ingest · Arca MCP: Risk & Policy

WHAT IT DOES

What ingest does on Arca MCP

AI agents use ingest to create or update resources in Arca MCP — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your Arca MCP environment.

WHY IT NEEDS A POLICY

Why ingest needs a policy

Ingest is a common data pipeline operation that loads or imports data into a system. Given the server's purpose of managing structured memories with vector embeddings, this tool likely creates or modifies memory records. This is reversible (memories can be deleted via the 'delete' tool), so it falls under Write rather than Destructive. However, the description is empty, which reduces confidence.

From the tool's definition Tool named 'ingest' with sibling tools including 'add', 'delete', 'get', and 'list_buckets' in a semantic memory storage system. The name 'ingest' implies importing or adding data to the vector embedding storage.

Attacks that exploit this kind of access

Recommended rule Ready

Verdict

ingest Rate-limited

ingest stays usable, but capped — an agent stuck in a loop can't make hundreds of changes a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.

View as policy code

policy.json

{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "ingest": {
      "limits": [
        {
          "counter": "ingest_rate",
          "window": "minute",
          "max": 30,
          "scope": "grant"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

LIMIT THIS TOOL →

Instant setup, no code required.

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: every tool call is checked against your rule before it reaches Arca MCP, so you can run agents against it safely.

FAQ

Questions about ingest

What does the ingest tool do? +

ingest. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Arca MCP MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.

How do I enforce a policy on ingest? +

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

What risk level is ingest? +

ingest is a Write tool with medium risk. Write tools should be rate-limited to prevent accidental bulk modifications.

Can I rate-limit ingest? +

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

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

ingest is provided by the Arca MCP server (m0nochr0me/arca-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.