get-element-ancestors · Mcp Dev MCP: Risk & Policy

WHAT IT DOES

What get-element-ancestors does on Mcp Dev

AI agents call get-element-ancestors to retrieve information from Mcp Dev without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.

WHY IT NEEDS A POLICY

Why get-element-ancestors needs a policy

This tool queries and returns hierarchical data about an element's ancestors in the Umbraco CMS. It performs a read-only operation with no data modification, creation, deletion, or execution of external commands. The low severity reflects minimal blast radius if misused by an AI agent — it merely exposes existing structural information about elements.

From the tool's definition Tool name is 'get-element-ancestors' and description states it 'Gets ancestor items for an element' — uses the retrieval verb 'Gets' with no modification or side effects.

Attacks that exploit this kind of access

Questions about get-element-ancestors

What does the get-element-ancestors tool do? +

Gets ancestor items for an element. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Mcp Dev MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.

How do I enforce a policy on get-element-ancestors? +

Register the Mcp Dev MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get-element-ancestors: 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 Mcp Dev. Nothing to install.

What risk level is get-element-ancestors? +

get-element-ancestors is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.

Can I rate-limit get-element-ancestors? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the get-element-ancestors 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 get-element-ancestors completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for get-element-ancestors. 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 get-element-ancestors? +

get-element-ancestors is provided by the Mcp Dev MCP server (@umbraco-cms/mcp-dev). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.