Returns the full content of a specific memory. Only fetch memories relevant to your current task — don
AI agents call memory_read to retrieve information from Shellgate without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This is a Read operation—it retrieves data without side effects. However, severity is elevated to 'medium' because: (1) memory content may include sensitive context, prior conversations, or injected credentials from the Shellgate gateway's 'credential injection' feature mentioned in the server description; (2) on a secure gateway that handles SSH and API tokens, unrestricted memory access could leak sensitive…
From the tool's definition Tool name 'memory_read' and description 'Returns the full content of a specific memory' indicate data retrieval with no modification.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access memory_read gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Shellgate, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for memory_read:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"memory_read": {}
}
}memory_read is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Returns the full content of a specific memory. Only fetch memories relevant to your current task — don. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Shellgate MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Shellgate MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for memory_read: 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 Shellgate. Nothing to install.
memory_read 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 memory_read 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 memory_read. 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.
memory_read is provided by the Shellgate MCP server (matthiastjong/shellgate). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Shellgate, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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31 Shellgate tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.