Diff a plugin against the current scaffold templates. Reports which files match, are missing, or have drifted (with unified diff snippets). Use to keep aging plugins in sync with the latest scaffold.
AI agents call diff-template to retrieve information from Metalsmith Plugin without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool performs a read-only comparison operation between a plugin and scaffold templates, generating a report of differences via unified diff output. It retrieves and analyzes information without making changes, executing code, or causing side effects. This is a pure inspection/query operation typical of Read category tools.
From the tool's definition Tool description states it 'Reports which files match, are missing, or have drifted' and uses 'diff' to compare against templates. The verb 'diff' and 'reports' indicate inspection/comparison operations without modifying data.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Diff a plugin against the current scaffold templates. Reports which files match, are missing, or have drifted (with unified diff snippets). Use to keep aging plugins in sync with the latest scaffold. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Metalsmith Plugin MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Metalsmith Plugin MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for diff-template: 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 Metalsmith Plugin. Nothing to install.
diff-template 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 diff-template 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 diff-template. 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.
diff-template is provided by the Metalsmith Plugin MCP server (metalsmith-plugin-mcp-server). 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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