Fetches the current Hacker News front-page/topstories ranking from the public Firebase API and returns story summaries, unlike search_stories keyword lookup or get_item_thread discussion expansion. ${PUBLIC_HN_BEHAVIOR} Use for
AI agents call get_top_stories to retrieve information from Universal Mcp Toolkit 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 public data from Hacker News via their public API. It has no side effects, creates no data, executes no code, and causes no irreversible changes. The action is read-only and informational, making it a low-severity Read operation appropriate for general information retrieval by AI agents.
From the tool's definition Tool 'fetches' (retrieves) 'current Hacker News front-page/topstories' and 'returns story summaries' from a 'public Firebase API'. No modification, deletion, or execution of external commands—purely a data retrieval operation from a public API.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Fetches the current Hacker News front-page/topstories ranking from the public Firebase API and returns story summaries, unlike search_stories keyword lookup or get_item_thread discussion expansion. ${PUBLIC_HN_BEHAVIOR} Use for. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Universal Mcp Toolkit MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Universal Mcp Toolkit MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get_top_stories: 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 Universal Mcp Toolkit. Nothing to install.
get_top_stories 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 get_top_stories 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 get_top_stories. 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.
get_top_stories is provided by the Universal Mcp Toolkit MCP server (markgatcha/universal-mcp-toolkit). 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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