Critical Risk →

delete

delete

How to control delete ↓

What delete does on Surreal

AI agents call delete to permanently remove resources in Surreal — typically in cleanup and lifecycle workflows. It does its job in a single call, and there is no undo.

Critical Risk

Why delete needs a policy

Delete operations are irreversible and permanently remove data from the database. This qualifies as Destructive rather than merely Write. While the description is empty, the tool name combined with the database context and sibling operations (which are all CRUD-related) provides high confidence that this removes data without the ability to undo.

From the tool's definition Tool named 'delete' on a database server (SurrealDB). In the context of sibling tools like 'create', 'insert', 'update', 'select', this is clearly a data deletion operation. The name 'delete' is unambiguous for destructive database operations.

Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access delete gives an agent:

How to control delete

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Surreal, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for delete:

policy.json
{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "hide": [
    "delete"
  ]
}

delete disappears from the agent's tool list entirely, and any attempt to call it is denied. The rest of the server keeps working.

  1. Create a free account and register Surreal — nothing to install.
  2. Add this policy — paste it, or build it visually.
  3. Point your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, anything) at your gateway URL.
RESTRICT THIS TOOL →

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Related tools and policies

Go deeper

Questions about delete

What does the delete tool do? +

delete. It is categorised as a Destructive tool in the Surreal MCP Server, which means it can permanently delete or destroy data. Block by default and require explicit approval.

How do I enforce a policy on delete? +

Register the Surreal MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for delete: 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 Surreal. Nothing to install.

What risk level is delete? +

delete is a Destructive tool with critical risk. Critical-risk tools should be blocked by default and only enabled with explicit human approval.

Can I rate-limit delete? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the delete 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 delete completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for delete. 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 delete? +

delete is provided by the Surreal MCP server (lfnovo/surreal-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policy on every Surreal tool call.

Start from Surreal, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.

Free to start. No card required.

10 Surreal tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.

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