBI API key presence and summarise the effective rate limits' indicate read-only introspection of system configuration state.
Risk signalsAdmin/system-level operation
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Report NCBI API key presence and summarise the effective rate limits. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Entrez MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Entrez MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for system-api-key-status: 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 Entrez MCP Server. Nothing to install.
system-api-key-status 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 system-api-key-status 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 system-api-key-status. 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.
system-api-key-status is provided by the Entrez MCP Server MCP server (leongxj123/entrez-mcp-server). 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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